Ram cichlids in a 29 gallon?

[Stefan3289]

Also I believe cories are good tank mates considering water parameters temperature and size correct?

 

[Stefan3289]

Also would it be possible to do a 70% sand and 30% gravel mix for cories or does it have to be pure sand? I have just never used sand before..

 

[Byron]

Yes you could do Tiger Barbs, and yes you could do cories with them. No other upper level fish. A group of 12-15 TB would be good. Cories also need a group, the more the better for them too, and in this tank I would aim for 12-15.

GH of 160 ppm (9 dGH) is moderate on the soft side, so well suited to fish mentioned so far. Leave the pH alone, it will stabilize somewhere and that is what you want. When you test pH in a given aquarium, once it is cycled and then established (a few months for this), the pH when tested prior to a water change should always be much the same as it was previously, within a couple decimal points at most. That is what you want for the fish, stability. Nitrates is another test that should do the same, be the same level week after week, and as low as possible.

 

[utahfish]

If I decide to only get one Bolivian ram, what are the options for the tank mates? If there aren’t many, what else could be a good center piece for a community tank? Also for my 75 gallon cichlid tank, where I used the 6.5 ph stabilizer, would acaras and severums be ok with a 7 ph? If not, is there any way I could lower it without chemicals?

I keep tetras with my bolivian RAM. Currently neons and glo light tetra, ive also kept rummy nose and von rio flame tetra with them. Ive kept corydora with them, hasbrosus and pepper cory but i find that since RAMs are earth eaters and corydora ate bottom feeders that the bottom gets to crowded. Ive also kept marbled hatchet with RAMs. Never had pencil fish but they are often found in the wild with neons and RAMs so would be suitable. Also one could keep a small pleco with them like a Bristle nose or clown but again plecos are bottom fish like the RAM.
Ive found filling the tank at all 3 levels looks great. Hatchets are exclusively top swimming. Pencil fish top to mid, tetra mid then RAms corydora and pleco bottom.
Personally i like pencil fish for the top 2 shoals of tetra for middle and a RAM for the bottom

 

[Stefan3289]

Let’s say I get a batch of 8 cories and 12 tiger barbs (I was thinking mixing regular, green, and albino). Would that be good or is there some more room in the tank (don’t wanna over crowd)

 

[Wills]

I would probably do it the other way round, more of the smaller cories and less of the larger barbs.

Tiny bit of input - have you considered going for something like Dwarf Chain Loaches or Zebra Loaches instead of Cories? Would then make it a nice Asian themed tank and you could possibly add something like a trio of Panchax to the surface, Golds are the easest to find but also one of the largest, you can get reds and blues that are a bit smaller but also a bit harder to find. You would have activity at all levels then too.

Wills

 

[Byron]

Also would it be possible to do a 70% sand and 30% gravel mix for cories or does it have to be pure sand? I have just never used sand before..

It is generally not good to mix substrate materials. It makes the tank space seem smaller, whereas the same substrate throughout increases the visual space. It looks more natural. And unless you somehow separate the two materials with a permanent divider that is siliconed to the tank bottom, the substrates will mix.

Given the relatively small surface area in a 29g, sand is your better option. I used gravel for many years until I was convinced to change to play sand; wish I had done it much sooner.

 

[Byron]

Let’s say I get a batch of 8 cories and 12 tiger barbs (I was thinking mixing regular, green, and albino). Would that be good or is there some more room in the tank (don’t wanna over crowd)

The Barbs are better with 12-15 as it means less chance of nipping trouble; aggression is heightened in smaller groups. The cories are better with 12-15 because they just are; very social fish will always have fewer problems with a larger group.

 

[Stefan3289]

Would the dwarf or zebra loaches mix with the tiger barbs

 

[Stefan3289]

And I will switch completely to sand then!

 

[Byron]

Would the dwarf or zebra loaches mix with the tiger barbs

Not sure how to answer this. If it were me, I would not combine them. The dwarf chain loach Ambastaia sidthimunki often spends a lot of tie in the mid-level, rather than substrate level, putting it directly in the path of the TB. If the Zebra Loach is the smaller botine species Botia striata, it might fare better. But this is something of a more reserved loach, and might possibly not do well here.

If you forget the Tiger Barb, you life becomes much simpler. The Black Ruby Barb, Pethia nigrofasciata, is a peaceful barb with similar patterns, and the addition of the stunning black and ruby red males. I've had this fish in with thee dwarf loach and Botia species with no issues.

 

[Stefan3289]

I think I will go with the Cory and tiger barbs mixture then. I am currently recycling the tank since I added the sand in I will send a picture of it. Also have to get a filter since mine decided to stop working

 

[Stefan3289]

Since this is my first time using sand, are there any tips I should know? I saw to stir the top a little then hover the siphon over it to clean it. Anything else or a better way to do it?

 

[Essjay]

That's what I do with sand, make little swirling motions just above the sand to the debris is lifted into the water where the siphon sucks it up. You will suck up some sand. If you use a bucket to collect the old water just wash the sand that ends up in the bucket and put it back in the tank.

 

[Byron]

Another thing is to keep the sand shallow rather than deep. I tend to spread the rinsed sand over the floor of the aquarium to a depth of say 1.5 inches (3 cm) or a tad more, then move it around as I want the aquascape to be. It will usually shift over time anyway, but this is not too deep and it provides sufficient depth for cories.

And cories are the other thing here. They do a remarkable job of keeping the sand clean, with their continual filter feeding. My former 70g had my group of 40-50 cories for four or five years and I did not touch the sand once in that tank. I moved last year and tore this tank down and it was remarkably healthy. The cories are now in my 40g and I have not gone into the sand with the vacuum even once since I set it up in May 2019. If I do happen to stir the sand in this tank, I never see detritus. I do in some of my other tanks without cories, but not this one.

Snails also help; they break down the organics faster so the decomposition bacteria can get at it more rapidly, and this too keeps the sand cleaner. Shrimp would probably have a similar role, but I've never kept shrimp.