German blue rams stocking question.

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kashif314

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I read that 20 gallon tank size is for two GBRs fish but i was wondering if maybe adding too many like overstocking will curb the aggression like we do in case of African Cichlids so they don't establish territories. Will this work in case of German blue rams as well? Like stocking six or seven in a 20 gallon?
 
Yes it works. If they grow up together ime. A 20 is to small, it may work but I'd opt for a larger tank for a few simple reasons. Give them space if they want it and keep water real clean. I have 16 in a bare bottom 40b for about a year now.
 
Does dense foliage or hardscape (anything to block line of sight) help in this situation?
Does it all go to pot when they pair off and breed?
 
Does dense foliage or hardscape (anything to block line of sight) help in this situation?
Does it all go to pot when they pair off and breed?
With pairs in spawn, they need their little spot and everyone else needs to move away. I have 4 half pots and bases around the tank and a couple big java fern. I also pick pairs out as they form so I'm pretty sure it's an all Male tank at this point. They school up.
 
Does dense foliage or hardscape (anything to block line of sight) help in this situation?
Does it all go to pot when they pair off and breed?
With pairs in spawn, they need their little spot and everyone else needs to move away. I have 4 half pots and bases around the tank and a couple big java fern. I also pick pairs out as they form so I'm pretty sure it's an all Male tank at this point. They school up.
Thanks. Some pictures of tank. I think I have many hiding spaces. Behind rocks and between rocks and a very dense pearl grass plant which is growing extremely fast.

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I really love this fish and want too many of them like 10 maybe and want them to be seen by me as otherwise they hide a lot if two or three in a tank. I am not concerned if they breed or not. Just don't want one ram corners the other to the point where it dies. A little nipping is fine which is part of there behaviour. I have harlequin rasboras which may act as a distraction too.

Please advise.
 
They like it hot. 82°. 10 is too many. 4 tops. Very sensitive to nitrates.
 
They like it hot. 82°. 10 is too many. 4 tops. Very sensitive to nitrates.
Mine is now 83.3 so temperature wise its ok. Also water parameters are as they prefer. How many then i can put even if i overstock it?
 
I agree with 4 would be slightly overstocked once fully grown. 6 would be really pushing it.
 
Coral if you are here please give me your advise too as you are the rams expert here.
 
Coral if you are here please give me your advise too as you are the rams expert here.
6 in a 20 might work if they all pair up.
I have kept 8 pairs [16] in breeding mode in a 40b without issue.

One issue could be uneven numbers . Rams pair IME so odd numbers always leaves some out [they usually don't last long ].
If they spawn it would be best to pull the eggs regardless of whether you want to breed as defending the eggs will be very stressful on whole tank.

Good to hear the rams are still doing good Brook ! I just wondered yesterday how they were doing?

Kashif that is a wicked nice looking set up.
Even one pair would make that tank awesome .(y)
 
6 in a 20 might work if they all pair up.
I have kept 8 pairs [16] in breeding mode in a 40b without issue.

One issue could be uneven numbers . Rams pair IME so odd numbers always leaves some out [they usually don't last long ].
If they spawn it would be best to pull the eggs regardless of whether you want to breed as defending the eggs will be very stressful on whole tank.

Good to hear the rams are still doing good Brook ! I just wondered yesterday how they were doing?

Kashif that is a wicked nice looking set up.
Even one pair would make that tank awesome .(y)
Thanks a lot Coral for the detailed reply. I was waiting for your advise. Thanks a lot for liking the tank as well. Actually i love this fish a lot. Its unfortunate that here only the balloon strain is available everywhere. I have few more questions please.

1) Do different kind of rams like electric or german interbreed?

2) If I put like suppose 7 or 8 and some of them pair up but some are left alone then will it be a problem for the left out fish? I just want that when i look at the tank I see them as if i put 6 then 3 will prefer spending time in hiding. What i want to know that do they fight like African cichlids? I see them fighting but never seen one chasing other for long. Its like a little chasing only and then both don't pay attention to each other. Is it possible that one fish bully other to a point to corner it and eventually kill it?

3) What is the best temperature for them in which they stay happy and which is not too hot or too cold. Like at what particular magic number you keep your rams at?

4) I seen another balloon strain of rams yesterday and bought 2 of them. Can you please id what kind of rams are those? They are very beautiful and color like goldfish. VideoCapture_20180922-152906~01.jpgVideoCapture_20180922-152923~01.jpgVideoCapture_20180922-152943~01.jpg
 
The odd fish out likely will not last long IMO.
The ram you got is a gold balloon.
Balloon rams are less healthy in general which says nothing good about them.
I keep my rams around 82f.
Different color strains will cross breed if they want.
I have EBR and GBR crosses for a year now.
 
Thanks a lot. Another question is that is it advisable to have a dither fish like cardinals or neons or harlequins etc? I have few harlequins in tank and i don't know why but i feel like removing every other fish and make it ram only tank. But if such fish are good in diverting there aggression or not?
 
I think rams do best in a tank all to themselves.
As many rams as I have not one shares a tank with fish other then rams .
I don't even keep them in my 180 display tank. I believe they are best in a species only tank or with similar fish like discus or maybe cardinals.
It is important to keep temp up there so only fish that are known to well in heat should be used IMO.
 
I think rams do best in a tank all to themselves.
As many rams as I have not one shares a tank with fish other then rams .
I don't even keep them in my 180 display tank. I believe they are best in a species only tank or with similar fish like discus or maybe cardinals.
It is important to keep temp up there so only fish that are known to well in heat should be used IMO.
Thanks and I am thinking to do that as well but kind of skeptical about housing 8 rams in 16 gallon. I think i ll be fine because of the area i have for hiding but still uncertain. If i have 8 rams then i won't need to think about any other fish in tank. I can enjoy there beauty as I love how they swim and stand at one point and swim. Would you advise i do this experiment like 8 GBRs in this tank as shown in pictures? Its 65-70 litre only I guess. I wont blame you if it didn't workout but do you advise if its ok?
 
6 would be better IMO.
1 pair can claim each back corner as it is likely they will and the other pair will be in the middle as a buffer .
With 8 it leaves 4 fish [2 pair] to contend with each other in the middle and the corner pairs coming into their territory.
Rams claim about 1 square foot of territory so 3 pair in that tank will be tight but also good looking and plenty active IMO.
 
6 would be better IMO.
1 pair can claim each back corner as it is likely they will and the other pair will be in the middle as a buffer .
With 8 it leaves 4 fish [2 pair] to contend with each other in the middle and the corner pairs coming into their territory.
Rams claim about 1 square foot of territory so 3 pair in that tank will be tight but also good looking and plenty active IMO.
Thanks a lot. Ok I will do six. I have now 2 golden one gbr and one electric blue and one dull looking gbr which is probably bad genetics as i don't see him changing to yellow so i all just gift it to lfs and buy two gbr and that will make it 6.

I come up with lots of questions and now another question comes to my mind is that my temp is 28.5 c which is 83.3 so do i need to lower it to 82 or keep it like this. Thise i have seems to be fine in it and started eating already which i bought yesterday only. My previous rams gave me a very hard time but i had big fish like angels so maybe they were scared of angels. Please let me know if i keep it as it is. Will more temperature means more aggressive behaviour?

Secondly they are very messy eaters. They put pellet in mouth then spill it and then take back and then spill again as not liking it but i take it as there eating. Is it there normal behaviour? I have a a carpet and i can see they gonna make it very messy. So do they eat the left over or food they crush and spill later or leave it for me to clean it?

That comes to another question that how many water changes i need? Once a week or twice and how much?

Sorry for too many questions. [emoji55]
 
Your temp is fine where it is at.
Rams spit their food to chew it .
So if you see this they are liking the food you offer.
They will go around after and clean up what is on bottom as long as too much is not offered.
 
Your temp is fine where it is at.
Rams spit their food to chew it .
So if you see this they are liking the food you offer.
They will go around after and clean up what is on bottom as long as too much is not offered.
Thanks Coral. Yes I noticed and see them picking tiny pits which are invisible to my naked eye so its good. I offered them hikari discus bio gold as it has rams made on package and the pellets are sinking and of very nice size for them. Last time my rams refused all hikari pellets and were only eating bloodworms. Glad these ones eating hikari brand as i have very strong allergy to bloodworms.

May i know what foods you offer to your rams?

Also another question pops to my mind. Initially i was thinking to add a small angelfish to tank but now i changed my mind. Do you think adding an angel will restrict rams activity? I very much made my mind now for a rams only tank and no other fish but just asking about it if rams will be scared of the angel?

Another question is that if you were in my shoes with same tank as i have would you house small fish like cardinals with rams or keep rams only.
 
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