# of Rams in my 16 gallon?

[anewbie]

So, what would you do with a Fluval Spec 16? What accent fish with movement and color would you guys go with? Just 1 or 2. A small group of dither schooling fish? Cories and snails to help clean up?
Dims 22L x 12D x 17H
PH 7.6
Cycling won't be done for another 2-4 weeks.
Plants are doing ok.
7500k lights
Lights on 8 hrs/day
Temp at 81-82

Would love to hear your ideas

I would go with a pair of borelli; 5 pencil fishes or ember tetra and keep the aquarium around 76 degree. If your heart is set on GBR (which should not be put into a newly cycled aquarium as they are quite delicate) I would go with 1 GBR and 6 cardinal tetra and keep the aquarium at 82. If you go with the borelli you could also try 6 to 8 pymy cory; generally speaking cory is not a good fit but pymgy seems to understand and avoid aggression better than other cory.

 

[Samfoy]

Gourami's might be the fish for me then. Lower temp and less movement around the tank.

 

[anewbie]

Gourami's might be the fish for me then. Lower temp and less movement around the tank.

Your best bet would be sparkling gourami; you can read up on them. They are not large around an inch but you would buy a group 5ish. You could also consider kubotai rasbora; these are fairly active fishes that stay near the surface - they swim a lot but are actually quite nice looking (these would be a dither fish). I'm not sure your tank is large enough for a group of 3 honey gourami - i'll let others comment there as I have no experience with them. There is also a fish called gudgeon peacock that is fairly attactive and grows to 1.5-2 inches you might want to check out.

 

[Samfoy]

I like the Gudgeon Peacock and Honey Gourami together, with pigmy cory's

 

[Samfoy]

I did quite enjoy gobies(GP) when I had a saltwater reef tank several several years ago. This might be the beginning of a good thing

 

[Samfoy]

How do I decide when to put in air stone(oxygen) for fish?

 

[Byron]

How do I decide when to put in air stone(oxygen) for fish?

You should not need this. And surface disturbance is preferable, this can be achieved from the filter return. Even a simple sponge filter (which would be all you need in this sized tank with these fish that are all quiet-water species) can be placed so the bubbles breach the surface.

 

[Samfoy]

Does the decision depend on the fish at times or the amount of fish in your tank? Will the fish indicate the need?

 

[Essjay]

Air stones are for the fish keeper not the fish; if you like bubbles they make the tank look pretty. If the filter outflow moves water along the tank just under the surface, air stones are not needed.

There is one occasion where air stones are useful and that's when the fish have ich and the temperature has been raised to kill the parasite. Because warmer water contains less oxygen an air stone can be used to increase movement of the water surface to allow more oxygen to dissolve.

 

[Samfoy]

Got it.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Air stones are for the fish keeper not the fish; if you like bubbles they make the tank look pretty. If the filter outflow moves water along the tank just under the surface, air stones are not needed.

There is one occasion where air stones are useful and that's when the fish have ich and the temperature has been raised to kill the parasite. Because warmer water contains less oxygen an air stone can be used to increase movement of the water surface to allow more oxygen to dissolve.

Another occasion: fishless cycling, with elevated tank temps to encourage BB growth

 

[FishHobby99]

How do I decide when to put in air stone(oxygen) for fish?

I don’t use them, just a sponge filter with an air pump in most of the tanks.

 

[kribensis12]

As to which species as I said it depends on the dimension of the aquarium - if it has low surface area no cichlid; if it has sufficient surface area borelli would likely be a good fit which are commonly available; smaller and less aggressive than most of the other commonly available species.

Btw I think you are confusing two different issues - mixing ram with some species of apistogramma and putting a species of apistogramma in a 16 gallon aquarium. There are a few spieces of apisto that can be kept with at the temp of a gbr but the ones that come to mind are a bit on the aggressive side and need a bit more space.

Btw there are not 400 species of apistogramma; the number is closer to 100. There are over 400 forms but this includes likely colour variation as well as geological variations.

If you know what you want you can mostly find the species - I think i've seen over 30 species available via various methods.

I mentioned borelli above because they are particularly hearty and can handle a wide range of water conditions and temp; at least more so than some other species and they are not quite as inbred as cockatoo though they are probably getting there...

Anyway without knowing the dimensions of the aquarium it is hard to say much - my guess is that it is probably a stock 15 gallon which is 25x13x13 which is not bad - a shallow 20 high. However it could be one of those funky hexagon which is tall and very little surface area; kind of useless at least for this application.

I should have been more specific - there are 100 recognized species but:

"Presently, approximately 100 scientifically described species are recognized as valid, but genetic studies show that many species actually represent multiple closely related species. Additionally, many more undescribed Apistogramma species have entered the hobby over the past 35 years. A large number of distinct populations (that we call “forms”) and color morphs also exist that may or may not be species in their own right. At the time of this writing we have recognized over 400 species, forms, and distinct population of Apistogramma."

Welcome to Toms Homepage

 

[Byron]

I should have been more specific - there are 100 recognized species but:

"Presently, approximately 100 scientifically described species are recognized as valid, but genetic studies show that many species actually represent multiple closely related species. Additionally, many more undescribed Apistogramma species have entered the hobby over the past 35 years. A large number of distinct populations (that we call “forms”) and color morphs also exist that may or may not be species in their own right. At the time of this writing we have recognized over 400 species, forms, and distinct population of Apistogramma."

Welcome to Toms Homepage

That is a good apistogramma site you linked. I've used it for info quite often over the past decade.