Was I starving my gbr's?

[emilygupps]

I feel horrible. We started out with 4 balloon rams and 4 gbrs about two months ago. I was feeding them brine shrimp live and frozen depending on if we had a batch going, ciclid pallets and tropical flakes. They seemed to eat a bit but not a ton.

Now I'm down to just one male gbr and I tossed in an algae tab for my farlawala and the gbr ate half of it like he had never been fed before. Should I have been feeding him algae all along?? I usually border line over feed on flake days to be sure every one gets some because I have a large school of khuli a ton of flakes in because I need some to fall to the ground for my large khuli school.


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[CICHLID_LOVER]

No GBRs are omnivorus and need a variety of foods. Inluding either live ,frozen,or dry foods on the carnivorus side. They also need foods on the herbivorus side like vegtable matter and algae. GBRs love to eat plants to so make sure you have some if you want to keep the last onen alive

 

[CICHLID_LOVER]

also did you add water cleansers and stuff like that no fish can live in normal tap water as it has clorine in it that can kill them. At Petsmart they have a water cleanser called stress coat that i found works best

 

[emilygupps]

He is in my 180g tank lots of plants. We change the water weekly %35, and use prime. Originally we attributed it water quality problems and bad breeding. Here is his home

I read that I should feed brine shrimp at first to get them to eat. But maybe this guy really likes the wafers... Weird. that's him. His mate died on Sunday now he is lonely. Does he need an other gbr friend or can he be happy with other tank mates?


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[Brookster123]

No GBRs are omnivorus and need a variety of foods. Inluding either live ,frozen,or dry foods on the carnivorus side. They also need foods on the herbivorus side like vegtable matter and algae. GBRs love to eat plants to so make sure you have some if you want to keep the last onen alive

Gbrs don't really eat plants, they just are little piggies and eat everything else.. emily, the thing with gbr's.. super sensitive to begin with, the Balloon ram is some cockamayme science experiment gone wrong.. it's basically just pedaling death for profit because I doubt any make it past a year..if your remaining ram is a male you could try adding a female for him, no gauruntee he'll like her though..

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[CICHLID_LOVER]

He is in my 180g tank lots of plants. We change the water weekly %35, and use prime. Originally we attributed it water quality problems and bad breeding. Here is his home View attachment 243506

I read that I should feed brine shrimp at first to get them to eat. But maybe this guy really likes the wafers... Weird. View attachment 243507that's him. His mate died on Sunday now he is lonely. Does he need an other gbr friend or can he be happy with other tank mates?


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Yes they are very social fish. 80 gallons is more than enough for him.I would put at the very least 3 more GBRs with him. The maximum i would put in their is 5 GBRs. It would also be alot better if you leave it a species tank with just GBRs. If you want breeding.

 

[CICHLID_LOVER]

Gbrs don't really eat plants, they just are little piggies and eat everything else..

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GBRs do eat plants in the wild do you think people would be feeding them algae wafers. Do your research.

 

[CICHLID_LOVER]

oh ya and reduce your water changes to about 15% instead.

 

[Brookster123]

GBRs do eat plants in the wild do you think people would be feeding them algae wafers. Do your research.

There is no such thing as gbrs in the wild, i have wc rams in a heavily planted tank and they don't eat the plants... other cichlids eat plants, i think you're confused, maybe a little hungry? Have a snickers. .

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[emilygupps]

I've never seen him eat my plants. Some times he picks at the stupid black beard algae. And he is in a 180g not an 80g... I don't have a spare 80g to turn in to a species only tank. I do have an empty 55g long in the garage....

Will never buy balloon rams again. The bf reaaaaaaaaally wanted them. But after all of them, except for one male,died that first night we agreed no more.

We did buy a 20 gal long just for this ram and his mate after their last clutch didn't make it over night. Right now we are fish in cycling it with some danio fry. But, now that his mate is dead we have decided NOT to breed rams... At least not for the next several months.

So that being said, does he NEED other gbrs to live a stress free life? Or are his other tank mates enough? I don't particularly want to put any more fish in that tank if I don't have to.


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[Brookster123]

He should be ok by himself, some say they get a little down when they lose the paired mate, was he paired?

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[CICHLID_LOVER]

There is no such thing as gbrs in the wild, i have wc rams in a heavily planted tank and they don't eat the plants... other cichlids eat plants, i think you're confused, maybe a little hungry? Have a snickers. .

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For your info most cichlids are carnivorus. And what. There is such thing as wild GBRs most are just commercially bred ones from asia. They originate from the Orinoco River, Venezuela and the savannahs of Columbia, South America. So isnt algae a plant? They cant be omnivorus without plants. I would love a snickers but you already ate them all.

 

[emilygupps]

They were. It was cute. They hung out all the time. Now I noticed he hangs out with my nickle sized baby angel. They forage together.


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[CICHLID_LOVER]

oh i read wrong my bad you can have as much rams as you want in a 180 but im curious what are the dimensions of ur tank

 

[Brookster123]

For your info most cichlids are carnivorus. And what. There is such thing as wild GBRs most are just commercially bred ones from asia. They originate from the Orinoco River, Venezuela and the savannahs of Columbia, South America. So isnt algae a plant? They cant be omnivorus without plants. I would love a snickers but you already ate them all.

German blue rams do not occur in the wild, they are a tank strain similar to ebr and gold rams..algae is algae and plants are plants, im.not getting into semantics here.. cool with all the geography.. Nana booboo stick your head in doodoo

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[CICHLID_LOVER]

He should be ok by himself, some say they get a little down when they lose the paired mate, was he paired?

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Ummmm GBRs are social fish. And sometimes male Cichlids kill their own pair just to kill it. Fish arent humans they live to survive not to cry about a dead mate.You seem a bit misinformed

 

[emilygupps]

73x24x25


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[Freakgecko91]

For your info most cichlids are carnivorus. And what. There is such thing as wild GBRs most are just commercially bred ones from asia. They originate from the Orinoco River, Venezuela and the savannahs of Columbia, South America. So isnt algae a plant? They cant be omnivorus without plants. I would love a snickers but you already ate them all.

Seriously, please stop spouting off weird information that really is not true. Mikrogeophagus ramirezi does NOT eat plants, hence why they are perfect candidates for planted tanks. They also don't generally eat algae, but will grab any sort of pellet or wafer that falls in front of them.

There also is NO SUCH THING as a wild GERMAN blue ram. They were line bred to create a color morph. There are wild blue rams, mikrogeophagus ramirezi, and then there are gold, german blue, and electric blue rams. Those only exist in tanks, not in the wild.

As for the op, i would suggest getting rams from a locally owned and trusted LFS, or from a local breeder. Check craigslist, and also look to see if your state has any internet forums. I used to have a great one when I lived in Michigan and got many of my fish through that forum. 6-8 would be perfectly comfortable in a tank that size.

Balloon body fish, also called short-body, are simply a genetic defect that cause ther body to not develop properly. I've seen it in rams, texas cichlids, mollies, and a few other species. They are not natural and suffer from many different health issues.

 

[Freakgecko91]

Ummmm GBRs are social fish. And sometimes male Cichlids kill their own pair just to kill it. Fish arent humans they live to survive not to cry about a dead mate.You seem a bit misinformed

There are many species that do get depressed when a mate dies. Many cichlid species exhibit a monogamous pair, and mate for life. I have even heard of individuals withering away into nothing when their mate died. You seem to be misinformed.

 

[CICHLID_LOVER]

Strains are just different colors of the fish, not different species.Are black people a different species than white people?No.They are both human.Same with the rams