Freshwater questions

[redsea]

1. I have an established 20g tank right now. If I wanted to upgrade to a 55 will my tank be cycled?
2. Do GBR get along with small fish like tetras? Thanks

 

[somethingsfishy]

If you were to move all things( substrate decorations and filtermedia) your 55 would have the necessary bacteria to remove the ammonia from the new water. It would be like doing a water change and adding more water to the tank. As for stocking idk. I'm also in the market for some blues or golds.

 

[redsea]

If you were to move all things( substrate decorations and filtermedia) your 55 would have the necessary bacteria to remove the ammonia from the new water. It would be like doing a water change and adding more water to the tank. As for stocking idk. I'm also in the market for some blues or golds.

Oh ok, so I can put my decor and gravel in their to complete the cycle, and then switch it out for new stuff right? Also, how long would I leave my old gravel and decor in? Also I would need an upgraded filter, so I would just put in tue one in the 20g temporarily, right? Thansk

 

[somethingsfishy]

Yea you would need a larger filter. Get it and either hook it up to the 20 or put the filter media in tank/old filter to get some bacteria on that. Then when you do swap, put the new filter with new media on the tank and put the old stuff in the new filter. Does that make sense? The slowly remove the old stuff for some ceramic rings. The process may take a couple of weeks. I keep some filter media in my sump for my qt and then just put it in the filter and start it up and qt new fish. Remember to add prime.

 

[somethingsfishy]

And yes you would need the old stuff and add the new stuff and slowly remove the old deco.

 

[redsea]

Yea you would need a larger filter. Get it and either hook it up to the 20 or put the filter media in tank/old filter to get some bacteria on that. Then when you do swap, put the new filter with new media on the tank and put the old stuff in the new filter. Does that make sense? The slowly remove the old stuff for some ceramic rings. The process may take a couple of weeks. I keep some filter media in my sump for my qt and then just put it in the filter and start it up and qt new fish. Remember to add prime.

Hhmmm thanks for your help! Maybe it would just be easier to cycle it the normal way.......

 

[jpchin]

my gbr's get along with my x-ray tetra's just fine. gbr's are very peaceful fish and get along with most community fish. mine are in with tetra's, molly's, dwarf gourami's, glo fish and platty's. you'll love them.

 

[redsea]

my gbr's get along with my x-ray tetra's just fine. gbr's are very peaceful fish and get along with most community fish. mine are in with tetra's, molly's, dwarf gourami's, glo fish and platty's. you'll love them.

That's great to know. I saw some electric blue ones today at an lfs, they were beautiful. How do you breed rams?

 

[jpchin]

i really don't know much about breeding gbr's. i have 2 males because i didn't want to get involved in breeding. just google german blue rams and you'll get all the info you need. i think i did read that gbr's are not very good parents.

 

[redsea]

i really don't know much about breeding gbr's. i have 2 males because i didn't want to get involved in breeding. just google german blue rams and you'll get all the info you need. i think i did read that gbr's are not very good parents.

Do your two males get along well?

 

[JoeBob]

my gbr's get along with my x-ray tetra's just fine. gbr's are very peaceful fish and get along with most community fish. mine are in with tetra's, molly's, dwarf gourami's, glo fish and platty's. you'll love them.

Mine also get along with tetras, I have black neons, flame von rios, cherry barbs, an angel, featherifn cat and all get along well. I researched a lot on tankmates for GBR and most everything seemed to agree that tetras were very good dither fish for the rams. I chose the black neons and flame von rios as they like higher temps than other tetras. Good luck!

 

[jpchin]

my 2 males get along great. i got them both at the same time and they grew up together. as long as there aren't any females in the tank they are best friends! they always swim together. here they are

 

[redsea]

my 2 males get along great. i got them both at the same time and they grew up together. as long as there aren't any females in the tank they are best friends! they always swim together. here they are

Is there any way to tell which gender they are?

 

[Bubble_B0y]

1. I have an established 20g tank right now. If I wanted to upgrade to a 55 will my tank be cycled?

yes and no.

Your cycle would be jump-started!
Remember that bacteria only grow according to its ammonia food supply.

If you upgrade to a 55g, I assume you will be adding more fish.
With this in mind, your bacteria colony was only large enough to support a 20 gallon load.
Thus your good bacteria colony will need to grow in order to support the new additional load in the 55 gallon.


So yes you are cycled (a small head start). But stock and add fish slowly to your upgraded tank.
Good luck

 

[Bubble_B0y]

Is there any way to tell which gender they are?

Sexing German Blue Ram

The female fish is smaller than the male and have more pink pigmentation on her ventral region. If you look at the anterior region of the dorsal fin, you can see that her fin rays are less developed. It is also common for females to have a plumper body shape and more rounded edging of the tailfin. The back of the dorsal and anal fins have a more pointy edge in the male ram, and the tail fin is also more sharply edged. The male ram can be recognized on his V-shaped tail fin and the elongated second ray that is present in the dorsal fin.
These pictures will further help you sex you rams:
Male German Blue Ram

Picture by fishalicious
Female German Blue Ram

Picture by fishalicious

 

[jpchin]

Is there any way to tell which gender they are?

bubble boy just gave you great info. i have nothing to add.

 

[redsea]

Do GBR's get along with other types of rams, like Electric Blue? Thanks!

 

[DragonFish71]

Do GBR's get along with other types of rams, like Electric Blue? Thanks!

Yes they do. They also get along with the golds and the colors will interbreed. There's nothing like seeing blues and golds sharing a well planted, natural tank. The EGBRs I've heard are way touchier than their non electric cousins. Not to mention the price. Around here they're upwards of $50.00 just like the EJD. I can justify spending $50.00 on many fish, not on 1 fish.

 

[redsea]

Thats good, it is a shame that the Rams aren't very hardy though.