Zante said:
Sorry, but rams are very picky in that sense, and if you have a crust on the bottom of your kettle your water is WAY too hard, as also indicated by your ph.
Also GBRs need high temperatures, the same as discus, and neons will die in those temperatures. Neons are not REALLY tropical, they are more subtropical and start suffering over 24 celsius. If you keep them at 28 celsius which GBRs need they will die quickly.
Thanks for the information
Can you think of anything around the same size of the ram, has some nice color and would look good as a centerpiece?
Bolivian rams are very nice. Don't be deterred by their drab colours in the shop. Once settled they colour up and are very nice. not as vivid as GBR, but nice nonethless.
Dwarf gouramis would probably spend more time in the mid-top part of the tank and be more visible than most of the dwarf cichlids who'd spend a lot of time lurking in the plants.
That is why I suggested a betta or a dwarf gourami as a centerpiece fish.
In 92 litres you could easily fit 1 male and 3 females of either betta or dwarf gourami and they look very nice.
Another thing: neons look very nice, but they don't school at all if they are not under threat, they just spread out in the tank. If you go for espei rasboras they school quite tightly and they look very very nice when swimming in formation. I mention espei rasboras in particular because i have them and i know how good they look. Again, don't be put off by the colours in the shop. Once settled in the tank they take a coppery sheen that is beautiful.
As for the bottom feeders i still vouch for kuhli loaches, again from personal experience. Once settled and given appropriate hiding spots and numbers to make them feel safe, they are very active and entertaining fish. You will not regret getting them.
I like the idea of the rasboras, I had a look on youtube and i can easily say that the pics dont do them justice, they are nice looking fish from the videos
I have noticed that about the neons as well, i currently have 4 (two died due to unknown causes) but they have spead out across the tank, but they group when ever i put my arm in or something
I will have a look at the kkuhli loaches, (would it hurt to have small corys with kuhli's?
As for the betta/gourami idea, i have a flame gourami now (will be going to my gf soon) but he is mostly towards the bottom, aswell as my betta (also going to the gf)
I was looking at the bolivian ram as they are hardier apparently
I want something that is about the size of a ram, and colorful that will just catch your eyes
I know im picky but i want this to be a perm setup for quite some time, and i just want a beautiful awesome fish
I realize that this constricts my pick of fish though
