What To Stock With German Gold Head Rams?

[Suleika]

Have set up the tank with the mature filter media and bought 10 Cardinal Tetras and 2 pots of Vallisneria (which got me a total of 20 plants). Will monitor the water condition for the next few days and then hopefully introduce the 6 corys next weekend. My LFS will have to order the female rams for my 2 pairs as they usually only have males. Once all these fish have settled in well, I think my boyfriend will treat me to 1-2 Zebra Plecos

 

[fishprotector]

Oh you are very lucky, I have wanted the L046 for years. They like a fair bit of movement within the water stream so maybe look at a powerhead of some kind. They are also a carnivorous species who are easily out competed for food. they are also a very shy pleco. If I were you, I would get a few specimens from different shops to hopefully get a different blood line. They had some in pier last week and also in maidenhead Ashton. If they ever breed (may need own tank to do this) then you really would be in the money.

 

[Suleika]

I just found one of the Cardinals dead on my filter intake. The other 9 seem fine, they hide behind the rock when we are close and had half a cube of frozen bloodworms for breakfast. These were the water levels last night:

Ammonia: 0.25 ppm
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5.00 ppm
pH: 6.5

Right now I have tested for Ammonia again, still 0.25 ppm.

Temperature is at 25 degrees.

Shall I do a 50% water change and then test again?

 

[minnnt]

Yep, afraid so. At least. I did say Cardinals were touchy and thats why it would have been best not to start woth them.

Why does your LFS only stock males? That seems silly to me.

 

[Suleika]

Have done 75% water change and will test all water levels.

The only Rams they had left in the tank were males, so I asked them when they were getting more because I want 2 pairs. He said most of the ones they get are males, but he can order some females for me.

 

[minnnt]

Crazy... Most people will want to buy a pair of Rams... So they would be buying a pair of males.

Well done on the w/c.

 

[Suleika]

I have just tested the water levels. Ammonia is between 0 and 0.25 ppm (I think - it did change slightly from yellow to a very light green). I'm using API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Pretty much the same results as yesterday.

 

[Ruskull]

Cool - thanks a lot

Would it be possible to keep Ember Tetras or Flame/Von Rio Tetras instead of the Rummy Nose? Prefer the look of these

Also, can I keep Cherry Shrimps with this setup?

How many fish should I buy initially, considering fishprotector has offered to donate 1/4 of his filter media? This is what he stocks:

It will be media from my Fluval 405 on my 300l tank. I have two filters running on it so I will give you between 1 and 2 trays, so around 1/4 of my media. It is a fully stocked tank with four 5-6 inch Cichlids, one 6 inch Plec and one 3 inch Plec, four 4 inch Pictus and 17 adult Barbs.

You should check out Cherry Barbs! You can add a couple of pairs easily & although I never did it myself, I know some other posters that put Rams with Cherry Barbs.

I also love Von Rio Flame Tetras, I highly recommend them too. Again, not that I ever personally kept Rio Flames with Rams.

 

[Suleika]

Do I need to test the water hardness too? They all seem to have very red gills but the rest of their red colour is very pale, looks 'washed out' - or maybe I'm just being paranoid now.

 

[Suleika]

Going to get 6 more tetras (then have 15x in total) and 6 Corydoras Sterbai today, plus some Java Fern (I have a piece of bogwood to tie it to). And need to get a rock to weigh down my Sumatran Driftwood because it floats despite having soaked in the bath for ages. Will post some pictures soon.

My Vallisneria that I planted a week ago are all 'flaking', with long white threads coming off them, any ideas?

My LFS said they have just got some GBRs and will probably not be getting any more rams for a while, but that I could pair up Golden males with GBR females?!

 

[fishprotector]

Have you tried pets at home in Stockport for rams? Not far from the abyss and had some last time I was in there. The pets at home in Ashton also has them in most of the time.

 

[Suleika]

Went to Pets at Home in Ashton today, but they only had blue rams. Maidenhead Aquatics at Ashton Moss had a few gold rams but they were quite aggressive towards eachother.

 

[fishprotector]

There are a couple of other fish shops very near you. There is one at daisy nook garden centre and one called meadow view just round the corner from there. The first is better than the second but both worth a look. Did you get your cardinals and corydoras?

 

[Suleika]

Yes, the cardinals are doing really well, the guy at the Abyss let me have a free one because of the one that died - it's a shoal of 16 now. The corydoras look great too, they spend most the time swimming along the top of the back wall like they're on speed They've all had some flake food, live daphnias, JBL Novo Tab and frozen bloodworm (however these were too large for the cardinals). Might throw in a slice of cucumber later on, see if the corydoras fancy it.

 

[fishprotector]

Sounds like everything is going well. Bet the Cardinals look good with the Vallis.

Try Courgette instead of Cucumber, it has miles more nutritional value. I could never get my Corydoras to eat either though, so I bought some of the JBL Nova Fect tabs to get some veg into their diet. They are pretty good, but seem to break down quicker than the Nova Tabs.