German Blue Ram thoughts

[jakeandwendy]

Hello everyone! We just fishless cycled a 28g bowfront and have had 5 juvie peppered corys running amuck for a week now. Yesterday we added 2 juvie GBR's as our center piece fish. In another week to 10 days we will add 5-6 black neon tetras and call it good. We were just wondering if anyone had any thoughts or experiences they would like to share. Tank specs are Am: 0ppm N2: 0ppm N3: >5ppm Temp 81 F ph 7.6 dark sub, moderate plastic plants, 3 or 4 cave decos, marineland 150b hob filter. We really like these fish and want to keep them happy and healthy so any advice would be welcome!! Thanks.

 

[bs6749]

In a 28g tank I would be changing 5 gallons of water every third day to ensure healthy rams. They like clean water. Your temp is good. I prefer 78-80 for mine when I keep them. Keep the nitrates under 10ppm and you should do fine...this will be easily accomplished by changing out 5g every third day.

Also, I would consider upping the school of tetras to 12-15 which is EASILY doable. You might even consider doing 10 black neons and then 8 hatchetfish for the upper level. Tetras have a small impact on the bioload of a tank.

 

[JoeBob]

Hey there!

I have two GBR's in a 55 with 8 black neon tetras, 8 flame von rio tetras, live plants, 3 corries, and an opaline gourami. I do 20% water change every week and keep my temp at 80. They have done well for almost a year now and everyone seems happy. I aggree on upping the tetra school, they're so much more cool to watch in larger groups! Have fun!

 

[jakeandwendy]

okay thanks guys! i'm thinking about adding a small hob for all the usual reasons but worry about the flowrate. we have a python and pwcs are a snap. we may run 10 or 12 black neons and maybe some serpae. if we did how many do you think we could get in there. we are leery of aqadvisor had mixed results using it. we trust polling fellow enthusiasts much more. thanks for the feedback, you guys are great!

 

[bs6749]

I would say about 25 in any combination of "dither" fish (neons, cardinals, black neons, glolight tetras, serpae, danios etc). They don't add much to the bioload of the tank.

 

[jakeandwendy]

Went ahead and got 13 neon tetras about two days ago checking water a few times daily for spikes (none), was thinking about maybe adding some serpae tetras say 10 or so and also thinking about putting a tetra 10i hob on it in addition to the marineland 150b. Any thoughts on that? I posted a thread in the equipment forum so if thats off topic cool.

 

[Koikid88]

If you want to add a cool dimension to your tank with minimal bioload, get a school of tinwini danio or CPDs or both. I have 20+ and they school tightly, back and forth. They don't demand your attention, just kind of add a subtle movement, and have cool designs when you look closely. About half the size of neons, so you need more to make it look good.

Throw in a few Scarlet Badis badis too for bottom level, they are very colourful yet about the size of your finger nail. Would look good in your set up. They move slow