German Blue Ram [Archive] - Aquaria Central

ecal468

03-07-2007, 11:23 PM

Hello. I am new to the forum, and I think I need some help. I have recently acquired a 45 gallon tank and plan on putting in a few different kinds of fish. The most important that I want to incorporate is the Blue Ram. At the LFS the only type they have are the hybrid "balloon" type mixed in with some regular ones it seems. I want 3 "true" blue rams and was wondering if anybody would risk buying them at the LFS or I was planning on ordering them from www.liveaquaria.com. I also want to put 2 angels and 2 dwarf gouramis. Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated! The LFS also has upside down catfish which seem pretty interesting.....and I've read they stay pretty small.......

mandy-2007

03-08-2007, 2:17 AM

well i have angels, gouramis and blue rams in a 160 gallon tank with discus and testras and catfish and they are all fine :)

Cathy G

03-08-2007, 7:26 AM

Hi,
I'd get them online when the weather warms up, you'll get healthier fish. I assume liveaquaria guarantees the fish, but won't reimburse the shipping charges - this is par for course. If you go to aquabid.com you'll find the same thing. You might also check local fish clubs to see if there is a breeder closer to you...

Cathy
P.S. Rams like warm water, they really do best at least at 82. Have you checked the temps for gouramis? I thought they like things a little cooler... the angels will do just fine though.

ecal468

03-08-2007, 8:01 AM

Thank you for your quick replies! I have read some differing opinions for water temp regarding the Blue Rams and the Gouramis. I have read anywhere from 75-82 for the Rams and 74-80 for the Gouramis. Can anyone clarify this?

ecal468

03-09-2007, 6:32 AM

I have a 45 gallon tank and the dimensions are roughly 36 X 12 X 23. I am having trouble finding fake plants that can fill up the top part of the tank. I have seen some for 18" tall, but is that the highest? Also, does anyone have any stocking suggestions?

Cathy G

03-09-2007, 7:19 AM

Angels and rams would work, but seriously, that temp needs to be up there - 82 at least. You could add tetras if you didn't go with angels, you could also add endlers live bearers, pencil fish. And, you might check out keyholes. See if someone here thinks Severums would work with rams - I don't know but whenever I see the Sevs they are not scrounging around the bottom like the rams.

Oh, I assume you are going to have standard aquarium lighting and that it will be rather low? You might try seeing if you can find a full spectrum bulb and float real plants - Hornwort for example. You could also buy annubias and java fern and rubber band them to driftwood. (They will attach in time and the rubberbands will fall apart and get removed)

Cathy
P.S. Discus would work with rams too...

ecal468

03-10-2007, 11:40 AM

:dive:I have just set up my new tank and I want to include a pic for comments/suggestions. It has 3 rams, about 1/2 an inch in size, 2 angel fish, about 3/4 of an inch long and 5 cherry barbs.

13756

These are two of my Rams!

13755

13757

Cathy G

03-10-2007, 5:31 PM

Nice, there is lots of cover and I think you have a good combination of fish. This is cycled right?
Cathy

Star_Rider

03-10-2007, 11:19 PM

Heed Cathy's advice..rams should be in water atleast 82.
they do well with discus and or angels.
youer set up looks good..I hope it is cycled and has a good established filter.

ecal468

03-12-2007, 3:13 PM

Thanks for all the great comments! I do have another question....What should I be feeding in this tank? As of now I have Omega One Super Color for Tropical Fish and sinking Oscar Grow Cichlid Pellets from HBH. The angelfish and cherry barbs eat off the top with the flakes and the rams get the sinking pellets and the flakes that eventually sink down. They will NOT eat from the top! Is that OK? How often should I feed the tank and how much? A few pinches of the flakes and a few pellets for each ram that sink to the bottom? Thanks.

Cathy G

03-12-2007, 8:05 PM

Just a couple of pellets for the rams is fine. They also love frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp. You could try adding that to their diet a few times/week. You just don't want any food left over at all. Also, you don't want to feed them every time they swim over to the glass to beg for it! Once/day is good, but rams usually do well with a couple of smaller meals instead of one big one. So, usually give mine pellets in the morning and then a bit of the frozen food in the afternoon. Watch their tummies, if they begin to grow and plump up you are feeding enough, if they stay skinny and somewhat shrunken you should add more... females produce eggs, so I usually feed them more - if possible! All the other fish try to get in on the action.

Cathy

ecal468

03-15-2007, 4:38 AM

Ok. That sounds good. Thanks a lot.

Rbishop

03-15-2007, 5:06 AM

Nice start on that tank.

mooman

03-15-2007, 8:07 AM

I would move the pirate ship off to the left or right. Put it in what photographers call a "power point". Split the tank into thirds and place the ship on one of these immaginary lines. This causes the eye to move across the tank and be drawn to the ship. Just a suggestion.

ecal468

03-15-2007, 8:28 AM

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm not really a creative person so I just stuck it in the middle. But I will consider that option when I switch the stuff around in the tank. It is just a start....hopefully moving on to bigger and better in the future.

ecal468

03-18-2007, 10:13 PM

Well here is an update on the tank....... 2 of the rams have been preying on what seems to be the weaker one and have severely nipped off most of it's tail. I moved it to another tank I have. Also, one of the angels has been picking on the other. I can't tell if it has been letting up or not. There are plenty of hiding spots and I don't want what happened to the ram to happen to this one. The tank is fairly large with many plants, rocks, etc.

ecal468

03-26-2007, 6:28 PM

So how do you guys do your water changes? Empty out the right amount, then refill it using buckets? Do you treat the water before you put it in or after? Thanks.

Cathy G

03-26-2007, 8:08 PM

I fill a big vat with the new water - I treat it with a declorinator, and get it up to the same temperature as the tank. Then I gravel vac the tank and drain out around 50% of the water. Then I add back in the new clean stuff with a bucket. I pour the water over the top of one of my hands to break the force of the pouring
.
Hope this helps. Oh, don't add salt... don't add anything to 'improve the slime coat' etc. All this is hype.

Be sure to keep your tanks' water very clean - the kind of stress you describe could lead to disease. Get a nitrate test kit if you don't have one and keep it under 5 until the rams' fins grow back. If you don't watch the water quality carefully bacterial infections/fungus could set in.

Cathy

ecal468

03-27-2007, 1:45 AM

That sounds like a good idea. I just have to find myself some kind of big container to hold the water now. The tank seems to be doing well now. Unfortunately the ram that was being harassed has since died....but the the other two rams have split the bottom in half and are doing well. The more aggressive of the two angels has stopped nipping the other one and it's fins are growing back nicely. Overall things are doing well. I just cleaned and refilled the water 1 bucket at a time and it took forever!

nickmcmechan

03-27-2007, 2:15 AM

IndianaSam

03-27-2007, 9:45 AM

So, the temps are 75-82 and 74-80....try setting the tank at 78-80 to keep them all happy?
Set it to at least 80. I think that the gouramies can handle 82 even.

Sam

ecal468

03-27-2007, 6:35 PM

The tank has 2 german blues, 2 angelfish, and 5 red cherry barbs. It also has some glass shrimp at the bottom. The temp is at 81-83 degrees.

wackydan

03-28-2007, 1:38 PM

Doesn't sound like this tank was cycled based on the info given so far, and the questions on water changes.

Blue rams are very sensitive to water conditions..... You will have to watch all of them very closely.

Do you have a test kit for Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate?

ecal468

04-03-2007, 5:44 PM

gmh

04-06-2007, 3:11 PM

Your tank is not yet fully cycled. You will need to do frequent water changes untill the nitrites reach 0. Test the water frequently and change the water every couple of days. It's a hassle but if you don't bring those nitrite levels down you will lose the Rams and maybe the others as well.

gmh

04-06-2007, 3:17 PM

Oops , I misread your post. Guess the nitrites are 0 after all. Still, I would do frequent water changes and get an ammonia test kit. 3 to 4 weeks is a pretty short period to be cycling and stocking a tank. And the Rams in particular need very clean water. Good luck.

Star_Rider

04-06-2007, 3:26 PM

Sorry for taking so long in replying, I've been busy. But the water parameters are:
Ammonia: Don't have a tester for that yet.
Nitrate: Less than 10
Nitrite:0
Water Temp: 83
-This is the third or fourth week that it has been up and running.
Also, there seems to be some spots of green/brown algae growing on the glass. Is this normal? I think it is spreading. I got a rubber nose pleco to help with it.
green algae is pretty normal..the rubbernose may not eat the brown..if it doesn't just scrape it off.(oto's love the stuff..but angels love oto's(for food)
were you able to get an ammonia test kit?
3-4 weeks i pretty short for cycling but It has been done with the right conditions..
once the tank matures the brown algae should go away.
you will also have plenty of live bacteria to cycle when MTS hits(multi tank syndrome)
with good source of bacteria you can cycle a tank in 3-5 days...LOL

ecal468

04-06-2007, 3:54 PM

Thanks, gmh & star_rider. I just got an ammonia test kit today, with the vials and everything. Before I was using the test strips which I read are not really precise. These are this morning before I did a water change:
Ph: 7.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate <5
-I also found a few otos at the pet shop today. 5 for 3.50 or something like that so I picked up a few. If the angels eat them then it was live food, but if not then my little sister's tank might need a few. But dang! Already they are chowing down on the brown algae.
-And star_rider you were right about the pleco! He is feasting on the green, but not the brown.
-I also got one of those MAG-FlOAT magnets and cleaned most of it off, but left some for the little guys. I was skeptical about it, figuring "How well can this magnet with a pad contraption really work?", but boy was I wrong! I am going to have to return a few other algae removing devices because that is all I need.
-This is the end of the 4th week I have had the tank set up and everyone is doing fine except for one of the angels, he still seems very intimidated by the other one. Is it typical to have a dominant fish? I find that each type of fish that I have, one is more dominant than the other of it's species?

Thanks for everyone's help!

Star_Rider

04-06-2007, 4:20 PM

:thm:

great...sounds to me the tank is cycled..

your angels are small ..right??
just keep an eye on them as the oto's have the same defense mechanism as other catfish..(sharp barbs/spines on the gill plate)

sounds like you may have a dominant angel being...dominant..

ecal468

04-06-2007, 5:28 PM

Yes, they are only a couple of inches long. When I first got them both of their fins were relatively shorter than they are now. Angel #1's look like they are fully regrown, but #2 who is always hiding and running from the other one, his fins haven't grown back much. I am figuring this other angel is picking on the other one. Hopefully it will stop.....If not, off to another tank. And I will keep an eye on the otos and angels.

Star_Rider

04-06-2007, 9:00 PM

I've had to rearrange my wild Peruvian Scalare..I have an alpha male that pretty much beat the bejeezus out of my other two males...

that tank started at 4 is now down to 2(a pair I hope)

DeBree420

04-07-2007, 9:35 AM

i have one blue ram, she lives in my community tank but seems to kill all other rams i put in with her (including the male i got her with!) she loves bloodworm (in frozen form)and will take it from my fingers as i defrost and disperse it in the tank...on the days i don't give her bloodworm she sulks and will not come to my face and interact for at least 2 hours :P she also will eat brine shrimp and daphnia(also frozen)~after sulking and the community also only gets small ground flake in the morning

ecal468

04-12-2007, 6:33 PM

So.....everything is doing fine......except.......Hair Algae!!! I see the beginnings of this green hair algae. I am assuming the fish might pick on it. I have read the barbs might. Are there any precautions I should take. The specs are:
Ph: 7.2
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: ~5
Ammonia: 0
-I feed once in the morning, and not too much in my opinion.