Set Up

[laurasmithuk]

i am looking at getting another 96 litre tank with

3 platties
6 neons
5 x-ray tetras
2 dwarf congos (which i will hand feed)
and 2 rams. will this be ok? saw this as a set up in my lfs and thought it looked lovely!

 

[steveg]

Dont know, im new to this myself but I got a 2 rams a couple of days ago for my community tank, woman in shop said they *should* be allright. I thought they looked a bit vicious but too cool not to have. I'll be interested to see how this thread pans out.

 

[laurasmithuk]

really thought there colour was out of this world. i have read they can be put in community fish but can become territorial not sure how true this is

bump


from reading various post i am very confused. will rams be ok? there seems to be mixed feelings as to how aggressive they are

 

[fish_face]

I haven't had too much luck with rams, but I have really really hard water and have since been told thats a big no no (even though the lfs guy said it would be fine, grr). When I did have them though, they weren't really territorial, in fact, they always appeared very friendly. I would think that they would be fine with the other fish you have chosen.

I have 2 bolivian rams that I have had for a while and they're lovely fish! Very hardy and extreemely peaceful. I you have no luck with normal rams, I would definitely suggest these.

 

[laurasmithuk]

i might just try rams and see how that goes. can u get anything that softens water?

 

[fish_face]

Yeah, my friend keeps discus and uses a water softner unit, which works really well, but I think thats expensive. I also know someone who adds peat to the filter, which you can get from the lfs. It gradually softens the water, but not by huge amount. She successfully keeps cockatoo cichlids in it though (also soft water fish). I think using bogwood also helps instead of rock, which hardens the water.

 

[laurasmithuk]

thanks. will the stocking levels be ok with this set up? i aint too good on working that all out

 

[Fella]

To bring PH down, bogwood and filter peat will work. i've not used them, but they're great for lowering PH, but they will give you tannin stained water. Not everyone is keen on it(it looks tea without milk in) but I think it's great stuff, it's usually still clear enough to see right to the back of the tank.

I was recently looking at dwarf community cichlids and the general consensus is, 20 gallons is good for a pair, but it's not so much the amount of water in the tank, it's how much territory they will use. If you get a male and female, keep parameters regular and don't mess them about too much, you should be able to get them to breed too, which is something to maybe take a look at.

 

[fish_face]

One rule that people use it 1 inch of fish per gallon. I think 96 litres is about 22 gallons so I would think that would be fine although i'm not sure what the maximum sizes of all those fish are.

(this will probably be seen as blasphemy, but i've always found the inch per gal rule a bit strict)

I think there's another stocking calculator pinned in chit chat or beginner questions that you could use.