German ram tank build

[severum mama]

Amazon swords get huge. I used to have one that took up about a third of a 4'x2'x2' 120 gallon. It was enormous. Reached almost to the top of the tank too.

Most people (myself included, I got it at a fish club auction) do not manage to grow them this large. LOL

 

[Autumnsky]

Onion - you can get them as bulbs.

Also there are those grow them yourself bulb packs for under $4.

Which normally have the lotus (large bumpy one), onions (looks like baby onion) and Aponogeton (small knarly bumpy-ish). You can pick the pack with the most of the ones you want!

 

[CharlieKlein]

Thanks for the input! So with the bulb do you plant it in the gravel and it slowly grows? Like a seed,also, what about those bamboos from petsmart?

 

[Rivercats]

Amazon Swords can get over 24" tall as I've had leaves grow out of the surface of my 220g which is 30" tall. But with Amazons if they get too wide/bushy for your liking you can cut outer leaves off and keep it the size you want. I do that routinely to keep my swords in the space I alloted for them.

Ktomminello has a good suggest with Balansae plant (cryptocoryne crispatula) or one of the other couple tall narrow growing crypts. Look under the crypts section of Aquarium Plants.com and read the various descriptions of some of the tall narrow crypts.

If you go with any Val's I would suggest not getting Jungle Val as the leaves grow very very long (2'+) and they lay all over the surface of the water, which is fine if that is the look your going for. Corkscrew Val are much nicer IMO.

Plus just about any stem plant can grow tall with proper light.

 

[CharlieKlein]

Thanks Daily test Ammonia-.25ppm(do I dose any more? 4 ppm? Nitrites-0 Nitrates-20(why so low?) So for plants, crypt I like Parva and wyndetti, Val I like leopard. So if those work, I'm planning this. An Anubis in front or the big cichlid stone near the small driftwood, a leopard Val inbetween the large driftwood ant lava rocks. Then the crypt right where my fake dwarf hair grass is right now, then move the fake to the other side. Sound good?

 

[Luananeko]

So as for plants, I'm thinkin a Anubis nana by the small dw, java fern in middle, and some wysteria in the back right. Sounds good? Also. This is my not-so-final final stocking
5 male fancy guppies
1 pearl gourami
8 or 12 rummy nose tetras
2 German blue or gold rams
4 yoyo loaches
3 otos or 1 small pleco
I think I'm gonna do the rams cause none of my lfs carry apisto double reds and those are really the only ones I love

Not sure if you've already gotten the fish yet, but a word of caution about the german blue rams... I recently was looking into getting them and asked the experts over on wetwebmedia.com about them. Turns out to do well they're VERY fussy about water parameters and even then are still very disease prone. Ideal parameters are 82-86F temp and very soft (0-3dH) and acidic (around 5.0) water. On the other hand, guppies need moderately hard and neutral water or you'll keep having them randomly drop on you. I've kept male guppies for the past year and kept having them randomly disappear for no apparent reason and it turns out that my water was extremely soft (0-2 dH) and a bit low on the pH side (6.2-6.5), which was frying them. Ideally, guppies need about 5-10dH and 6.5-8.5 pH, which is too high for the GBRs.

The temperature requirement is also pretty high for your rummy nose tetras who do best at 78F max. Keeping them at such warm temps will tend to halve their life expectancy... 82F is also at the very top end of the temp range your loaches and gourami like, so it would need to stay pretty darn near 82 the entire time for all groups to be happy.

I'd highly recommend swapping from GBRs to Bolivian Rams as they are FAR more tolerant of a wider range of temps, pH, and hardness, so it's much easier to keep them happy while housing them with the rest of your stock. You could aim for 5-10 dH, 77-78F, and 6.5-7.0 pH and keep everyone happy and disease free.

 

[CharlieKlein]

Not sure if you've already gotten the fish yet, but a word of caution about the german blue rams... I recently was looking into getting them and asked the experts over on wetwebmedia.com about them. Turns out to do well they're VERY fussy about water parameters and even then are still very disease prone. Ideal parameters are 82-86F temp and very soft (0-3dH) and acidic (around 5.0) water. On the other hand, guppies need moderately hard and neutral water or you'll keep having them randomly drop on you. I've kept male guppies for the past year and kept having them randomly disappear for no apparent reason and it turns out that my water was extremely soft (0-2 dH) and a bit low on the pH side (6.2-6.5), which was frying them. Ideally, guppies need about 5-10dH and 6.5-8.5 pH, which is too high for the GBRs.

The temperature requirement is also pretty high for your rummy nose tetras who do best at 78F max. Keeping them at such warm temps will tend to halve their life expectancy... 82F is also at the very top end of the temp range your loaches and gourami like, so it would need to stay pretty darn near 82 the entire time for all groups to be happy.

I'd highly recommend swapping from GBRs to Bolivian Rams as they are FAR more tolerant of a wider range of temps, pH, and hardness, so it's much easier to keep them happy while housing them with the rest of your stock. You could aim for 5-10 dH, 77-78F, and 6.5-7.0 pH and keep everyone happy and disease free.

Thanks for the reply! So I do know about the rams and are planning on getting them in 3 months. But for temp, I am goung for 79-80. The dh I can't test because I only have the API master test kit an it doesn't have that, ph in aming 7. I don't have any fish yet, just a cycling tank! So I am not set in the rams, and may do apistos, but I'll keep this in mind

 

[Luananeko]

Thanks for the reply! So I do know about the rams and are planning on getting them in 3 months. But for temp, I am goung for 79-80. The dh I can't test because I only have the API master test kit an it doesn't have that, ph in aming 7. I don't have any fish yet, just a cycling tank! So I am not set in the rams, and may do apistos, but I'll keep this in mind

Live plants tend to suck the hardness out of the water, so if you live in an area that already has soft water you'll need to buffer it a bit to keep your guppies happy. A 1/2 lb bag of crushed coral added to your filter can help do this, and/or you can buy plant supplements that specifically add gh or kh back into the tank. API sells a kh/gh test kit separately if you want to be able to test hardness, or your LFS should be able to test it for you. Any time you know you'll need to be manipulating the hardness it's generally a good idea to grab the hardness test kit off Amazon if your LFS doesn't carry it, as fish don't tend to give you signs of the hardness being off quite like they do when the temperature, nitrates, or pH are off.

If you want to aim for 79-80F and neutral pH then you'll definitely want to take another look at the apistos (never researched or kept those myself) or bolivian rams, as the german blues are unlikely to do well long term in those conditions.

 

[Rivercats]

Unless tap water is extremely soft with a Kh and Gh under 4 there is no need to worry about needing buffers. And adding a 1/2 pound of crushed coral randomly to a tank could drive Kh/Gh/Ph out the roof. Using chemical buffers are not good for fish and are only a temp fix at best. Doing 50% weekly WC's with tap water (unless you have exceeding soft water from the tap) normally contains enough calcium and magnesium to keep buffers refreshed in the tank.

A general temp of 78F will work fine for a community tank. Plants will actually do better at this temp as when temps start climbing to 80 and over many plants can't tolerate the heat and deteriorate. Guppies as well as GBR's do well at the 78F temp. Fish acclimate to most temps very easily unless you are keeping speciality fish such as discus that require not just prefer higher temps. Just as GBR's are not prone to illness, they are delicate as they can't handle poor water quailty and especially nitrates. When good maintainence is kept on a tank along with large weekly WC's to keep nitrates and dissolved organics low GBR's do quite well in an established tank. The issue with GBR's comes when individuals buy either wild caught stock or get stock imported from Asian breeder farms. These farms are known for poor breeding practices and for the use of hormones on their rams. These fish often are of poor health and weak genetics which does make them prone to sickness and short life spans. I've been keeping rams for a long time and while they love temps in the low 80's they can be kept and do very very well in tanks in the high 70's.

 

[Luananeko]

Hmmm that's good to know then. My tap water is around 3 dH or less when fresh, so my 75 gallon densely planted tank saps all the minimal mineral content out constantly even when I'm doing weekly 50-75% changes. I'll defer to your hands on experience on the GBRs, as I've only researched them at this point. I shied away from actually getting a pair for my tank after being warned by several fish experts about their water parameter preferences and delicateness.

 

[Rivercats]

Older tanks tend to lose their buffering capacities and tanks with goldfish and heavily populated tanks also often lose buffering fast. Also if tap water sources are low in Kh and or Gh you run into problems. Crushed Coral is the best buffering source IMO but many will argue using plain ole Baking Soda with every water change is the best way to add your buffer back in. Plus plants need a Gh of at least 4 so they get enough magnesium.

As for GBR's I have 11 right now and the trick to them is getting them from a private breeder or getting them from a fishery that breeds and raises their own stock, such as OddballFish.com Also remember they do not have the longivity that many species have. Two years is getting old and three is over the hill. I recently lost a 3" male that was alittle over 3 years old. They make wonderful tank additions if you wait an introduce them into older established tanks (6 months is the best minimum aged tank) and good water maintainence is practiced.

 

[CharlieKlein]

Still not set on the rams. I need to see options at my lfs!

 

[CharlieKlein]

Another thing. Today when I was testing, I noticed the water seems cold. However both thermometers say 82 degreese. Also, do I dose the ammonia today? I haven't but I don't know if I ahould

 

[CharlieKlein]

One more thing. Now that I'm looking into a few live plants I think I might move things around a bit. So how my tank is now I have my big dw and lava rocks in the middle. Then the left side has 2 small cichlid stones and 2 fake plants. The right has a fake plant a small driftwood and a medium cichlid stone.i also have a 4 inch diameter bubbler that is in the right taking up space,, I'm looking at getting a long thin one.
So I'm thinking with the live plants, I'm gonna keep the dw and cichlid stone on the right and add the Anubis.( how tall and wide does it get? Then the middle keen the dw but but it slanted at a 45 degree angel. Mabye an onion plant or red tiger lotus there, or both. Then the left will have the cichlid stones where they are and move the lava rocks over a bit and the stones back a bit so they are both on the right side. This way I will have an open space in the center for a plant like tiger lotus, or something. Here's a picture of my tank. I'd really appreciate suggustions on that!

 

[ktomminello]

Looks nice!! As far as anubias they range in size depending on what variety you get- the popular nana doesn't get so much tall as it does get broader longer leaves

 

[Scottyhorse]

I like it, and plants will make it look a lot nicer, because right now it looks bare, and I also think you should vary the hights of the things you put in there. What I'm talking about is how you have it now, everything is at an angle from tallest to shortest. When you put your plants in there, try mixing it up a little more, it will look better than it already does IMO

 

[CharlieKlein]

Thank! I never noticed the line if height! Something to think about! I am goin for natural so I think some rearranging is due!

 

[CharlieKlein]

This thread seems to be dying! Luckily, I have some great new.......drumroll.....
AMMONIA-0!!!!!!!!
Nitrites 0!!!!!
Nitrates 20. So am I cycled?????????

 

[severum mama]

It would appear that you are.

 

[CharlieKlein]

Yay! But I thought the nitrates are espoused to be high? Or does it only matte that ammonia and nitrite are 0?