Talk me into/ out of looking at German Blue Rams

[missmonday]

It was both a blessing and a curse that I purchased 101 best freshwater nano species off of Amazon, because now there's all sorts of fish I wanna get! Haha

So I've got a 20g long that's medium planted, has some rocks and driftwood, and a single pleco cone (I have another little cave that I'll put in eventually too).

Currently, only stock is x8 CPD and x10 corydoras habrosus and x5 cherry red shrimp (looking to get more).

I love my CPDs but a single ram would be a really nice centerpiece fish! However, my temp right now is like 73, and rams like it a lot warmer...would 78 pacify rams without making the CPDs and cories uncomfortable? Or is the temperature difference too much and would cause stress?

Other than what's already in the tank, I've been pretty indecisive about what I wanna put in there, ugh! I eventually want a single bamboo shrimp and most likely a school of chili rasboras.

I'd still say I'm a notice aquarist though, so let me know if rams are too difficult. I get all of my livestock from The Wet Spot in Portland.

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

I hate to say it but Rams and CPDs are not compatible....

First off the temperature, like you said won't work, second they could eat them,(maybe?) and third CPDs prefer water on the hard side, while Rams prefer soft.

Good other fish:
- Badis will work well, found with CPDs in the wild
-Endlers are great, Nano, colorful, also hard water/low temp.
-Glowlight danios, BEAUTIFUL small fish, also found in CPDs natural habitat.

I actually have a lake inle "biotype" with Dwarf Emerald Rasboras, CPDs, Pygmy cories, White Cloud Mountain minnows, endlers and hope to add Badis soon....

Hope that helps, that's an excellent book, it should have all the above species in it.(I dropped my edition into a water change bucket, and that destroyed it )

 

[missmonday]

Drat, I figured as much!! I'll have to double check with that the book says, but CPDs like med/hard water but lower pH? My pH is about 6.8 now and I'll have to examine my hardness and alkalinity soon. Local water is pretty soft and there's no buffers! Crushed coral has been my best friend.

Badis are pretty but I've heard they can be kind of a pain to feed...I recently purchased from frozen bbs and cyclops for my CPDs because they need little tiny foods and they look a little on the thin side. I asked my lfs associate and he said they're usually pretty stressed out from the importing process and it takes a little while for them to fatten up. I'd be interested in some live food, but that depends on the upkeep or potential hazards of parasites... (Also, is cobalt aquatics a good brand for frozen foods? All the rest of my frozen food is hikari brand, which I know people swear by on this forum!)

would chili rasboras be fine too?? As far as I'm aware their temp/pH requirements are similar, although I'll look into glowlight danios too. Looking for something to occupy the top levels, but not particularly interested in endlers.

Thanks for the advice though! :') I kinda knew it, but always better to hear from more experienced people.

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

Drat, I figured as much!! I'll have to double check with that the book says, but CPDs like med/hard water but lower pH? My pH is about 6.8 now and I'll have to examine my hardness and alkalinity soon. Local water is pretty soft and there's no buffers! Crushed coral has been my best friend.

Badis are pretty but I've heard they can be kind of a pain to feed...I recently purchased from frozen bbs and cyclops for my CPDs because they need little tiny foods and they look a little on the thin side. I asked my lfs associate and he said they're usually pretty stressed out from the importing process and it takes a little while for them to fatten up. I'd be interested in some live food, but that depends on the upkeep or potential hazards of parasites... (Also, is cobalt aquatics a good brand for frozen foods? All the rest of my frozen food is hikari brand, which I know people swear by on this forum!)

would chili rasboras be fine too?? As far as I'm aware their temp/pH requirements are similar, although I'll look into glowlight danios too. Looking for something to occupy the top levels, but not particularly interested in endlers.

Thanks for the advice though! :') I kinda knew it, but always better to hear from more experienced people.

CPDs and Emerald dwarfs, are one of the few rasboras that prefer hard water and higher ph/Kh.

Yeah badis are a bit tricky, but they can be raised purely in frozen foods...

Cobalt aquatics is incredibly expensive (!!!) so I'm assuming it's good since they have to justify the price somehow! I think it's fine.

The chilli rasboras are on the opposite side of the spectrum, they prefer super soft water, low ph/kh (perfect for your water!)

Glowlight danios will definitely stay at the upper levels!

 

[missmonday]

what about a pair of "chameleonfish" or the blue chameleon badis? I'd need to do some more research but they seem to like slightly more acidic, low carbonate harness water. I'm getting conflicting information about their temperature on various websites though... seriouslyfish says 59-78 and another website says 80+ ????

I like the blue color a little better than the red. Any experience with these guys?

Edit: my CPDs seem to be doing okay though, should I be concerned about my harness...?

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

what about a pair of "chameleonfish" or the blue chameleon badis? I'd need to do some more research but they seem to like slightly more acidic, low carbonate harness water. I'm getting conflicting information about their temperature on various websites though... seriouslyfish says 59-78 and another website says 80+ ????

I like the blue color a little better than the red. Any experience with these guys?

Edit: my CPDs seem to be doing okay though, should I be concerned about my harness...?

These guys do seem to be adaptable to all kinds of hardness!

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/Badis-badis/

I would keep the temperature at 75F....

While they don't show it, it does affect them so if add a small amount of crushed coral...

 

[missmonday]

Awesome! They'd make great centerpiece fish. Now to decide between chili rasboras and glowlight danios (or tetras?) for the upper schoolers...

And will do! I'm glad I bought more crushed coral the other day how much should I put in...? A little more, then test kh from there?

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

I'd add a handful? Not really sure, I'd check the KH daily for 3-5 days and see....

Btw you are super lucky to live close to Wetspot!!!!

 

[missmonday]

This makes me sad!! Does this stock seem too much?? I swapped out the glowlight danios for the glowlight tetras (I'd really prefer the danios, but I just wanted to check). It seems like the glowlights/CPDs have better compatibility, but the chili rasboras have a lighter bioload...

AQ Advisor also says I should be doing weekly 50% water changes with this stock....what? :'/

I do have plants in there, and I intend to add a few more if that helps...I know aqadvisor is a "rough estimate" but I also don't wanna overcrowd a nanotank...

I'll definitely start adding a tad bit more crushed coral with each PWC and see how it goes. It'd be good to make the water a little harder anyway for the shrimp.

It's about 3 hours round trip using public transit (more like 1.5-2hrs in a car) but it's definitely local!! I'm very fortunate I haven't had to buy anything online yet haha.

Any advice about what I should or shouldn't put in stock-wise? I've got my bottom dwellers (cories), clean up crew (shrimp and nerite), mid level (CPDs), upper layer (danios) and centerpiece (badis)

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

Badis are very sensitive to water conditions(ammonia mainly), so I really would keep it at 90% max....

I'd remove the snail, and other shrimp and reduce the Glowlight danios and dwarf cories to 8....

With 25 cherries you'll definitely have a lot of action!

 

[missmonday]

Yeah, my parameters are stable (am/nitrite/nitrate) but with the fish being so small, I know they're more susceptible to fluctuations...definitely don't wanna overstock.

I can definitely bring the danios down to 8, but I already have the 10 cories purchased and swimming around happily heh.

Since I already have 5 cherries, I might only purchase 15 so that I ccan have a sizeable colony to start with. Would that be enough cherries for algae control? I think zebra nerites are really pretty and algae control was my main intention. I already have a little algae growing on the leaves of my anubias but it's nothing serious, and I only have the finnex stingray so not high light...

Looks like I'll really have to do some evaluation on if I want a bamboo shrimp or a pair of badis. Both have specific requirements for eating hmmm...to youtube and seriouslyfish I go!

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

With less shrimp, the nerite should work great!

 

[missmonday]

So a stock of
X20 red cherry shrimp
X1 zebra nerite snail
X8 CPD
X8 glowlight danio
X10 corydoras habrosus
And x2 badis badis OR x1 bamboo shrimp should be okay?

Still gotta do more research on if the badis would be more compatible or the bamboo shrimp...A m/f pair of badis should be fine, yes?

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

That sounds good, what kind of filter do you have?

A pair will work great, but you are aware that they may eat baby shrimp...

 

[missmonday]

Well, I have 2 filters now. I'm running one fluval c2 (rated 10-30 gallons) and a big sponge filter with 2 sponges, rated for 20 gallons. It's the kind that has the two sponges where you can move its "arms".

I'll have to look as far as flow requirements because I have some salvinia that grows pretty fast (though I've removed a lot!) but it limits the surface agitation a bit. The floating plants are great for security though! The flow is fine for the fish, but I'm not sure if it'd be enough for a bamboo shrimp.

And yes, I'm aware that the badis would pick on baby shrimp, but only 2 won't be able to eat ALL the babies, I'll have plenty of moss and hidey spots. I figure some tiny shrimp snacks would be good for the infamous picky eaters?

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

Lol I have the exact same filter on my 20 long! I love it, it's so quiet! That particular tank houses Rams, tetras, cories, and guppies..

Yes they'll definitely like the shrimplets, and some should survive!

 

[missmonday]

The fluval or the sponge? Haha, I love the c2, though I kinda wish I had just bit the bullet and bought the c3 instead I guess I don't have any issues with filtration, but the more the merrier, right??

Seeing as I can just check the wet spot's stock (at least for the most part) online, I might switch x2 badis badis for x2 dario hysginon (red flame badis) which are like half the size! That would be better bioload-wise...right??

 

[Tropical Aquarist]

Technically I have both, but I was referring to the Fluval U2 (internal filter) wait.... You said c2? Lol might not be the same then!

That should work as well, not much of a difference, but I'd go with the blue ones as they stand out more against the cherries....

 

[missmonday]

Yeah I like the blue color better too they have essentially the same care requirements so that's not much of an issue.

ohh, the c2 is like an upgraded aquaclear since fluval owns them now. I have a u2 or u3 (can't remember which) in my 29 and it's fine too! I need to work on cleaning that thing a little better though, kind of annoying when the impeller gets gunky :/

 

[missmonday]

Okay, reworked the stock a little.

Someone in another forum warned me that danios might be too booster for the badis and it having difficultly eating due to that.

Hopefully this should be good! I'll have to keep an eye on the pH before I add anything though. The crushed coral from my previous lfs is different than what they sell at the wet spot, so my pH was like 6.8-7.0 and now it's 7.4-7.6! not very happy about that. Should I take some out? I've just left things alone there to stabilize...

Also hoping to get 2 male snails (mmaybe a tiger and a zebra!) So I don't have eggs all over the place