bm5424
Aquarium Advice Activist
I have a 20 gallon that I would like to stock with rams based on ease of care and breeding ability. I also have a 10 gallon if need for fry. I will have homes for fry if I get some.
BR are easier to care for, but arent as beautiful. In a 20 gallon you will only be able to get away with one pair. If you put more than that you will likely wake up to dead females, well thats if you go with GBRs. They require "their" space to call their own. Also over filter the heck out of the tank at least 150%, need need perfect water all zeros. Highly recommend using Discus buffer also, but be VERY CAREFULL with it you can cause major problems if you rush it, add very slowly and check ph stability. Good luck with your Rams they are a ton of fun and will get personalities just like Marine fish.
All zeros shouldn't be the readings. Something is wrong with your test kit if that is the case. Any cycled aquarium (with the exception of a heavily planted tank full of fast growing plants) should have a detectable nitrate reading.
All dwarf cichlids appreciate low levels of nitrate.
Yes, perfect.
The 200 Bio Wheel is rated at 200 gallon per hour, which according to the manu is rated for 30-50gal. Personlly the rating which manufacture give are over the limits. I would rate this one at 20-40 gal. Now do you have carbon in your media setup? Can cause issues? I dont know the media setup in a Pen
gallowchris said:I understand what you are saying. I have been running a fully cycled Ram tank for a couple years now, with zeros across the board. My tank is heavily planted which takes care of the Nitrates. Now if your going to keep GBR's or most other Dwarf Cichlids and Discuss can't not tolerate Nitrates at all, you will have deaths. I know this from experience. This is why most people have problems keepingg them alive past a couple weeks. That amount of time of very low levels of Nitrate will kill them.
Before my first breeder allowed me to take any Rams, I was required to bring in water samples to make sure everything was zero. He has a quality guarantee based on 0ed water. Any sign of numbers and he won't give the guarantee.
My tank reads ph6.6, amo 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0 all the time and no mystery deaths what so ever. I also have Peacock Gobies which are as touchy as GBR and Discuss.
Nitrates are also controlled with the frequent water changes which is required of the Rams and Discuss.
How often do you perform PWC..?
What do you mean for heavily planted.
gallowchris said:Heavy planting, hard one. There are plants every where. Probably 80-100 stems in a 60 gallon, if I had to guess. Just about to add Dwarf Grass to carpet the substrate
25% PWC at least once per week and I use Prime