Rams question :-)

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Copachick

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Im thinking I read somewhere that chichlids are not suppose to be in a tank with live plants? is that correct? And also, what fish would you say are most compatible with Rams? such as german blue rams, or bolivian rams? I've been really interested in getting a pair of them.. Ive just always kept Platies, tetras and neons so I dont have any experience with these guys..

Any advice would be helpful!! :D
 
In my experience my bolivian ram doesnt mess with plants and it is also one of the most chilled out fish in my tank and doesnt bother anyone. Also if you want to know i have neon tetras,cherry barbs, gold barbs, an angel fish, and a siamese algae eater with my bolvian ram
 
So they can kind of go with anyone? I assume nothing too HUGE or super aggressive. Ihave a 36gallon with Platies, 2 headlight tail light tetras and cardinal tetras, and a 75 gallon with Balas, platies and rasboras. I was thinking of putting 2 rams in with either tank... Whichever tank would be best I wasnt sure
 
I have a pair of blue rams and they love my fake plants. They hate my caves lol an I have three caves. A big, medium, and small. Ignore all of them but hang out and even breed by my plants.

image-377076894.jpg

Them breeding by my planted area
 
Iv just found out iv got 2 german blu rams, i though i had bolivians. Iv got them in my planted tank and they absolutly love it lol
 

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phatpaul said:
Iv just found out iv got 2 german blu rams, i though i had bolivians. Iv got them in my planted tank and they absolutly love it lol

Also i forgot to mention my stock is
15 neons, 10 ember tetras,2 bn plecos, 4 pygmy cories plus 50+ shrimps and iv had no problem at all with them
 
When keeping Rams you should have a heavily planted tank. You should also provide them with cave like places to hide. A lot off people use clay pots placed on their side. I have an artificial driftwood ornament that was hollowed out that my GBR loved.
 
yeah I have a few pieces of driftwood that when i put in my tank, made a few caves out of the shapes of the wood ontop of each other. I might put a small one at the other end of the tank too just incase, if I get these guys I mean. I seen two at one of my lfs, that LOOK like a pair to me. Ive seen them a few times in the last couple weeks. One is darker in color, one is lighter in color and they stay together. I guess I hae to just trust the people that work there that they give me a male and a female, but I cant guarantee that they will pair up, right?
 
i have 4 german blues, in my heavily planted tank. they absolutley love it.lol i have 6 peppered cories with them, and 6 serpae or red minors and my big guy, my Discus.rams are so pretty, id reccomend them to you. just make sure you have hiding places.
 
aquabeast said:
i have 4 german blues, in my heavily planted tank. they absolutley love it.lol i have 6 peppered cories with them, and 6 serpae or red minors and my big guy, my Discus.rams are so pretty, id reccomend them to you. just make sure you have hiding places.

I've never had much luck with rams and i just got some new ones to try it again so any advice on the care of these fish would appreciated, i know they are sensitive to ph i just dont want to loose all of them again
 
Are they sensitive to Ph in the sense that they need a low ph? High Ph? or just the Ph cant fluctuate all over the place? Mine stayes pretty steady. In my 36 gallon it stays pretty low for some reason Usually 6.4 or whatever it is. My 75 was I think 7 last I checked
 
They do better in a lower steady ph. I actually had a pretty high ph of 7.6 and my Ram did alright for over a year. They just can't stand in poor water conditions. Keeping your water pristine is key.
 
So could I put say a pair of rams in a 55 with
3 platys
4mollies
6 guppie
5 peppered Cory's
1 angelfish
Planted?
 
Copachick said:
Are they sensitive to Ph in the sense that they need a low ph? High Ph? or just the Ph cant fluctuate all over the place? Mine stayes pretty steady. In my 36 gallon it stays pretty low for some reason Usually 6.4 or whatever it is. My 75 was I think 7 last I checked

I dont know i just know there sensitive to everything it seems like, didnt know if i was doing something wrong
 
From my experience i can tell you that lower ph is preferred but the key is to having it fluctuate as little as possible and low LOW low nitrates.
As with other fish species gbr's breeding strains differ. Some seem to be alot stronger than others. Overall though IME gbr's aren't extremely difficult to keep :)
 
Cichlid Kid said:
From my experience i can tell you that lower ph is preferred but the key is to having it fluctuate as little as possible and low LOW low nitrates.
As with other fish species gbr's breeding strains differ. Some seem to be alot stronger than others. Overall though IME gbr's aren't extremely difficult to keep :)

Do weekly water changes help? I have an apistrogamma to
 
Absolutely. Pwc's at least once a week.
My gbr tanks are all heavily planted and my nitrates are always low to non existing and i still do pwc's, 50% every saturday.
 
Cichlid Kid said:
Absolutely. Pwc's at least once a week.
My gbr tanks are all heavily planted and my nitrates are always low to non existing and i still do pwc's, 50% every saturday.

I have some easybalance to regulate ph and reduce frequent water changes, does that stuff really work?
 
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