How many

[Jezah]

How many Keyholes and Blue rams can I keep together in a 29g? Just wondering, I was hoping at least one pair of each.

[Jezah]

hellooooo

[mooman]

If you are willing to keep dither fish to a minimum (couple of cories as garbage men) I bet you could have a pair of keyholes (5in each) and a trio or even two pairs of rams.

PS If the blue rams die on you try bolivian rams (much tougher and in my opinion more active)

Sounds like a great tank
good luck

[Nuriel]

a 29 is pretty small for two pairs, if i were you i would go for a pair of rams and add a trio of cory cats OR a couple upside down cats. But a 29 is not really ideal for more than a pair of cichlids as they get aggressive when spawning.

[mooman]

Ok, upon seeing my previous suggestion in type "2 keyholes and 3 or 4 Rams" might be a little dense (sorry), but this guy really seems like he wants to try two pair in a 29g.

Jezah, you have heard others advize not keeping more than one pair. I think it could be possible with lots of cover and the right pair (they all have different personalities, even within species), but I strongly advise you to have a second tank (it could even be a 5g bucket with a heater and fully cycled filter) ready to hold the second pair in case there are problems down the road, and be ready to return or give them away to a pet store or fellow hobbiest. If either pair does breed you will need a second tank to grow up the fry anyway.

I must mention that I am not as experienced as the people who advise against this, but I think with the proper preparations (second tank) there is nothing wrong with at least trying to make it work.

[benedictj]

I agree with mooman. It probably isn't advisable, but if you insist make sure you have lots and lots of plants and a couple of caves for hiding. It might be beneficial to set up hidey holes at opposite ends of the tank.

Another thing to consider, and I realize that this isn't on your list from the other post, but have you considered any of the african shelldwellers? You could potentially keep a healthy colony of Neolamprologus Brevis or Multis (or similis if you can get your hands on some) in your tank. Their water requirements are different than South Americans, but I have heard they are really satifying in terms of behaviour and the space requiremnts for the smaller species is considerably less then Rams.

[ChileRelleno]

I'd just like to add that Rams, Blue or Bolivian, tend to be skittish and seem to do best when they have a school of dither fish moving calmly around the tank. Like little prozacs for Rams ;) .
Yes, you could do it/try it, but your Rams will do much better by themselves and some dithers.

[Jezah]

Oh, i think blue rams are pretty...but if they are wicked skittish and hide all the time then I am not sure I want that...

As far as keyholes go...could I have 2 breeding pairs of them in my tank? I have plenty of spare tanks to move them into if problems arise. Are keyholes more bold? Cause I have heard several people say blue rams are shy...and I dislike fish that hide all day. I like to see my fish! :D What other community fish can go with keyholes? Tetras, mollies ECT...?

[ChileRelleno]

Its not that they hide all the time, but they are naturally very wary and a school of dithers lets then know the coast is clear and they go about their normal business.
Also unless your experienced with temperamental and somewhat fragile fish and have mature tanks with no water problems, then Blue Rams may not be for you as they can be touchy.
However the Bolivian rams are much hardier and more tolerant of water conditions, but water conditions are still a major factor when keeping Bolivians. And Rams can be hard-very hard to successfully breed and sometimes their parenting skills are lacking.

I don't know much about Keyholes having never kept them...

[mooman]

I agree with chile on the blue rams, but my bolivian rams never hide. They are always front and center, poking around in the gravel and squaring off against each other (never violently)

[Jezah]

What about electric yellows? Could they get along with keyholes...? Or do they need to be alone.,.and if they need to be alone...how many could I have in a 29g?

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Yellow labs need a very different water chemistry and diet than the keyholes.

Like i've said many times before, you can get about 3 yellow labs in that tank, but nothing else. They really should have a bigger tank but 30 gal is bare minimum so you might be ok. They need a pH of about 8.2, moderately hard water, temp of about 78F.... sand substrate and lots of rocks. You might be able to keep some plants in there with them if the plants will handle the high ph and taste bad to the yellow labs (ie- valliserneria, java fern, anubias).

-Diana

[sethgarden]

I think im in love .................... again :)

[Jezah]

:confused:

[mooman]

Jezah

Listen to "Love my kribs" you can put some awsome fish in that tank, but you can't mix African and South American Cichlids (besides water chemisty the "look" of the biotope is way different). If you want to keep multiple species your best bet is SA.

Pick your favorite looking dwarf cichlid, and get one male and one, maybe two females. Then pick some cool "support fish" (my name for dither fish). A trio of cories, small school of hatchet fish for up top, a pair of ottos for algae, and some tight schooling tetras (black). The tank will be dynamic, biotope accurate, and just look plain awesome.

I was in search of the "multiple cichlid species in a 29g" dream not to long ago also. It's just hard to realize, and when I did the tank looked disorganized.

With that said, if you gotta mix cichlids you at least have to stay on the same continent.

[razor]

i have a 30 gallon can i put 2 yellow labs 2 convict ans 3 loaches-all 1 1/2 inches

[mooman]

Not responsibly. The yellow labs are rift lake cichlids from Africa (harder water), while the convicts are new world cichlids (softer water). Also if either pair starts to breed (the convicts will for sure) they will become violent toward all other fish in the tank.