German or bolivian rams

[ejaramillo01]

Guess you missed that part. No worries. At least 25% once a week.

Ups, i did,
Thanks

 

[gallowchris]

Ups, i did,
Thanks

No worries what so ever!

 

[severum mama]

I understand what you are saying. I have been running a fully cycled Ram tank for a couple years now, with zeros across the board. My tank is heavily planted which takes care of the Nitrates. Now if your going to keep GBR's or most other Dwarf Cichlids and Discuss can't not tolerate Nitrates at all, you will have deaths. I know this from experience. This is why most people have problems keepingg them alive past a couple weeks. That amount of time of very low levels of Nitrate will kill them.

Before my first breeder allowed me to take any Rams, I was required to bring in water samples to make sure everything was zero. He has a quality guarantee based on 0ed water. Any sign of numbers and he won't give the guarantee.

My tank reads ph6.6, amo 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0 all the time and no mystery deaths what so ever. I also have Peacock Gobies which are as touchy as GBR and Discuss.

Nitrates are also controlled with the frequent water changes which is required of the Rams and Discuss.

I'm going to have to disagree- discus, rams, and other dwarf cichlids CAN tolerate small amounts of nitrate. I've kept discus, rams, Laetacara, Nannacara, and about 15 species of Apistogramma over the past 8 years.

You have obviously gotten good quality stock from your breeder. But trust me- stick the average petstore GBR into a tank and it's going to kick over within a couple weeks to a few months no matter how good your water quality is.

IMO his quality guarantee that requires 0's across the board is just to cover his butt, because the overwhelming majority of tanks don't have a 0 nitrate reading. It's not because it's an absolute requirement to keep dwarf cichlids.

 

[Mlani]

I'm going to have to disagree- discus, rams, and other dwarf cichlids CAN tolerate small amounts of nitrate. I've kept discus, rams, Laetacara, Nannacara, and about 15 species of Apistogramma over the past 8 years.

You have obviously gotten good quality stock from your breeder. But trust me- stick the average petstore GBR into a tank and it's going to kick over within a couple weeks to a few months no matter how good your water quality is.

IMO his quality guarantee that requires 0's across the board is just to cover his butt, because the overwhelming majority of tanks don't have a 0 nitrate reading. It's not because it's an absolute requirement to keep dwarf cichlids.

+1 agreed
I keep both discus and gbrs and my tank has a constant reading of nitrates (not high but still present) and my fish are thriving, even spawning

 

[gallowchris]

I'm going to have to disagree- discus, rams, and other dwarf cichlids CAN tolerate small amounts of nitrate. I've kept discus, rams, Laetacara, Nannacara, and about 15 species of Apistogramma over the past 8 years.

You have obviously gotten good quality stock from your breeder. But trust me- stick the average petstore GBR into a tank and it's going to kick over within a couple weeks to a few months no matter how good your water quality is.

IMO his quality guarantee that requires 0's across the board is just to cover his butt, because the overwhelming majority of tanks don't have a 0 nitrate reading. It's not because it's an absolute requirement to keep dwarf cichlids.

Got it. I have had issues as soon as Nitrate appears, and everything I have read states that its something they can't tolerate for long. Maybe I'm using too much caution? Or just have had a very different experience?

Now concerning the stock I have, my first pair of GBR and a pair of Goldens was from LFS and never had any issues with them. Their are all alive after 2 years and breeding.

So people can learn, what are you considering "small amounts"?

 

[severum mama]

I'd consider small amounts of nitrate to be under 20, although the lower the better IMO for GBRs.

I've had several pairs breed and die a couple days later. They are just so mass produced that the quality of stock is really poor most of the time IMO. There are so many dwarf cichlids that (IMHO) are just as attractive and have just as much personality that I'm pretty much over GBRs at this point. I'm an Apisto lover as you can tell. LOL. They don't give me any trouble like GBRs.

 

[gallowchris]

I'd consider small amounts of nitrate to be under 20, although the lower the better IMO for GBRs.

I've had several pairs breed and die a couple days later. They are just so mass produced that the quality of stock is really poor most of the time IMO. There are so many dwarf cichlids that (IMHO) are just as attractive and have just as much personality that I'm pretty much over GBRs at this point. I'm an Apisto lover as you can tell. LOL. They don't give me any trouble like GBRs.

Cool we have a base line, under 20 sounds very safe to me.

My pairs from the LFS have been going strong for a couple years. The Goldes we are worry, but seem to be the tough ones out of the pairs. I tried long fins from a LFS and those went in 4 months. So got more form the breeder. I have kept a few from my stock bread but most don't make it as the parent eat them

Haven't tried Apisto's yet going to check them out. I'm just abou to get a couple more Discus and a few Kribs

 

[bm5424]

I happen to have a male krib for sale and I also have 3 1/2 moth fry at 1/2-3/4 of an inch. I cant sex the fry yet though, but you can take the male.

 

[gallowchris]

Thank for the offer! I have 4 Kribs already paid for waiting for me to pick them up.

 

[jetajockey]

I'd consider small amounts of nitrate to be under 20, although the lower the better IMO for GBRs.

I've had several pairs breed and die a couple days later. They are just so mass produced that the quality of stock is really poor most of the time IMO. There are so many dwarf cichlids that (IMHO) are just as attractive and have just as much personality that I'm pretty much over GBRs at this point. I'm an Apisto lover as you can tell. LOL. They don't give me any trouble like GBRs.

Couldn't agree with this more. I spent about a year breeding EBR's and while I was successful at it, it's something I will never do again. Whenever I open my own store it's going to be one thing that I don't stock, ever.

 

[gallowchris]

Cool we have a base line, under 20 sounds very safe to me.

My pairs from the LFS have been going strong for a couple years. The Goldes we are worry, but seem to be the tough ones out of the pairs. I tried long fins from a LFS and those went in 4 months. So got more form the breeder. I have kept a few from my stock bread but most don't make it as the parent eat them

Haven't tried Apisto's yet going to check them out. I'm just abou to get a couple more Discus and a few Kribs

Regarding the Apisto's I feel like a bit of a dummy, I know what they are LOL I have been lookin gfor Double or Triple Reds for some time now. Beautiful fish for sure!

Sounds like a lot of people are no longer fans of the GBR's.