My GBRs =)

[Friendly]

Here are two pics of my male and female german blue rams . Sry if the pics are a bit blurry, as I don't really have the best digital camera. Oh and please excuse the two ugly amazon sword leaves in the background lol (they're really old leaves).


Male GBR (picking on snail)


Female GBR (also picking on snail lol)

I was just wondering, is it normal for them to pump water over their gills when not swimming around or swimming slowly? Kinda like what tetras do. It doesn't seem like they're gasping for air or anything and they have been doing great. They ate on the first day and on the second day they ate from the top and with my other fish. Is this a good sign? Today will be the third day that I have had them.

[Zagz]

Very nice pics!

[rich311k]

Very pretty fish. Eating and active is always a good sign and their colors look great. Congrats on the new fish.

[Jchillin]

I was just wondering, is it normal for them to pump water over their gills when not swimming around or swimming slowly?

Geoghapines, or otherwise known as "Earth sifters", have the ability to sift through substrate and pass it out through their gill plates. This is quite natural for them. Of course, they won't be doing that with large substrates but they go through the motions anyway.

[Lonewolfblue]

Perfectly normal...

Nice pics, they look like they are doing very well......

[Thebluyak]

very nice fish, I am looking into getting some of my own when I purchase my third tank

[Lonewolfblue]

Originally Posted by Thebluyak

very nice fish, I am looking into getting some of my own when I purchase my third tank

Do we need to medicate you for MTS? hehehe.... Can't wait to see pics.....

[Thebluyak]

haha well i was going to go with discus for my 2nd tank, but its to "big" for my apartment managers so im having to downgrade to a new 26 gallon bowfront. So now i have a lightly planted 10, going to have a medium planted 26 gallon bowfront with the blue rams and eventually my 55 gallon barebottem discus tank. Yeah I can see im starting to slide downhill. HAHAHA
ps how many blue rams can i happily fit in a 26 gallon bowfront with a small angel and 5 lemon fin tetras?

[Friendly]

Originally Posted by Jchillin

Geoghapines, or otherwise known as "Earth sifters", have the ability to sift through substrate and pass it out through their gill plates. This is quite natural for them. Of course, they won't be doing that with large substrates but they go through the motions anyway.

Oh I see, I was a little worried because I know how sensitive GBRs can be. I'm definitely glad to hear that it's normal behavior.

Btw thanks for the compliments guys!

[Lonewolfblue]

Originally Posted by Thebluyak

haha well i was going to go with discus for my 2nd tank, but its to "big" for my apartment managers so im having to downgrade to a new 26 gallon bowfront. So now i have a lightly planted 10, going to have a medium planted 26 gallon bowfront with the blue rams and eventually my 55 gallon barebottem discus tank. Yeah I can see im starting to slide downhill. HAHAHA
ps how many blue rams can i happily fit in a 26 gallon bowfront with a small angel and 5 lemon fin tetras?

I would say 3, and see if you can try to get 1 male and 2 females. The 26G Bowfront isn't all that wide, and don't want territory problems on such a narrow tank. You wouldn't want to have 2 spawn, and have a male as the 3rd fish, might make his life miserable.

[Thebluyak]

yeah i think three would be a good number. I might have to mail order them from a breeder.

[Lonewolfblue]

Also, if getting from a breeder, they will more than likely be in much better condition as well.

[Thebluyak]

true, cab you think og any cichlid breeders close to the east coast or know of any websites off hand?

[Lonewolfblue]

I don't know of any myself, as my lfs here get's some pretty good fish. They are very picky about who they get their fish from, and are always in excellent shape. I'll keep my eye out online and post if I find anything.

[Friendly]

I thought I would post an update on my rams. They're doing really great! Even though they are doing great, I still worry about them everyday.

I have to say these two little guys are fearless! Three days ago I had to take out the large piece of driftwood in my tank. I thought that this would be a great time to gravel vac the area where the driftwood was since that area hadn't been cleaned for a very long time. I start to vac and of course the two rams had to come and see what was going on. For some reason the male started attacking the gravel vac lol. I tried to push him away with my hand but he just kept on coming back. I gave up and said "fine have it your way" lol. Then he decided to scare the crap out of me and dashed into the python! He came really close to getting sucked into the tubing but I got the python out of the water just in time. He didn't come back after that lol.

Here are some pics that I took yesterday.

[Lonewolfblue]

They look great.....

[Stretch]

Friendly, I really like the plants in your tank! What are those really small plants growing at the bottom in the last pic? They are kinda shaped like lilly pads. Will they grow in sand?

[Jaybird]

great pictures. Makes me think thoughtfully to this weekend. I am hoping to get some GBRs for my 30G. I love the plants you have. It's pretty cool how those small ones carpet the substrate.

[Friendly]

Originally Posted by Stretch

Friendly, I really like the plants in your tank! What are those really small plants growing at the bottom in the last pic? They are kinda shaped like lilly pads. Will they grow in sand?

The plant is called pennywort (hydrocotyle verticillata). I highly doubt it would grow in sand mainly because sand is not a very good substrate for aquatic plants. Apparently sand will compact too tightly and will cause the roots of aquatic plants to rot. A really good substrate for pennywort would be eco complete

Sorry guys and gals I have found out there is no cure for MTS!!!! I've tryed curing it with 24 tanks and still find my self saying one more will do it! Then a friend of mine told me I need to go to AA and I told him that's what gave me the diasease in the frist place. LMAO LOL ROFL