Bolivian ram advice.

[matty2085]

Hi everyone,

Having just moved into my first "proper" house - big enough for a good size aquarium anyway, I decided to start an aquarium. I have had several small ones in the past but this is the biggest I have had and have been thinking of what to stock it with. I came across Bolivian rams recently and just feel in love with these litte guys...they seem so inquisitive and personable. So I am just looking for some advice on keeping these cool fish really. My aquarium has been up and running now for nearly a month, bought a few guppies recently just to settle the tank down and add some interest - babies arrived within a day!!! The aquarium itself is 130 litres with a footprint of 93cm x 45cm. I have tried to create some specific hiding spots in preparation for my rams, including Mopani wood and mangrove roots, as well as some plants...fake I have to admit as I am not ready for real ones yet. When I figure out how I will try and post an image on here...am unsure of how to post images as not great with technology!

My PH is at 8.2...I know this is quite high but would this be OK for Bolivians? How many Bolivians would be a good number? one pair, 3 individuals or 2 pairs? Also what fish should I look to keep with them. I have guppies and was wondering whether these would be suitable ditherers or whether some tetras would also be needed? And Amano shrips or some sort of catfish for algae cleaners?

I'm sorry for the vagueness but any advice on basics for Bolivians would be great. I was tempted by GBRs but I am not confident enought for these yet and worry about ther sensitivity of these fish from what I have read.

Anyway, thanks for your time and I hope to get some advice from you experts soon. I won't be buying them for a couple more weeks yet, just to make sure everything is perfect for them but wil try to keep you updated as and when they settle in.

Cheers!

 

[matty2085]

And this is the set up I have...

 

[Borderlesscott]

Hi, good choice - I love Bolivians, more so than
my Germans. 1st - Ph is a bit high, try to aim at least for 7.5, if you can get it lower the better. Bogwood will drop the Ph over time so you might want to add more, you can also drop ph with buffers or peat balls. You could get 4 in that tank with a few other dither fish Tetras etc.

 

[My Fish Babies.]

Hi Matty
Well I personally have three Bolivian Rams. I am not sure of their sex ratio. I kept them alone in my 29 gallon for a while and all they did was hide only coming out to eat. After I added 5 diamond tetras and their personalities just blossomed. They all get along fine. I too wanted german blue but went with the bolivians for the same reason and I am glad I did. I have since also added six neons to the tank as well. I have seen the rams chase the tetras only a few times but over all its a very peaceful tank. Hope this helps you out with your decision.

 

[matty2085]

Thanks for your replies. I will keep an eye on the pH and hopefully can get it down a bit. I have read on various forums of people having success at keeping BRs at pHs around 8.0 so if there is anyone with such experiences I would be interested to hear. What pH do you keep yours at My Fish Babies?


Thanks for the advice on Tetras...am now thinking I will try a pair of Rams and a shoal of neons and see how I go. Will be a few more weeks yet anyway so hopefully will see some change

 

[matty2085]

p.s. beautiful fish Borderlesscott - that's what I'm after

 

[My Fish Babies.]

Thanks for your replies. I will keep an eye on the pH and hopefully can get it down a bit. I have read on various forums of people having success at keeping BRs at pHs around 8.0 so if there is anyone with such experiences I would be interested to hear. What pH do you keep yours at My Fish Babies?


Thanks for the advice on Tetras...am now thinking I will try a pair of Rams and a shoal of neons and see how I go. Will be a few more weeks yet anyway so hopefully will see some change

My Ph is usually about 8.2

 

[matty2085]

Well it's good to hear that yours do so well in that pH...gives me a bit of hope. Have just tested again and am around 8.0-8.2 currently.

 

[DragonFish71]

As long as the pH stays steady, Bolivians can acclimate to a higher pH. When you start mucking with the pH, that's when you'll have issues. Steady is always better than fluctuations.

 

[matty2085]

OK. Brilliant. Thanks for your advice. I will post some pics of these guys when I get them...no doubt I will need some help sexing them lol.

 

[Pckerfreak44]

Sexing them is pretty easy, but definitely get a small school of Tetras or something. With rams they need other fish in the tank to feel more comfortable. the fish you add are called dither fish. Just thought id let you know haha

 

[matty2085]

Great, thanks for that. I was thinking of a shoal of 8-10 neons.

 

[Pckerfreak44]

Thatd be perfect. I love neons haha

 

[Tetra1990]

Yes, more fish help bring out the bolivians true personality. When I first got my 2, they just sat and did nothing. So I added 8 blackskirt tetras and BAM! My rams don't sit still.

 

[matty2085]

Brilliant. I'll try the rams first and probably add a few tetras once they settle in. I also don't want to go through a mini-cycle as this is a new tank.

 

[k.mascher86]

I have 4 rams with 2 kribensis 1 apisto and 6 albino cory cats.........they all get along great and are very active!

 

[matty2085]

Great. Thanks for all your replies. I have just one more potential problem and that is water hardness. I haven't tested my hardness yet but have found out that our supply is 277ppm hard...according to our water suppliers website. Will be picking up a test kit tomorrow for this but am now concerned that my potential Bolivian Rams might not be ok in such hard water. To be honest I'm really dissapointed as was really looking forward to getting a couple of these guys and just hope the water test tomorrow means I have a chance of keeping them. Is there an upper range to water hardness for Bolivians? Does anyone have examples of their own aquarium hardness and keeping Bolivians? I want to provide a good home for these fish and don't want to make any mistakes that are easily avoided so would rather get it straight in forums first and not rely too much on the LFS staff.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Pckerfreak44]

Theres things you can do to lower your hardness. im not sure what, adding driftwood does i think, not 100 percent. But i dont think hard water will make that big of a deal, i think they should be fine and will adjust to it.

 

[Jconner3]

Great. Thanks for all your replies. I have just one more potential problem and that is water hardness. I haven't tested my hardness yet but have found out that our supply is 277ppm hard...according to our water suppliers website. Will be picking up a test kit tomorrow for this but am now concerned that my potential Bolivian Rams might not be ok in such hard water. To be honest I'm really dissapointed as was really looking forward to getting a couple of these guys and just hope the water test tomorrow means I have a chance of keeping them. Is there an upper range to water hardness for Bolivians? Does anyone have examples of their own aquarium hardness and keeping Bolivians? I want to provide a good home for these fish and don't want to make any mistakes that are easily avoided so would rather get it straight in forums first and not rely too much on the LFS staff.

Thanks in advance.

The water where I live is extremely hard and the ph is about 8.2 and my Bolivian has been doing well for the past 4 months I've had him