Dwarf Rams

[Fraoch]

Ive pretty much sorted my stocking now and aready have a few fish in my 240l but i need some help with the ram side of things. The tank is planted and is seperated into 2 "islands" of plants with one cave, i can get more flat stones though if needed. Stocking;
2 angelfish
20 cardinals
15 harlequins
6 hatchetfish
6 adolfoi corys
8 glass cats

now the questions

1. With German blue rams and their colour variations, does it matter if you had for example 3 but they were all a different colour, say 1 GBR, 1 gold and 1 electric, would they be happy or is it always best to stick with the one colour variant?

2. Would colour varitions interbreed and what would the offspring look like colour wise?

3. I was originally going to have 4 rams, 2 gbr, 1 gold and 1 electric but ive changed my mind again, as you do , and i was wondering if bolivians would be compatable. So maybe 2 gold rams and 2 bolivians, maybe 2 golds, 1 electric and 2 bolivian(maybe too many) or would bolivians prefer more of their own?

4. If my suggestions arnt that great id be very happy to read some other peoples suggestions for other dwarf cichlids or another big single fish about the same size as an angefish, i really like bigger cichlids but i know they get mostly too aggressive. Im basically still playing with stocking. What ive got already is the harlequins, hatchetfish, 5 glass cats and 2 adolfois
thank you, and sorry for soo many questions

 

[Twinklecaz]

Nice stocking. You got any pics?

I've got a nasty feeling someone told me once you're not supposed to keep Rams and Angels together. Could be wrong though.

 

[soybean]

GBRs (regardless of colour variation) prefer much warmer temps than most of the fish you've listed, more around 28c. Bolivians would be a more suitable choice, if you really want rams in that setup.

Be careful of them with angels.

 

[Fraoch]

most of the stocking isnt in yet, its just planned

ahh so i couldnt keep any gbrs? i had no idea there was reason to be careful with them with angelfish, thanks for pointing that out

 

[Fraoch]

maybe ill just scrap it all and start again from what i have so,
currently in the tank;
10 harlequins
2 glass cats
2 black neons and 2 guppies- dont know what im going to do with these guys yet but guppies deffinatly arnt staying

in the quarantine soon to be put in;
6 silver hatchetfish
3 glass cats
5 harlequins
2 adolfois

ideas for new stocking plan anyone?

 

[moochy13]

GBR's are much more difficult to keep than bolivians. i went for gbr's first, and they didnt too well so went to bolivians. they are less demanding, and though not as visually bold as GBR's, the colouration of a nice bolivian is a great addition to a tank. i wanted GBR's because of the colours, but now i have to say i prefer the bolivians.

i have a single angel in with my rams, they generally ignore each other unless the rams gets too close to the angel, in which case it chases them off. thats as mean as they get though.

 

[soybean]

I was thinking more about bolivians after considering the behaviour of my own. They certainly didn't get along with a gourami and do like to be boss.


Never kept angels myself but from what I've read if you want to keep two it's best to have a mated pair else they may fight. Angels have also been known to make a snack of smaller fish like harlequins.

I think you might be better off with some dwarf cichlids like apistogrammas. You could keep a male and quite a few females - depending on the species they set up home in different caves and the male keeps them in check, quite interesting to watch.

 

[Fraoch]

Might consider bolivians then but if i just forgot all about cardinals angels what other stocking options do i have? Thinking more of bigger fish rather than more schooling fish thank you

edit; maybe gourmais? would they be alright with rams? i know you said gbrs wouldnt do well in the tank but what would i have to change to make it work?

 

[eurotrout]

maybe ill just scrap it all and start again from what i have so,
currently in the tank;
10 harlequins
2 glass cats
2 black neons and 2 guppies- dont know what im going to do with these guys yet but guppies deffinatly arnt staying

in the quarantine soon to be put in;
6 silver hatchetfish
3 glass cats
5 harlequins
2 adolfois

ideas for new stocking plan anyone?

maybe you should keep the guppies as there young are good food for the other fish, thinking of setting my tank up this weekend not been running for years any help on good canister filters for 150 ltr tank cheers

 

[Fraoch]

actually planning on keeping the babies ive not had many externals but if you can get your hands on tetratec or fluval, the bigger brands

 

[Fraoch]

scrap everything ive said, im changing my mind on an hourly basis

But back to the original plan i think was my favourite, the pair of breeding angels and 4 gbrs, why is it that they are not recommended together? is there any way i can adjust it to make the tank suit them?

 

[creeker]

In reference to your question about mixing Ram color varieties, I had a Blue male and a Gold female that paired up and bred in a lightly stocked heavily planted community tank. I don't think there were any Gold young because the young that I ended up with and that survived were all Blues.