Blue Ram compatibility

[yhbae]

This is what I have in my 25g tank:

- 2 Ottos
- 3 Platies
- 6 Harlequin Rasboras
- 4 Panda Cories

Its been set up for about 50 days now with zero nitrite and ammonia.

Here's my water parameters: (no chemicals except stress coat during water change)

- pH 7.4
- KH 2
- GH 5
- Ammonia 0
- Nitrite 0
- Nitrate 5ppm
- Temperature 77F

Plants:
- Lots of Java moss and Java fern.

Light:
- Only 20w.

Water Change:
- 2 water changes a week, one at 20%, one at 10%. Gravel vac each time.

KH is kinda low and I've been monitoring it real close for over a month, but it stays very stable at 7.4... Absolutely doesn't move from that level. Few stones are river stones containing CaCO3, but I figured it might help keep KH. (In reality, there probably isn't enough of them to make any difference).

I've been letting tan leech out of drift wood for over 3 weeks now. I will add it in the near future... This will probably drop pH a little closer to neutral.

Given the above, would it be a good idea to go ahead and get a pair of Blue Ram (looks about 2 inches long), or should I go safe and just get a pair of Pearl Gourami? I am slightly concerned about the panda cories which have proven to be fragile so far and not sure if Rams will leave them alone...

Apprecaite any feedback!

 

[Madame_X]

If you can find Bolivian Rams, they seem to be a bit more hardy. I have a pair in my planted 30 gallon tank and my PH is roughly 7.4-7.6. They do fine.

I bought a pair of Gold Rams at the same time that didn't fair as well. One lasted a week and the other less than two weeks. I suspect they were sick when I bought them, but its possible they just couldn't take my PH.

 

[Terry]

Madame_X is right saying that the Bolivian Ram is a little more hardy. i have found you a site that might be of some interest.

www.amateurcichlids.com

HTH

 

[Deliverme314]

Bolivian's are DEFFINITLEY more hardy... however not nearly as pretty. I have 5 blue's and one gold(it snuck in with the blues) in my 90 planted. They dont bother anybody but "ram" each other in sparring matches a lot.

 

[yhbae]

That is the point - I like the look of Blue Ram more than Bolivian Ram. Since I only have room for one of the two, why not go for the prettier of the two even if it is more challenging?

I'm more concerned about the compatibility with other species in my tank, especially the panda cories - these are still under 1 inch, and out of 7, only 4 survived. My LFS do not have them any more, and I don't know a single place in my reason who sells one of those...

 

[Allivymar]

Temperament wise the rams should get along well with your fish. The rams most likely will be more concerned with each other. My concerns would be Ph levels and temp. I haven't read up on rams recently, but I *think* they like a higher temp and a lower Ph. You might want to do a little research and double check me on this one.

 

[Madame_X]

Bolivian's are DEFFINITLEY more hardy... however not nearly as pretty.

<gasp!> 8O My Bolivians are beautiful!

Seriously, I do think its a matter of opinion. I personally don't think the Blue Rams are "prettier". More colorful, yes. But I absolutely love my Bolivian Rams. They are so entertaining!

There is nothing cuter than the little "feed me" dance that one of mine does when I get home from work. Reminds me of how excited my dogs get!

 

[yhbae]

Temperament wise the rams should get along well with your fish. The rams most likely will be more concerned with each other. My concerns would be Ph levels and temp. I haven't read up on rams recently, but I *think* they like a higher temp and a lower Ph. You might want to do a little research and double check me on this one.

This temperature thing is all over the place too - I went through just about every site that google lead me when I used "Blue Ram" as a keyword! Some suggests Discus-like temperature, others suggest lower temperature "because they are from cool water region in their native environment"... How inconsistent can you get?

As an example:
- Age of Aquarium: pH = 6.8, Temp = 27C
- Fish in the .Net: pH = 6.4 - 7.8, Temp = 22 - 27C (72 - 80F)
- A breeding site: pH = 6.0 - 7.5 (recomends < 7.0), Temp = recomends 80 - 85.

Overall, I have pH that ranges from 6.0 to 7.8, temp ranging from 72 to 85...

But, given the frequency of overall suggestions, I have a feeling that the best balance is to get pH just below 7 and temperature to around 80F.

For some reason, CO2 level in my tank must be real low to get that high pH given that KH is only 2... Since I do frequent small water changes, I might be able to achieve a small drop in pH using very small quantity of peat filtration without aging water with peat before WC.... What do you think?

 

[Allivymar]

Sounds like a good decision; I checked fishbase.org, and their ram recommendations are Ph of 5.0-6.0 and temps of 27-30C ( http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Mikrogeophagus&speciesname=ramirezi ). I also think that a small amount of peat in the filtration should work well for you, but as I have not personally used it I'd wait till you get a second opinion on that one.

 

[yhbae]

Hmm... I just checked my water parameter for the tap water sitting indoor for two days. It measures:

pH = 6.8
KH = 2

This is already ideal for rams... I need to figure out why my community tank pH is 0.6 higher than the water out of the tap! I do have few river stones that contain some calcium carborates (tested using bottle 1 of nitrate tester), but how could that push the pH that far? KH for both tanks appears to be about the same, so the only explanation could be that CO2 level in my tank is significantly lower than that of the tap water, even with 15 fishes in it... Hmm...