Tropical Rams: How To Feed?

[mark4785]

Hi,

Well I finished the fishless cycle of my 120 litre aquarium 2 days ago and I have now begun to stock it with tropical fish. Today I purchased 4 Bolivian Rams, 2 German Blue Rams and 1 Clown Fish. This many fish, I'm told means that I'm at the 40-50% stocking level for my aquarium.

They appear to have got used to their new surroundings and they are not aggressive to each other, however there is one issue regarding ways to feed them. An experienced LFS employee gave me a small pot of very tiny aquarium pellets containing 52% protein to feed them. Unfortunately, I don't know how I am going to entice them to the top to eat these as they seem to have a took a liking to hiding at the bottom near the substrate or just swimming in a shoal around the bottom areas.

Should I invest in sinking pellets or if I place the floating pellets in are they liable to notice it and consume it? Again, they haven't ventured anywhere near the middle or top parts of the aquarium.


Any guidance appreciated,

Mark.

 

[JoshuaA]

I know GBR's will eat flakes and also enjoys scavenging from the bottom of the tank, my GF's especially loved the catfish sinkers.

 

[`Peter]

I would go witht he pellets tbh. My Bolivian ram chooses to eat the pellets I drop that are intended for my catfish lol, not much of a fan for flake food. I would buy pellets.

 

[Curiosity101]

I personally fed my rams (although they were bolivian not german blues) Nutrafin sinking cichlid pellets. They went mad for them

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Interesting choice of first fish in a newly cycled tank, six (6) dwarf cichlids in a 120l tank and a "clown fish!" A what?

As in the "Finding Nemo" movie, Clown Fish?

So have your cichlids just had a drastic acclimitisation to marine water, or has your Clown Fish just had a massive evolutionary step and abandonned the oceans?

 

[mark4785]

Thank you for the responses.

The fish are now starting to come towards the upper-parts of the tank. I haven't got around to attempting to feed them yet but I now feel confident the floating food I put in won't just decompose and be ignored by them.

N0body of the Goat, I don't really understand your questions.

Mark.

Edit: If I run into problems I'll just have to order some cat fish pellets I guess lol

 

[Curiosity101]

Nobody of the goat is just referring to the fact you said you have a clown fish in a tropical tank. I hadn't actually looked at the stocklist but a clown fish is a salt water fish.
I presume you actually mean a clown loach. In which case it should be in a group of 4 or more and also will grow wayyyyy too big for that tank.

Also I think you might find issues with having so many dwarf cichlids in that size of tank. Eitherways definitely switch to a pellet food because the bolivians imparticular wont come up for flake or anything else that floats.

Catfish pellets aren't nutritionally tailored for cichlids which should have a high protein diet (as the shop worker has tried to show you). Please get them a suitable fish food.

 

[mark4785]

I know GBR's will eat flakes and also enjoys scavenging from the bottom of the tank, my GF's especially loved the catfish sinkers.

I was advised against using flakes by the LFS employee. She said the mineral/vitamin content is usually quite low and they can produce more waste. I happened to be browsing the internet and it's true that the flakes seem to have less nutritional value.

I could consider using flakes at some point, but only when the tank is more mature and capable of neutralising the waste they produce.

Nobodys goat is just referring to the fact you said you have a clown fish in a tropical tank. I hadn't actually looked at the stocklist but a clown fish is a salt water fish.
I presume you actually mean a clown loach. In which case it should be in a group of 4 or more and also will grow wayyyyy too big for that tank.

Also I think you might find issues with having so many dwarf cichlids in that size of tank. Eitherways definitely switch to a pellet food because the bolivians imparticular wont come up for flake or anything else that floats.

Catfish pellets aren't nutritionally tailored for cichlids which should have a high protein diet (as the shop worker has tried to show you). Please get them a suitable fish food.

Can you describe some of those issues? Like I said in my first post, the tank has only reached 40-50% of it's maximum stocking level.

I don't know why the LFS employee didn't suggest sinking food for the Bolivian rams (bottom dwellers) but from experience of keeping a cold water green tench (also supposedly a bottom dweller) which actively feeds at the surface, I wasn't too concerned about omitting to purchase the sinking food.

The fish that I may have named wrongly is not a salt water fish. I'll have to do a quick search and find it's exact name!

 

[Curiosity101]

Issues such as aggression from a lack of territory. 2 days is not long enough to presume there will be no aggression, and the fish definitely wont have completely settled by now. Also they are likely to still be young specimens so again there isn't likely to be any aggression yet cause none of them will be wanting to breed.

Bolivians are strictly bottom dwellers. I had them for around 2 year and they never strayed more than a few inches from the bottom of the tank. They need a sinking cichlid/high protein food. I would fully recommend nutrafin sinking cichlid pellets.

Edit: Just to add, even though you're at '40-50% stocking' doesn't mean that the fish you do have are suitable to be with each other. There is alot more to stocking a tank than just what your filter can handle which is what the 40-50% number will be referring to.

 

[mark4785]

Issues such as aggression from a lack of territory. 2 days is not long enough to presume there will be no aggression, and the fish definitely wont have completely settled by now. Also they are likely to still be young specimens so again there isn't likely to be any aggression yet cause none of them will be wanting to breed.

Bolivians are strictly bottom dwellers. I had them for around 2 year and they never strayed more than a few inches from the bottom of the tank. They need a sinking cichlid/high protein food. I would fully recommend nutrafin sinking cichlid pellets.

Edit: Just to add, even though you're at '40-50% stocking' doesn't mean that the fish you do have are suitable to be with each other. There is alot more to stocking a tank than just what your filter can handle which is what the 40-50% number will be referring to.

Well I'm staying optimistic and I agree with the LFS employee when she said "Bolivian Rams will largely ignore the other species of Ram". They are both peaceful fish and I've never come across a guide stating that this can change over time.

I disclosed all my water parameters and I made it clear the LFS E that I'd be relying on her advise in terms of stocking compatibility. Thats the advise I took and believed and I didn't create this thread to have any opposing bodies of opinion as indicated by the topic name.

The tank layout is such that 3-4 different territories can be formed but it seems at the moment that they are swimming collectively from one possibly territory to another.

Again, please, I don't want opinions on stocking, it was just the issue of getting them to feed as I've never owned tropical fish before and their behaviour to me is very unpredictable at this stage.

 

[Curiosity101]

Is this the 'clown fish' you have?

 

[mark4785]

Is this the 'clown fish' you have?

Nope, it is much smaller than that. I actually was close to picking that one from the LFS though, I was told it wouldn't be suitable, but I forget what aspect of it was unsuitable. My guess is that it can be aggressive.

I will take a picture of the unidentified fish, it's only about 2cm in length. I was told it can live by itself with the other dwarf cichilids but I should consider buying it some same-species friends eventually.

 

[Curiosity101]

Hmm... another fish that could be called a clown fish that isn't a saltwater or a clown loach...hmmm

Oh and just for the record, it wouldn't be suitable cause it grows to over a foot and is really deep bodied

Clown kilifish?

 

[arobinson1984]

Just checking, its not one of these is it?

Clown fish


Andy

 

[Big_eyes]

Right then time to listen!

LFS staff will tell you anything most of the time to get you to buy fish!

Rams of any kind will be aggressive!!! I have two bolivian rams in a 180 litre and they constantly chase each other, head butting and nipping. They also chase everything else in the tank, even my bigger keyholes!.

What is the clown fish you have?

Everybody wants to know but you seem reluctant to tell........

Is it a clown barb? like this..

Or an actual clown fish like this....

Or something else??

I find it unbelievable that you are asking for advice yet telling people not to give you very good sound advice at the same time. If you haven't owned tropical fish before then how can you know better? I refer again to my comment on lfs staff!

Feeding rams or any fish isn't hard, you put food in and they eat it! I've never known any type of fish yet turn down anything that I have put in the tank.

If it is that they aren't interested in the food then something is wrong. Plus if you have added all of these fish to a newly cycled tank all at once then I would say that is too much too.

Listen to helpful advice, that is what this forum is here for!!