Blue rams and firemouths!

[exeori]

I want to setup a ram/cichlid tank, will a firemouth cichlid and a blue ram cichlid be okay in a tank together?

 

[cmbtengnr43]

I want to setup a ram/cichlid tank, will a firemouth cichlid and a blue ram cichlid be okay in a tank together?

Eh its going to entirely depend on luck of the draw on the fire mouths temperament and also how big of a tank. Cichlids are all about footprint. The more space the better. Most of my experience with fire mouths has shown me they are usually pretty semi . Aggressive as long as they arent spawning. However you can still always be the unlucky person thays gets one that is an A whole lol

 

[gemach7]

I want to setup a ram/cichlid tank, will a firemouth cichlid and a blue ram cichlid be okay in a tank together?

Not saying would work but, if tried would say at least a 4 foot long tank and plenty of hiding places. And put the rams in first so they can pick their territory first. Again not saying it is
definitely going to work lol.

 

[exeori]

I only have a 75 litre tank which is probably too small, are there any other South American cichlids which I could mix with my blue rams? Maybes Bolivian?

 

[MeCasa]

I've been researching on what fish to use for a 150 I'm building. The Firemouth is a requirement on all my tanks over the years and this year thanks to the internet I learned about the Rams.

I think the ph requirements for these fish vary too much. Ram needs low ph, Firemouth likes high or at least says the www which never lies.

If the ph difference doesn't matter please speak up and I may re-evalue my fish choices since I really like the Rams. Sometimes the internet gives too much information, half of which should be ignored.

 

[cmbtengnr43]

I've been researching on what fish to use for a 150 I'm building. The Firemouth is a requirement on all my tanks over the years and this year thanks to the internet I learned about the Rams.

I think the ph requirements for these fish vary too much. Ram needs low ph, Firemouth likes high or at least says the www which never lies.

If the ph difference doesn't matter please speak up and I may re-evalue my fish choices since I really like the Rams. Sometimes the internet gives too much information, half of which should be ignored.

Ph isn't super important the fish will a climate first mouth like low 7s rams like a loo ittle more acidic its more of a territory issue if you get a fire mouth thats a little more on the aggressive side if you have a bigger tank id say severums because they are the least aggressive of sa cichlids

 

[gemach7]

I only have a 75 litre tank which is probably too small, are there any other South American cichlids which I could mix with my blue rams? Maybes Bolivian?

If you have breeding pairs, your going to need at least 2 feet per pair of breeding territory. Otherwise when breeding your bolivians will probably kill your blue rams. I like rams cause of their ability to live in tropical community setups.

I keep my bolivians with guppy, harlequin rasbora and cory schools. Makes for a lively tank and minimal aggression issues. Also all like soft acidic waters and do not dig up my plants.

 

[Fishy Smell]

Wouldn't put a firemouth with rams. In my experience anyway, firemouths are pretty under rated aggression wise. The meekis and Eliotis i've had have been worse than the Jewel, Female Convict and a few others that are supposed to be worse than firemouths. In a 75 litre, i wouldn't get any pairs. You could go with a couple of same sex rams and a Keyhole. Or another good options would be a single Cockatoo dwarf or a curviceps. 3-4 total single specimins with a shoal of some sort and some corys.

 

[exeori]

I've got 3 blue rams at the minute but long term I wanted to have a South American cichlid tank. Maybes add a single cockatoo if I can find a shop!

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

Firemouths and rams won't mix well. Rams don't do well with stress or nitrates. I'd reccomend getting some schooling fish or corys to build around your rams and leave the idea of adding another cichlid. Apistogramma and rams don't mix very well either. Apistos don't do well at all in water above 80 degrees or higher and rams thrive in warmer temps.

 

[exeori]

If I had a larger tank do u think I could get away with mixing them as long as I had plenty of hiding places and more blue rams? What kinds of South American cichlids mix well? I want fish with the aggression but not African if possible

 

[squirrilah fish]

Personally I have my Rams with cardinal tetras. If I had a larger tank id get some rummy nose. +1 on schooling fish. Rams are brilliant enough on their own. I'd build a tank around their needs. You won't be disappointed.
I also have glow light tetras, glo danios and celebese rainbows. It's a very colorful tank.

 

[Stacyz]

Really just depends... sometimes if they grow up together there fine but your taking a chance

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[Fishy Smell]

Personally I have my Rams with cardinal tetras. If I had a larger tank id get some rummy nose. +1 on schooling fish. Rams are brilliant enough on their own. I'd build a tank around their needs. You won't be disappointed.
I also have glow light tetras, glo danios and celebese rainbows. It's a very colorful tank.

Yeah, i agree that the Rams would be good on their own. As someone else said, they like warmer temps. Cardinals would be excellent with them in a heavily planted tank.

I've never been able to keep them long GBR's EBR's or Golden. The longest i have kept one is 4 months and sometimes they have gone within a couple of weeks. I bought an EBR from a very good store that i've never lost any fish from. This was a week ago and so far so good. Its kept with a Keyhole, Angel, Discus, African butterfly fish and some Bentosi Tetras, a dwarf Plec and a few others in a 48 Gallon, well planted and the temp at about 27-28.
Hoping my idea of buying from a reliable source works because i might get a few more if so and restart one of my empty tanks eventually.

 

[squirrilah fish]

It should help a ton, Rams are hard, they are extremely sensitive to any chemistry changes. Especially in nitrites and PH

 

[Gillie]

Firemouths and rams won't mix well. Rams don't do well with stress or nitrates. I'd reccomend getting some schooling fish or corys to build around your rams and leave the idea of adding another cichlid. Apistogramma and rams don't mix very well either. Apistos don't do well at all in water above 80 degrees or higher and rams thrive in warmer temps.

Nicely put, but it will likely be only wild rams that will thrive in temps above 80 all of the popular tank strains are less tolerant of pretty much everything.

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[DragonFish71]

If I had a larger tank do u think I could get away with mixing them as long as I had plenty of hiding places and more blue rams? What kinds of South American cichlids mix well? I want fish with the aggression but not African if possible

The firemouths will kill the rams. I own both and would never even think about mixing them. My firemouths barely tolerate my Jack Dempsey and he's as big as the 3 of them put together.

With German Blue Rams you want non-aggressive fish; tetras, danios, raspboras etc.

Bolivian Rams the same but you can keep them with angelfish if the tank is large enough.

Firemouths it depends on the size of the tank, but you can keep them with convicts, JDs, those horribly ugly vile excuses for cichlids called Parrots and a few other species. Again, it depends on the tank size. I have a 120g with live plants, wood and rocks and like I said, my firemouths barely tolerate my jack.