ID a fish - Is this a Dwarf Cichlid and are they agressive?

[DanR]

New to keeping fish other than guppies, is this a dwarf Cichlid?

Hi all,

I've JUST started keeping fish again after a 20 year hiatus, and even then the only thing I kept were live bearers like mollies and guppies.

Tonight I bought a used 10 gal tank to be used as my quarantine tank for new fish I will be adding to my 55 gal main tank, which contains 2 clown loaches, 1 yoyo loach, 2 red tail sharks and a random black neon (they came with the 55 gal tank).

Anyhow, the 10 gal tank I bought tonight included a couple of fish as well, a nice 4 inch Pleco that will be gladly re-homed to the new tank, a sword tail molly, which I know tend to chase fish all over and finally, THIS guy:

Now the people I bought the tank off of know nothing about fish or what species they had in the tank but they did tell me they had 2 fish completely vanish from the tank and they suspect that one of the 3 remaining fish killed them.

I've never kept Cichlids but I am pretty sure this grey fella is dwarf chichlid of some kind, am I correct? Someone at a pet shop recently told me that dwarfs Cichlids can be added to a community tank with no issues but now I'm scared this dude is going to take out some of the new peaceful fish I plan on picking up this weekend to add to quarantine.

Can anyone help me ID this little guy and confirm whether or not this guy is my death dealer? Pretty sure it's not the sword tail lol! I asked what the other two fish were and was told "We don't know but they were really pretty". I'm assuming a couple of guppies but no idea.

Thanks!
Dan

 

[guppygourami]

I THINK that's a german blue ram or bolivian ram - I'm not sure what exactly the difference in appearance is, sorry. IF I have the species right they're good fish and generally community friendly although german blues are more sensitive and aggressive than bolivians. None of this is for sure but just stating what I think untim you get a definite answer. The fish should be fine together, at least for now


P.S. The tank mates could have died because of poor water quality or another common reason for death and the pleco probably ate it. My plecos have all been found chewing on dead fish before - yuck!

 

[DanR]

I THINK that's a german blue ram or bolivian ram - I'm not sure what exactly the difference in appearance is, sorry. IF I have the species right they're good fish and generally community friendly although german blues are more sensitive and aggressive than bolivians. None of this is for sure but just stating what I think untim you get a definite answer. The fish should be fine together, at least for now


P.S. The tank mates could have died because of poor water quality or another common reason for death and the pleco probably ate it. My plecos have all been found chewing on dead fish before - yuck!

Thanks for your feedback and I thought that might be another possibility... they died and the pleco munched the corpses. I asked when they noticed and they said it was a couple of weeks since they had checked the fish.

Call me crazy but I headcount several times a day lol!

I'm thinking of getting a couple of varying species so I just hope this guy doesn't go nuclear on them. I'll see if other people confirm but I'll probably get an extra plant for cover for the new fish just in case.

Thanks again

 

[guppygourami]

Thanks for your feedback and I thought that might be another possibility... they died and the pleco munched the corpses. I asked when they noticed and they said it was a couple of weeks since they had checked the fish.



Call me crazy but I headcount several times a day lol!



I'm thinking of getting a couple of varying species so I just hope this guy doesn't go nuclear on them. I'll see if other people confirm but I'll probably get an extra plant for cover for the new fish just in case.



Thanks again

No problem! With my fry I'm always taking head counts haha. For a 10 gallon I wouldn't suggest a GBR/BR because I have seen them most often in larger tanks in pairs or trios. Then again, I've never owned them so you never know! Plant cover is always a good option, especially if they're live plants. BTW - what types of species are you looking into? And have you kept tanks before?

 

[Ashenwelt]

So wait a day or two dor the colors to come back and you will see what you have for sure, but that looks like a young ram. They are very fun to watch.

When stressed the black bands and colors disapear... So so let it relax some.

 

[coralbandit]

Bolivian Ram.
100%

 

[DanR]

No problem! With my fry I'm always taking head counts haha. For a 10 gallon I wouldn't suggest a GBR/BR because I have seen them most often in larger tanks in pairs or trios. Then again, I've never owned them so you never know! Plant cover is always a good option, especially if they're live plants. BTW - what types of species are you looking into? And have you kept tanks before?

I used to keep fish about 20 or more years ago but it was a small tank, maybe 20 gallons and it was always live bearers as I found them so fascinating, so mostly mollies like blacks and sword tails and some guppies. I remember them dying pretty often and just packing it in. But fast forward to now and it would appear that tanks and filtering systems have improved, plus the internet now exists so sharing information is MUCH easier.

The BR won't stay in the quarantine tank, he'll get moved to the 55 gallon in a couple of weeks once I see the fish are stable. Just want to make sure everyone is OK and not carrying anything.

In terms of new fish, I'm not sure what I want yet, but right now the main tank contains all bottom fish, so I will be looking for small colorful community fish that will remain higher in the water column. I've seen some Gouramis that I thought were quite colorful and a few Tetra species that I might go with but I haven't made up my mind yet.

If you guys have any suggestions that would fit the bill, please let me know. I'm also weary of having too many fish in the tank, is the premise of 1 inch of fish per gallon that I've heard a good indicator?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[DanR]

So wait a day or two dor the colors to come back and you will see what you have for sure, but that looks like a young ram. They are very fun to watch.

When stressed the black bands and colors disapear... So so let it relax some.

OK thanks for the tip... the black is there and some faint red lines outlining the fins and tail. I looked up photos of the BR and seems like he should have some yellows on the body as well, which this guy definitely doesn't have at this point.

Anyhow, they're all settled in and right now just trying to to figure out the heater and why it's set to a super low temp and yet got the water up to 29c and it was still lit. I just shut it all the way to the lowest temp and it finally shut off. So waiting for the water to come back to 27 and then I'll try to find the sweet spot.

Dan

 

[DanR]

Bolivian Ram.
100%

Thanks for the answer. So it's very unlike this guy killed his tank mates and more likely they died from poor water quality and the Pleco tidied up correct?

Dan

 

[gemach7]

Identification: male Bolivian ram.

Tank compatibility: red tail shark are a bit aggressive for a ram. Best description I have of Bolivian ram temperament is like a small dog that barks a bit. They might occasionally chase a tank mate that gets too close but then forgets about them. But don't do well with tank mates that might react aggressively to their "bark", a red tail shark might do that.

Clown loaches get way too big for a 55 gallon, they get 1 foot in length!

Current conditions, Bolivian Rams should not be kept in a 10 g. They do not swim constantly but have moments of short speed bursts. A 10g tank plus the decor to make them feel safe does not have enough room for this.

I keep mine in a 55 gallon with other small non-aggressive fish. Guppies, tetras, rasboras, corys, and small size plecos. When acquiring fish read their description on liveaquaria.com. They give enough info on minimum tank size, adult size, ph, current, aggressiveness; to get an idea of compatibility.



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[KingKoopa512]

Bolivian ram is what it looks like to me

 

[Toad]

What kind of pleco is it?

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[guppygourami]

I used to keep fish about 20 or more years ago but it was a small tank, maybe 20 gallons and it was always live bearers as I found them so fascinating, so mostly mollies like blacks and sword tails and some guppies. I remember them dying pretty often and just packing it in. But fast forward to now and it would appear that tanks and filtering systems have improved, plus the internet now exists so sharing information is MUCH easier.



The BR won't stay in the quarantine tank, he'll get moved to the 55 gallon in a couple of weeks once I see the fish are stable. Just want to make sure everyone is OK and not carrying anything.



In terms of new fish, I'm not sure what I want yet, but right now the main tank contains all bottom fish, so I will be looking for small colorful community fish that will remain higher in the water column. I've seen some Gouramis that I thought were quite colorful and a few Tetra species that I might go with but I haven't made up my mind yet.



If you guys have any suggestions that would fit the bill, please let me know. I'm also weary of having too many fish in the tank, is the premise of 1 inch of fish per gallon that I've heard a good indicator?



Thanks,

Dan

Great! You have experience The BR will do great in a 55! Assuming that you mean the 55 when you refer to the main tank, I would suggest getting maybe three gouramis and/or tetras of some sort. Barbs tend to be a bit nippier in general but I haven't had those for a long period of time (they nipped my angels so I returned them ) so I wouldn't know. For tetras rummynose, neon, cardinal, red eye and glowlight are all great fish. I'm not an expert on tetras but these are all community fish and very lively.

For the inch per gallon rule I have never used it because it doesn't work in every case. For instance, you wouldn't put an eight inch oscar with a two inch gourami in a 10 gallon, right? With smaller fish and bigger tanks it works but I would rather use AqAdvisor. If you search that up it's a site where you can enter your parameters and fish ideas.


Keep us updated!

 

[DanR]

Identification: male Bolivian ram.

Tank compatibility: red tail shark are a bit aggressive for a ram. Best description I have of Bolivian ram temperament is like a small dog that barks a bit. They might occasionally chase a tank mate that gets too close but then forgets about them. But don't do well with tank mates that might react aggressively to their "bark", a red tail shark might do that.

Clown loaches get way too big for a 55 gallon, they get 1 foot in length!

Current conditions, Bolivian Rams should not be kept in a 10 g. They do not swim constantly but have moments of short speed bursts. A 10g tank plus the decor to make them feel safe does not have enough room for this.

I keep mine in a 55 gallon with other small non-aggressive fish. Guppies, tetras, rasboras, corys, and small size plecos. When acquiring fish read their description on liveaquaria.com. They give enough info on minimum tank size, adult size, ph, current, aggressiveness; to get an idea of compatibility.



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Hi Gemach, thank you so much for your feedback. For now he's in a 10g as he was included in the purchase of the tank, but once quarantine is done I will add him to my 55g.

Sort of the same story for the loaches, they were included in the 55g I bought. In your opinion, at what size should they be moved to a larger tank?

Thank you very much for the liveaquaria.com link, I will definitely check that out.

Thanks again!
Dan

 

[Autumnsky]

Clown Loach, for their early life 70G+ and then really need a huge tank like 150-220G. I have seen 8-10-12 inch CL in a 220G in a shoal about 7-8 of them. A beautiful site. And the cute little guys from the pet store for sure turn into a giant chunk! Best word pic just popped into my head was a body like an anvil.

The 55G would be good until they start getting some size say 6" maybe - but they like friends, they are social fish, so a number of them is best 4-5 or more, and that is one of the reasons the smaller (55G) tanks aren't recommended.

 

[DanR]

What kind of pleco is it?

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Hi Toad, it's a common Pleco - Hypostomus Plecostomus and he's about 5" long atm.

 

[DanR]

Clown Loach, for their early life 70G+ and then really need a huge tank like 150-220G. I have seen 8-10-12 inch CL in a 220G in a shoal about 7-8 of them. A beautiful site. And the cute little guys from the pet store for sure turn into a giant chunk! Best word pic just popped into my head was a body like an anvil.

The 55G would be good until they start getting some size say 6" maybe - but they like friends, they are social fish, so a number of them is best 4-5 or more, and that is one of the reasons the smaller (55G) tanks aren't recommended.

What do folks generally do when their fish outgrow their tank? Unfortunately I inherited the fish with the tank and as I'm just starting in to the hobby again, I'm honestly not ready for a 100+ gallon tank. Plus my wife would saw my head off

 

[DanR]

Great! You have experience The BR will do great in a 55! Assuming that you mean the 55 when you refer to the main tank, I would suggest getting maybe three gouramis and/or tetras of some sort. Barbs tend to be a bit nippier in general but I haven't had those for a long period of time (they nipped my angels so I returned them ) so I wouldn't know. For tetras rummynose, neon, cardinal, red eye and glowlight are all great fish. I'm not an expert on tetras but these are all community fish and very lively.

For the inch per gallon rule I have never used it because it doesn't work in every case. For instance, you wouldn't put an eight inch oscar with a two inch gourami in a 10 gallon, right? With smaller fish and bigger tanks it works but I would rather use AqAdvisor. If you search that up it's a site where you can enter your parameters and fish ideas.


Keep us updated!

I was going to stay away from barbs because the tank is already 100% bottom fish if I remember right, barbs also stay at the bottom right?

I think I'll be going with a few tetras for now and I think they should be fine with the bigger fish. There's a black neon in there now and they don't even give him the time of day lol

Dan

 

[gemach7]

What do folks generally do when their fish outgrow their tank? Unfortunately I inherited the fish with the tank and as I'm just starting in to the hobby again, I'm honestly not ready for a 100+ gallon tank. Plus my wife would saw my head off

Upgrade or rehome, sometimes pet stores will take fish back or find an aquarium club near you are just a couple options.

Anecdote of my own involved koi. I bought them for my pond by realizing the swimming room they needed was not really that great as they grew. Ended up selling them to a near by golf course.


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[Ashenwelt]

Upgrade or rehome, sometimes pet stores will take fish back or find an aquarium club near you are just a couple options.

Anecdote of my own involved koi. I bought them for my pond by realizing the swimming room they needed was not really that great as they grew. Ended up selling them to a near by golf course.


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I have two comets that I am starting to look for a rehome at sometime in the future... only at 2 inches so far.