Importance of soft water for German Blue Rams

[bud29]

Hi, I think german blue rams are very cool fish and I'm contemplating putting them in my tank. I've read that they like soft water. How important is soft water? My water is pretty hard. Can GBRs tolerate/live well in hard water?

 

[BlaseMrNiceguy]

What are your tank parameters?

 

[bud29]

about 15 dH

 

[bud29]

You didn't want ammonia, nitrite, nitrAte, and pH, did you? My readings aren't quite as accurate right now because I'm using strips. My API test kit comes tomorrow.....

 

[Cichlid Kid]

All my tank bred gbr's are in a ph of 7.4 and spawn regularly. However my wildcaughts are at a ph of 6.0 and a little touchy. If your planning on acquiring captive bred ones then ph's other than extremes will do. They do however need fairly pristine water as far as nitrates anything over 10 is askin for trouble.
They're a great little cichlid though!!! Lov em

 

[bud29]

thanks!!!

 

[DavidAl]

That total hardness is a bit high for rams, moderately at least. Depending on where they came from, they may or may not be happy. They might not breed with that gH.

In my experience, two of the most important criteria with rams are: warm water and a mature tank. They do NOT like temperature swings.

David