Now That I've Found A Home For My Rams....

[mislisa]

Well, I've finally given up on trying to make my rams happy and have found someone who will be picking them up around christmas. Now i'm wondering if there might be something that i could get to take their place... i'm already thinking of some hatchets or celebes halfbeaks for the top, but I'm always open to suggestions. I'm trying to think of something kinda showy that could be my new "center piece" as that was what i was hoping the rams would be.

For some reason, i keep thinking of kribs, but i believe they need a similar environment to the rams, and are more aggressive.

My current stocking is in my sig.


Thanks in advance!

 

[onidrase]

Keyhole cichlids might work, timid and shy, may even feel comfortable in your tank because of all the small fishes

alternatively, they may see how small your other fishes are and gobble up a few.

I wouldn't know. I tend to not have much fishes as small as yours

Are the german blues the ones your failing to keep happy? Keep in mind that they're rather fragile, prefer a higher temp and lower pH. I think it might be less the environment and more the water conditions that could be making them unhappy, so to speak. you could try for some hardier bolivian rams, or maybe apistos, but I've never seen apistos in my LFS before. Kribs might work, but they might not. I'm not sure, I only kept them pretty briefly.

 

[mislisa]

Keyhole cichlids might work, timid and shy, may even feel comfortable in your tank because of all the small fishes

alternatively, they may see how small your other fishes are and gobble up a few.

I wouldn't know. I tend to not have much fishes as small as yours

Are the german blues the ones your failing to keep happy? Keep in mind that they're rather fragile, prefer a higher temp and lower pH. I think it might be less the environment and more the water conditions that could be making them unhappy, so to speak. you could try for some hardier bolivian rams, or maybe apistos, but I've never seen apistos in my LFS before. Kribs might work, but they might not. I'm not sure, I only kept them pretty briefly.

I'd really rather not have anything that might see my other fish as food...

Yes, it's the german blues that are unhappy. the pH in my tank is between 6 & 7 (can't remember atm) but i have to keep the temp a bit lower for the corys. This was a newbie mistake of not fully researching the fish before i bought them. I had checked all other requierments, but forgot about temp.

I won't be adding anybody until at least january, more likely march, so i have lots of time to decide.

 

[onidrase]

Keyhole cichlids might work, timid and shy, may even feel comfortable in your tank because of all the small fishes

alternatively, they may see how small your other fishes are and gobble up a few.

I wouldn't know. I tend to not have much fishes as small as yours

Are the german blues the ones your failing to keep happy? Keep in mind that they're rather fragile, prefer a higher temp and lower pH. I think it might be less the environment and more the water conditions that could be making them unhappy, so to speak. you could try for some hardier bolivian rams, or maybe apistos, but I've never seen apistos in my LFS before. Kribs might work, but they might not. I'm not sure, I only kept them pretty briefly.

I'd really rather not have anything that might see my other fish as food...

Yes, it's the german blues that are unhappy. the pH in my tank is between 6 & 7 (can't remember atm) but i have to keep the temp a bit lower for the corys. This was a newbie mistake of not fully researching the fish before i bought them. I had checked all other requierments, but forgot about temp.

I won't be adding anybody until at least january, more likely march, so i have lots of time to decide.

Bolivian rams are a good choice. They tolerate a wide area of tank perimeters, and prefer a temperature more similar to the other fish you keep. They're tough as nails, beautiful, peaceful, and full of personality. I'd recommend them to anyone who wants dwarf cichlids in their community tank.

 

[mislisa]

ooooh.... i'll have to see if i can get some of those!

 

[Tizer]

Bolivians would work well, could get some more kuhlis too, you got a nice amount, but even more, maybe 20 , could work, they are cool to watch

 

[soybean]

My Bolivians are pretty tough cookies. They hate each other, but that's their problem

 

[mislisa]

Bolivians would work well, could get some more kuhlis too, you got a nice amount, but even more, maybe 20 , could work, they are cool to watch

I love my kuhlis, and i've definitely seen more since i upped the numbers from 8 to 13, but as i also have a bunch of fairly large peppered corys (3 huge females and a bunch of smaller males), i'd rather not crowd the bottom too much. Especially as i have a bristlenose now as well.

So, should i look at getting 1 or 2 bolivians?

Was there any other friendly fish i could consider instead? I've looked through the fish index, but i'm not sure what will work with my current mix.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

A few honey gouramis.

Also I'd up the cardinal tetra numbers to at least 6, preferably more.

 

[creeker]

I have a really nice Powder Blue Dwarf Gourami that is always front and center in one of my tanks. The Flame Dwarf pictured as Soybean's avatar is the same fish, different color.

 

[mislisa]

A few honey gouramis.

Also I'd up the cardinal tetra numbers to at least 6, preferably more.

I do plan on adding more cardinals, probably up the numbers to 10... i'm a little nervous though, as they always seem to have something go wrong....

I've thought of gourami's, but i kind of like the thought of hatchets or celebes halfbeaks for the top part of the tank. it'd be neat to have something unusual in the tank.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I was thinking you were interested in something a little bigger to replace the rams, that's why I suggested the gourami. The other options are nice too. I've never seen the halfbeaks around me at all, and rarely see the hatchets. Gouramis are ALWAYS around. I would recommend the honey gourami over the neon blue or flame (even though I don't have a honey, but instead have a regular dwarf) because the honeys are generally more docile to each other, hardier and look just as good. The Dwarf Gouramis have their own disease. So, when buying them, studying the tank carefully for healthy looking fish, none that are sulking on the substrate, swimming sideways, etc. Once the disease hits, there is really nothing you can do but quarantine it to keep it from spreading to other gouramis and eventually put the fish down.

The only reason I didn't get honey is that my LFS was out of them when I was looking. And I acted impulsively. I figure my fish won't be infected, since he is the only one I have. No signs yet and he's been with me for almost a month now.

 

[mislisa]

Something ram size or bigger would be nice, but not necessary. i do appreciate the suggestions of the gouramis, and i may change my mind, but i'm not a huge fan, really. And I have until at least the new year before i can even think about adding any new fish, so this is all just to get me thinking.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I understand that. I thought about my first stocking for about 3 months before I got fish.

 

[mislisa]

hey, how do you think a small school of some type of rainbows would do? would that be too crowded? I'm starting to think about getting something a little different than the rams, just for a change.