Stocking List/rams Question

[Sesshis_grl]

1 Are golden rams more/as sensitive as german blues? or are they more hardy?

And does anyone see a problem with this stocking in a 29G:

2 fairy cichlids
1 peacock goby
3 bumblebee gobys
2 rams (gold or german blue)
1 pearl gourami

 

[StandbySetting]

Golden Rams are generally more sensitive than Blue Rams, they're the same species but Gold Rams are a xanthic variety.

Just remember that a Sand substrate is essential for any fish in the Microgeophagus genus, this includes Gold Rams and Blue Rams, also if you want Gold Rams it is essential that they're kept at 28-32[sup]o[/sup]C, and soft water is generally better.

Also the Fairy Cichlids or Neolamprologus brichardi to give them their scientific name should be in a larger tank, and they're not community fish, they're quite aggressive and require a high PH and water hardness as they're found in Lake Tanganyika naturally.

 

[Wills]

Fairy cichlids is a common name for an african cichlid and they are a lot more aggressive than the Rams and would pose a threat to the other fish in there - the gourami and BBGs in particular.

Also Blue/Gold rams need high temperatures and low Ph where as the faries need high Ph.

People also have problems of feeding bumblebee gobies properly in tanks and they often starve.

I would go for Bolivian Rams instead of the Gold or Blue rams as they are more flexible with ph etc. Then I would get a trio of the pearls and the Peacock Goby, and then look to add to that maybe some black ruby barbs would look good in there.

Wills

 

[Sesshis_grl]

Really? I was just researching and it said that the fairy cichlids need about a ph of 8 and rams need 5-8, so wouldn't an 8 work for both? not sure but that was my line of thinking. Also with the fairies I read in a couple of sites that they are only aggressive when breeding. Have you had experience with aggression in these? or am I just looking at bad sources

thank you for the reply =)

 

[StandbySetting]

5-8 is incorrect, 5-6.5 is normally suggested, 7 is the maximum in my opinion.

Fairy cichlids can achieve 5 inches in size, a 29G isn't large enough unless it's at least 4 foot long.

 

[Sesshis_grl]

at Wills:

Dang I read that they were a peaceful cichlid which is why I was going for them =(. Are there any blue or at least colorful community fish? I really dont want barbs or any small schooling fish but thank you for the suggestion

and I'm wary of bolivians as the last one I had introduced worms into my tank and I couldn't get rid of them =x. Was that a bad case or are they predisposed to that kind of thing?

at StandbySetting: I see, thank you =)

 

[StandbySetting]

If your Rams were wild caught it is likely that they had worms, most of the imported wild stock has worms and should undergo worming treatment.

 

[Sesshis_grl]

Im not sure if it was wild caught or not. What im hearing is that they are being bred badly in asia and being sent out everywhere. My fish stores say that they are from florida, but I have no idea if its imported from asia or actually bred in florida. Either way I had a german blue die from a bacteria? maybe..it was really weird and a bolivian die from worms. Neither seemed to respond to any treatment and I'm planning to stock my mature 29G so I'd really rather not expose that to worms or other nasty things. Thats why I was asking about hardiness and whether they are prone to worms and such

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Gold rams are really sensitive in my experience and their deaths can be mysterious so it can leave you unsure of what you could have done

Shame really as theyre so nice

 

[lyolya]

i wouldn't put any kind of ciclids together w rams as agression between them will likely to occur. even with just rams i would be careful. I got 2 german blues for my 20 gal, but one of them was attacking the other one constantly so i had to return the bully back to the store. so i guess it depends on how lucky u get with the pair. could be totally fine though! especially if u have several different territories they can each take.

i'm not sure about hardiness of gold vs blue, but my blue seems to be doing great! he developed a nice coloration and a mohawk with red ends
bolivian does seem to be the toughest one of them all from what i know though

gl!

 

[Sesshis_grl]

thank you =) I might just ditch the ram idea. I'm thinking about switching them for Apistogrammas or a dwarf flag cichlid. Not sure though, need to do more research.

Thanks for all the opinions!