Ram compatibility

[toddwcpa]

Hi everyone,

I recently set up a new 46 gallon aquarium. The first fish I added was a redtailed shark, which I thought was a community fish so long as you have only one shark in the tank. I then added two german blue rams, which I really like. They were very curious and always hungry. Then I added a small angelfish. It died after only four days. It seemed great for a couple of days, but the redtailed shark started picking on it, which I think may have stressed it to death. Then I added two boosemani rainbowfish.

So at present I have the two rams, two rainbowfish and one redtailed shark - five very small fish in a 46 gallon tank. As soon as I added the rainbowfish, the shark started picking on all the other fish continuously and the rams now seem totally stressed out. The rainbowfish don't seem to care about the shark. The rams stopped eating and now just hide in the corner. I doubt they will live much longer if I don't do something.

Should I a) take the redtailed shark back (I've since learned that they are more aggressive than I originally thought) or b) just continue slowly stocking the aquarium because with more fish, the rams will no longer be picked on as much?

Long term, I would like a tank with rams, angelfish, and rainbowfish. I just thought the redtailed shark would be a cool fish to add to the mix but he seems incapable of playing nice.

 

[toddwcpa]

Follow up

After reading numerous posts on this forum about the redtail sharks, I put him in a bag and returned him to the pet store. Hopefully that will solve the problem and the rams will come back to life in a day or so. We'll see.

 

[Cold Canadian]

Sounds like the right thing. Don't add more fish until all fish currently in the tank 100℅ healthy, in any situation. Give about a week in-between adding new fish to let bacterial colony's to catch up to the bio-load of new fish. Are you quarantining the fish?

 

[toddwcpa]

Thanks.

No... I don't quarantine them. I just have the one aquarium.

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

Good move, the tank will be a lot more peaceful now for sure!
The risk with not quarantining, is that you get a fish that's sick and your whole tank is infected... Sometimes the fish you got looks completely healthy but may be carrying something.

You can set up a quarantine tank very cheaply! All you need is a small heater, a sponge filter and air pump, and either a tank or a storage container, of 5-15 gallons. Look on Craigslist , you may find a complete set up.

 

[Coursair]

Keep a close eye on your water tests. Rams are very sensitive to water quality and prefer warmer tanks than most other fish. They are not ideal for a new tank, but since you have them, I hope you can help them thrive.

What are your water tests showing ?
How often are you changing water ?

Pic of the tank ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[toddwcpa]

Sad to say that the Rams both died, even after I returned the redtailed shark. Pretty sad to see them both die... not a fun way to start out. After it was too late, I've learned that the Rams are a sensitive fish. But they were very colorful and friendly. Maybe I'll try again with new rams sometime down the road because I really liked them.

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

Rams are pretty sensitive, and since they are so pretty, often inbred and have poor genepool.
If you are check out Yunite, he and his family have bred Rams for years and have an excellent reputation in the hobby. He has very nice Rams, and the fish are always in great condition.

www.germanbluerams.com/