Questions for GBR owners

[PNWaquarist]

Being something of a masochist, I've decided to try a pair of GBRs in my SA community tank (currently contains tetras and corys). These are coming from a reputable breeder in SoCal with free two-day shipping. Given the minimal financial risk, I figured why not. I have a couple of questions for those who've kept GBRs:

(1) My understanding is that GBRs need steady water parameters. Does this mean that one large (40%) WC per week is too much at one time? Would I be better off doing two or three 20% WCs instead, or is this unnecessary?

(2) I currently feed my other fish: LFS Optimum Community Flakes most of the time, freeze-dried bloodworms twice a week, and one Hikari sinking carnivore pellet each evening (cut in two). Should I be supplementing anything else specifically for the GBRs?

(3) I plan on housing them in my recently-cycled 10 gallon QT for the first six weeks. This includes some fake plants, some hornwort from my display tank, and a small cave-like structure. In lieu of substrate I have about a dozen river rocks covering the bottom, and the tank is sitting on a piece of black poster board. I may even put a small piece of driftwood in there. Is there anything else that I can do to minimize stress?

 

[elephantnose]

The only problems I see are GBRs usually require a well established tank, You said you just cycled it. Also a ten gallon is two small for more than one GBR. But since it's temporarily housing it should be fine.


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[PNWaquarist]

The only problems I see are GBRs usually require a well established tank, You said you just cycled it.

I've read this as well and am wondering how a tank that can fully convert 3 ppm ammonia into nitrates in less than 24 hours is going to be a problem. I imagine that two 4-month-old rams are probably going to produce less than 0.25 ppm ammonia in a day. Or perhaps I'm wrong about that?

 

[PNWaquarist]

Anyone else?

 

[Brookster123]

All sounds fine, i do a weekly % 60 wc, i do use a aged, temp. Matched water barrel though. I feed a variety of frozen foods and cobalt flake. I too keep them with tetras and corys.. all good.. no spawning though which is fine with me..

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[Caliban07]

Being something of a masochist, I've decided to try a pair of GBRs in my SA community tank (currently contains tetras and corys). These are coming from a reputable breeder in SoCal with free two-day shipping. Given the minimal financial risk, I figured why not. I have a couple of questions for those who've kept GBRs:



(1) My understanding is that GBRs need steady water parameters. Does this mean that one large (40%) WC per week is too much at one time? Would I be better off doing two or three 20% WCs instead, or is this unnecessary?



(2) I currently feed my other fish: LFS Optimum Community Flakes most of the time, freeze-dried bloodworms twice a week, and one Hikari sinking carnivore pellet each evening (cut in two). Should I be supplementing anything else specifically for the GBRs?



(3) I plan on housing them in my recently-cycled 10 gallon QT for the first six weeks. This includes some fake plants, some hornwort from my display tank, and a small cave-like structure. In lieu of substrate I have about a dozen river rocks covering the bottom, and the tank is sitting on a piece of black poster board. I may even put a small piece of driftwood in there. Is there anything else that I can do to minimize stress?

You should always take care not to alter parameters too much when doing a large water change regardless of the type of fish. This shouldn't be a problem if you practice large water changes regularly and the inhabitants and the things you add to the tank don't alter the water chemistry enough to cause a problem.

Diet seems ok to me.

In my opinion I would add as much to the QT to minimise stress as possible. Lots of plant and cover. I would be worried that, if by pair you mean a male and female that if the male doesn't take to the female he may stress her out. Obviously acclimatise slowly and leave the lights off for a day or two.


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[emerald76]

My rams get a 4 gal water change each night and a 15-20 gal change on weekends in a 30 gal.


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[PNWaquarist]

Thanks, all, for the comments. Much appreciated.

At this point, I'm wondering if it might be worth the gamble to put them directly into my display tank. I'm getting these directly from a reputable breeder (Yunite) and it's tough for me to believe that a place that specializes in such sensitive fish have a more disease-filled tank that I do. (Then again, I could also get unlucky.) So I'm weighing the risk of disease from a reputable breeder vs. the guaranteed stress of a less-than-optimal environment of a QT tank that has only been cycled for a week or so, plus an added move into the display tank in January.

These fish have supposedly already paired off on their own. While that's no guarantee of breeding, I doubt that the male would peck the female to death. I also think that after I do two large water changes before adding the rams into the display tank, I'll have a regular routine of 3 x 20% WCs per week. This will be more work for me, but still not too much hassle, as it'll only require a 5 gallon bucket and a 25 W heater.

 

[Brookster123]

Right in the display if it were me..

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[elephantnose]

I bought from Yunite and put the Rams directly in my tank.


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[Caliban07]

I bought from pets at home and put the rams directly in my tank.


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[Caliban07]

I bought from pets at home and put the rams directly in my tank.


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Just to expand on that. You know how I feel about quarantining. If you are confident the rams will be fairly stress free in the quarantine then I say go for it.

My rams went straight in. Problem is the male chases the female. She is getting stressed and I fear she will become sick. I need to intervene. Might have to take the female out. I don't really want to be adding more fish.


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[PNWaquarist]

Thanks again for the comments. I think that I'm going to forego the QT and add the rams directly into the display. I'd QT just about any other species (even if directly from a supplier), but GBRs are so freaking fragile that I suspect two acclimations and six weeks in a tank with limited comfort will be a problem.

Given that my wife is not super-happy about the (temporary) QT set up in the bedroom, I'll probably get a few more Cardinals from the LFS. If I don't use that thing, she'll probably kill me.

 

[Caliban07]

Thanks again for the comments. I think that I'm going to forego the QT and add the rams directly into the display. I'd QT just about any other species (even if directly from a supplier), but GBRs are so freaking fragile that I suspect two acclimations and six weeks in a tank with limited comfort will be a problem.

Given that my wife is not super-happy about the (temporary) QT set up in the bedroom, I'll probably get a few more Cardinals from the LFS. If I don't use that thing, she'll probably kill me.

Haha...good logic


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[Delapool]

Given that my wife is not super-happy about the (temporary) QT set up in the bedroom, I'll probably get a few more Cardinals from the LFS. If I don't use that thing, she'll probably kill me.

Lol - too true.