Bolivian Rams

[KingofthePisces]

ive chosen the bolivian ram so ive made a community that revolves around them the community is:
bolivian rams: 2
blue panchax killifish: 3
leopard danios: 4
bristlenose catfish: 2
kuhlii loaches: 2
platy: 3
is this community fine for a 21 gallon? will anything conflict with anything?
personally i dont know about the danios, plattys & rams there all fish ive never kept before please help
i would also like to know what to feed the rams? flakes or pellets?

 

[Alps]

You shouldn't put two bristlenose in a tank that size. And practically you wouldn't need two for algae. Try putting in some tetras (cardinals maybe?) with those rams as they are more native and will make rams more comfortable than danios.Feed the Rams frozen/freeze-dried and see if you can get them to come to the surface to eat flakes.

 

[Lurks]

I have a little larger tank than that which I also built around a pair of bolivian rams who are happily with fry right now.

I tihnk a lot of what you've chosen will happily make a meal of eggs and fry. Which you might not be worried about. However since I was I went for pencilfish 'dither' fish and strictly freshwater shrimp for the clean up crew. I think, despite some commonly held wisdom, you'd be able to put a cory or two in since the rams will keep the cory away from eggs without too much problem. Those loaches should be fine though. I'd avoid platys unless you want a thousand of the damn things.

The trick seems to be setting up an obvious area for them to spawn. A flat stone or flatish bit of bogwood and making sure that the substrate around there is easily diggable out into a depression where they tend to herd the fry in the evening. If you've got plants near spawn sites, they're liable to get virtually excavated as they make the fry depression.

The smart move is to make the spawn/fry friendly part of the tank up front so you can watch the action.

I love bolivian rams. If you can get a bit of sunlight to the tank their courting colours are spectacular. The fact they're hardier than german rams is damn handy and I find their behavior a shade less shy and more interesting as a result.

 

[Alps]

I have a little larger tank than that which I also built around a pair of bolivian rams who are happily with fry right now.

I tihnk a lot of what you've chosen will happily make a meal of eggs and fry. Which you might not be worried about. However since I was I went for pencilfish 'dither' fish and strictly freshwater shrimp for the clean up crew. I think, despite some commonly held wisdom, you'd be able to put a cory or two in since the rams will keep the cory away from eggs without too much problem. Those loaches should be fine though. I'd avoid platys unless you want a thousand of the damn things.

The trick seems to be setting up an obvious area for them to spawn. A flat stone or flatish bit of bogwood and making sure that the substrate around there is easily diggable out into a depression where they tend to herd the fry in the evening. If you've got plants near spawn sites, they're liable to get virtually excavated as they make the fry depression.

The smart move is to make the spawn/fry friendly part of the tank up front so you can watch the action.

I love bolivian rams. If you can get a bit of sunlight to the tank their courting colours are spectacular. The fact they're hardier than german rams is damn handy and I find their behavior a shade less shy and more interesting as a result.

What's your stocking Lurks? I've been toying with the idea of pencilfish and rams.

 

[KingofthePisces]

what could i have instead of plattys? im not really bothered about taking care of hundreds and hundreds of fry so if a few get eaten i wont care i have a baby raising tank thats 10 gallon and would that be suitable for the ram fry? what should i feed the ram fry? are pencilfish a good idea because my lfs gets them in all the time and i like the way they just "hover" there can you suggest a 100% fish community because we dont get shrimp around here (australia) i want to keep the bristlenose cats because theyre cool

 

[parker313]

If you're looking for something red instead of the platies, what about cherry barbs?

 

[KingofthePisces]

i dont want barbs due to a bad expirience in my early community days those poor tetras never had a chance i think ill go with the pencilfish ive made a new community it is:
blue panchax killi: 3
golden pencilfish: 4
bolivian ram: 2
kuhlii loaches: 2
bristlenose pelcos: 2
platty: 2
black widow tetra??
i like the idea of the pencilfish there nice do pencilfish require any special treatment? i want to keep the plattys i know they will eat the fry ill just let the ram dad take care of them and move them when they need moving and somthing else will sand make a good substrate? or is there a better substrate i could use?