Bolivian ram behaviour?

[liamdalr]

Hi, three months ago I started a 20 gallon tank stoked with a breeding pair of Bolivian rams, 6 tiger barbs, a pearl gourami, 6 blue neons and three rummy nosed tetra....then realised after plenty of research that my tank was probably overstocked. So I started a 55 gallon tank that is running great and moved all fish (apart from the BR pair and the 6 neon tetra) into that thank. I changed the substrate to sand in my 20 gallon about a week ago. However, before hand my BR's where brightly coloured (deep orange/yellow) and active, and now they have become a dark speckled, pale yellow colour, seem a lot less active, uninterested in food apart their mild interest in frozen bloodworms, and don't spend time together anymore. They have spawned a few times in the community tank with no success.

Water test 0 for ammonia and 0-5 for nitrate, pH is at 7.4 and temperate is 76.

Is this just adjusting to the new substrate? Or prefer a more populated tank? Or is normal behaviour for BR's?
As most of you will know these fish are amazing, and would love any advice to maintain their well being, appreciate any thoughts! Thanks.....

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[JF213]

Maybe too many changes. They sound stressed. I am sure they will be fine.


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[PNWaquarist]

Bolivians aren't as picky as GBRs, but they're not big fans of sudden change either. Sounds like they're unhappy. Is your sand more brightly colored than the old gravel? I'd leave the lights off for a few days and see if they recover.

The Tiger Barbs will eventually nip your gourami to death. Also, you need to keep Rummys in shoals of at least six (8-10 is better) and they are also incompatible with Tiger Barbs.

 

[liamdalr]

Thanks for the advice..yes the sand is lighter so maybe switchibg out yhe lights will help. My tank is planted, would you think a few days with out addiontal light would cause them to perish?
So in addition to stressing out BR's it's seem like I need to rejig my community a little. At present the barbs seem a little wary of the gourami and haven't seemed that interested but i will for sure keep a close eye on their relationship. I'm am planning on increasing the rummynose tetra shoal, but from what you say it looks like I should consider rehousing the barbs before hand. Interesting...lots to learn. Thank you

 

[PNWaquarist]

No problem. Your plants should be fine with a days of no light (think of them as cloudy days).

A shoal of 8+ Cherry Barbs will work a lot better than Tigers. *Much* less aggressive fish.