german blue rams w/guppies??

[willy:-)]

Hello, I also posted this in the chilid section with no luck so I thought I would post it here. I've been trying to decide what to put in with my guppies in my 29 gallon and I know chilids aren't really an option other than german blue rams. I understand that they get to 3 inches and can live in a 29 gallon. Is this correct? I have also heard that they are compatable with small fish but get territorial when spawning. In conclusion would it be a good idea to get a pair of these to go in with guppies and corydoras, or would it be best to get one female/male or would it be best to avoid chilids altogether? Thanks everyone! :bowing:

 

[MargieMay06]

I am very interested to see the answer to this question, except I'm thinking about an empty 20 gallon.

 

[hurdledude1298]

i used to house german blue rams and guppies in a 10 gallon until i got a pair then decided to take the guppies out. they got along fine but sometimes the ram didnt get the food!

 

[Hrafnkel]

After 6 hours of owning rams I'm not sure I'd bother trying to keep them with anything else. Too **** delicate, I've already lost one, after a painstakingly long acclimation and it acting fine and eating fine until just a few minutes ago.

 

[Dwarfnut]

My experience has not been as short lived as Hraf's, but have had my share of trouble keeping them alive! Most of the stock I've seen lately has been pretty poor and they don't seem to last longer than a few weeks. If you can find some that are wild caught, they seem to do better. IME they are pretty picky when it comes to water conditions and like warmer, acidic and very clean water! If the tank has not been running for a while, I wouldn't try it.

As far as guppies and rams go, no problem there. The rams will either stay near the bottom or roam all over, but are pretty peaceful. When spawning, they get a little terratorial. but nothing too aggressive. The 29 gallon should give the guppies lots of room to move away should they need to.

Now, your very last line throws in a little more with you having Corys as well. Corrys are bottom dwellers, same as the Rams will be if they start spawning and that's where trouble can occur. Since the Corys are pretty active and move all over, they seem to make breeding Rams 'nervous' or something and IME, it's always led to the Rams eating the eggs. Also, the Corys are usually more aggressive about eating the eggs than the Rams are about defending them, so they can get eaten that way. I've heard of others having trouble keeping Rams and Corys together, but I've never had that experience.

Also, I've never seen a Blue Ram get 3" long... closer to 2" when full grow. Bolivian Rams get a little bigger than the Blue Rams and can get 3 - 3 1/2 " long. A pair of those would be fine in your 29 also. They are much easier to keep and find good stock.

Best of luck,

 

[Puffernewbee]

I had 2 male Blue Rams in a 29 gallon with 6 neons, 3 cories, 5 rasboras, 3 guppies and 2 ottos. The only thing the bothered was each other occasionally. Never bothered another fish in the tank. All are now in a 72 gallon with more community fish and they leave all the others alone. I am planning on trading in one of the males at the LFS whenever they get some females.

 

[TEES_91]

I've noticed they are somewhat touchy. I had 8 and now am down to 3. The water paramiters are fine so my test kit said and the LFS. I have a 55 gal with a Emperor 400 filter on it. The LFS seems to think maybe my problems maybe too pure water as I had been using RO water only (culligan) so I will start using a mix with tap this next wc.
I also have noticed when I was down to like 5 GB Rams that the largest a male and a female whom he has paired up with were chasing everyone else. Was very stressing to the others. No matter where they were in the tank. They are housed with a Moonlight Gourami whom they don't mind and she does not mind them at all either. I am thinking of putting them in a tank all to themselves in the next few weeks.