Rams, Shrimp, Snails

[ara35]

my tank is a 15 gallon and its almost cycled. there are currently 8 minnows in there and i will be adding some cories and hopefully a couple of rams. are bolivian rams a good idea for a starter in the fish hobby? i know they are "sensitive". also, can i add shrimp or snails before my tank is fully cycled or will they die. and also, can i have snails if i have artificial plants. please comment on any or all of the questions!

 

[jennybugs]

I know that Bolivian rams are more hardy than the Blue German rams. Both are stunning types. I'm not sure if 15 gallons will be enough for a pair of them though.

Personally I wouldn't add anything else shrimp or otherwise to your tank until it's cycled and settled

You can have snails with plastic plants. I have apple snails which grow fast and big, spixi apple snails which don't grow as large as the former but have striped shells and I have two types of nerite snail...zig zag and tiger nerites.

I feed them slices of cucumber (never leave it in your tank for longer than a day) and algae pellets too

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Actually in my experience the German/Blue rams tend to be a lot hardier then the bolivian ones. Check them over carefully in the shop though for signs of whitespot, velvet or finrot and also make sure they look well fed. If they are in resonable health and kept and a semi decent tank they should still have quite a bit of colour so if they look really washed out go away for a week and come back and see how they are doing a week later.

They can all be quite sensitive though so I wouldnt get them until the tank has been up and running for 3 or 4 months with no problems.

As Jenny says dont put anything in until the tank is cycled. Most shrimp are more sensitive then fish so again I would add them after most of the fish have been put in, same for the snails (this gives a chance for the micro orginisims and algae to grow which the snails and shrimp feed on).