Breeding fish with bottom dwellers

B

burnttoast

Registered Member
Oct 30, 2015
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Hi there,

I'm just hoping for some advice on bottom dwellers. In my community tank there is a pair of Bolivian rams trying to breed, but every time they lay eggs my bristlenose catfish eats them (of course lol). So I'm going to get rid of the bristlenose but I want to replace her with some other bottom dwelling peaceful fish that is less likely to eat the rams eggs. I realize most fish are opportunists when it comes to eggs but I'm hoping you fine folks can give me some advice and/or suggestions. I have tried to keep corys in the tank before but they dont seem to survive which i dont understand. The tank is 220 l (or around 55 gallons), heavily planted with relatively low lighting. pH is 6.5ish and is quite soft water.
 
Have you tried Corys from a different sourse?
 
Yeah from 2 different sources. Juli and peppered corys. They only lasted for a day or so. They seemed to be lethargic and breathing rapidly both times. I was wondering about trying a loach species?
 
How do you acclimate?
 
Usually add them to tank in afternoon. Floating bag open for 10 mins for temperature adjustment. Then slowly add my tankwater to bag over the course of about an hour, removing water from bag if it gets too full during process. Lights off in tank while i do this and remain off for an hour or after too. I use this technique for all my fish, never had a problem with it before. I actually wondered if the cories were dying of lack of oxygen, even though they werent gasping at surface at any stage. Though if it was this, surely my rams would be suffering too, but they are perfectly happy (and trying to breed). Any thoughts? I appreciate the replies.
 
What are your tank readings from a good liquid test kit? And describe your tank maintenance routine.
 
Temp 26 degrees, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 5-10ppm, hardness 3 degrees, pH 6.5. Maintenance is 25-30% weekly water change with slightly cooler water, adding prime, flourish and sometimes flourish excel if any bba has arrived from a pet store. Heavily planted with an aqua one 1200 canister and another small pump inside the tank for moving water around. Tankmates are bolivian ram pair, pearl gourami trio, gardneri killifish pair, a few rasbora and brown pencilfish and the bristlenose catfish that has created this whole mess lol.
 
I'm thinking your rams are going to have a hard time rearing any fry that hatch due to being born in a snack bar! You are going to need enough small cover for fry to hide.


Also, sounds like you need to take a water reading from the bottom with a siphon.
 
Yeah there is lots of xmas moss everywhere and the tank is very heavily planted. Those readings were from quite low in the tank, about 2/3rds of the depth. The parameters shouldnt really change toooo much from there to the bottom. Any suggestions on different bottom dwelling species if cories arent going to work?
 
Cories are worse egg eaters than bristlenose. TBH, all fish will eat eggs if given the chance. The rams will usually protect their eggs and chase off any predators. Failing to do that means they're crummy parents. Best bet will be to move the parents to a tank of their own.
 
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