Re start on 94 litre help

[Essjay]

Most of the smaller south American cichlids work best as a pair. With a bonded pair any 'spare' females will probably be attacked by the pair. With an unbonded pair, one could easily end up dead, usually the female.
A few apistogrammas are harem breeders, but in 95 litres no more than 1 male 2 females. Kribs also work best as a pair. But for anything other than rams you would need to lower the temperature to 24/25 deg C.

I know cardinal tetras would be OK at 28 deg C, there may be others but I don't now which species.

 

[Madison25]

Most of the smaller south American cichlids work best as a pair. With a bonded pair any 'spare' females will probably be attacked by the pair. With an unbonded pair, one could easily end up dead, usually the female.
A few apistogrammas are harem breeders, but in 95 litres no more than 1 male 2 females. Kribs also work best as a pair. But for anything other than rams you would need to lower the temperature to 24/25 deg C.

I know cardinal tetras would be OK at 28 deg C, there may be others but I don't now which species.

Ok, I currently have Cherry Barbs, guppies, yellow barb, 4 phantoms, 2 penguin tetra and one harlequin, which I was intending to rehome. All thriving in the current temperature. Can I keep any of these in with the rams? Then can just rehome the ones that wouldn't survice with them, I'm assuming the guppies will definitely need to go

 

[Essjay]

All of those fish should be kept at or just below 25 deg C I'm afraid. They are not compatible with rams.

Are you 100% set on rams? There are Bolivian rams, many species of apistogramma, nanacara etc that are compatible - but only if the temperature is reduced.


And yes, guppies need harder water than you have.

 

[Madison25]

All of those fish should be kept at or just below 25 deg C I'm afraid. They are not compatible with rams.

Are you 100% set on rams? There are Bolivian rams, many species of apistogramma, nanacara etc that are compatible - but only if the temperature is reduced.


And yes, guppies need harder water than you have.

All of those fish are currently in the tank at a higher temperature, they've been in there for about a year. My concern is will the rams kill them? I'm assuming rams and guppies won't mix well. I was going to re home all the current fish and re start with the rams but if they will get along with any then I will keep them in there. The tank has been that temperature from when we got it and all the fish we've had have done great. We only lost some due to a previous crayfish!

 

[Byron]

There is some misunderstanding in this thread concerning GH and especially temperature, I'll try to explain things. First, the fish in the warm tank are not thriving, even though you do not see it. Same holds for fish kept in the wrong water hardness. Both of these parameters seriously impact fish long-term.

"Tropical" fish that we keep in our tanks are very demanding with respect to temperature. Their habitat water does not fluctuate more than a couple degrees, either diurnally or seasonally. And fish are ectotherms, so the temperature of the water in which they live drives their metabolism. Metabolism is the term for all the chemical processes which give life to the fish. Metabolism is linked to all other body processes, either by providing energy to power them or by building and maintaining the structures necessary for them to function. The rate of metabolism is controlled by hormones and is influenced by a number of factors, including prevailing environmental conditions (temperature, salinity and oxygen levels).In any one environment, fish acclimatize to a relatively narrow temperature range. If the temperature moves outside this range for a continuous period or changes rapidly within the accepted range then it causes stress to the fish. The major effects on fish are an alteration in the metabolic rate, a disturbance of respiration, a blood pH imbalance, and a breakdown in osmoregulation function. Stress is the direct cause of more than 90% of all disease in aquarium fish.

A temperature variation of only two or three degrees permanently can cause very serious problems for the fish. Temporary changes such as heat waves or certain heat treatments are not the same because they are not long-term.

To the common or blue ram, Mikrogeophagus ramirezi. This fish must have warmth, in the range of 27-30C/80-86F, with the mid-range being ideal. Most of our "tropical" fish species have a lower preferred range, say 22-25C/72-77F. This is obviously very general, but the vast majority are within this range. Forced to survive in much warmer water long-term weakens the fish and causes various issues. Temperature does matter.

To pick up on the point @Essjay made, rams like most of the dwarf cichlids must select their mate. A 24g/94 liter tank will house only one species of dwarf cichlid, with dither fish suited to whatever temperature the cichlid requires.

 

[Madison25]

There is some misunderstanding in this thread concerning GH and especially temperature, I'll try to explain things. First, the fish in the warm tank are not thriving, even though you do not see it. Same holds for fish kept in the wrong water hardness. Both of these parameters seriously impact fish long-term.

"Tropical" fish that we keep in our tanks are very demanding with respect to temperature. Their habitat water does not fluctuate more than a couple degrees, either diurnally or seasonally. And fish are ectotherms, so the temperature of the water in which they live drives their metabolism. Metabolism is the term for all the chemical processes which give life to the fish. Metabolism is linked to all other body processes, either by providing energy to power them or by building and maintaining the structures necessary for them to function. The rate of metabolism is controlled by hormones and is influenced by a number of factors, including prevailing environmental conditions (temperature, salinity and oxygen levels).In any one environment, fish acclimatize to a relatively narrow temperature range. If the temperature moves outside this range for a continuous period or changes rapidly within the accepted range then it causes stress to the fish. The major effects on fish are an alteration in the metabolic rate, a disturbance of respiration, a blood pH imbalance, and a breakdown in osmoregulation function. Stress is the direct cause of more than 90% of all disease in aquarium fish.

A temperature variation of only two or three degrees permanently can cause very serious problems for the fish. Temporary changes such as heat waves or certain heat treatments are not the same because they are not long-term.

To the common or blue ram, Mikrogeophagus ramirezi. This fish must have warmth, in the range of 27-30C/80-86F, with the mid-range being ideal. Most of our "tropical" fish species have a lower preferred range, say 22-25C/72-77F. This is obviously very general, but the vast majority are within this range. Forced to survive in much warmer water long-term weakens the fish and causes various issues. Temperature does matter.

To pick up on the point @Essjay made, rams like most of the dwarf cichlids must select their mate. A 24g/94 liter tank will house only one species of dwarf cichlid, with dither fish suited to whatever temperature the cichlid requires.

If my fish were stressed in the conditions they are in, after almost 2 years, they would be having diseases, illnesses and signs of stress, none of which there are. However, like I said, I would change the temperature to suit whichever new fish I decide to go with. Thank you for all your advice and explanation.
We have also spent a long time researching pH and water hardness over the years (guppies, and Africans all in our soft water), spoken with the breeder and how he treats the fish before we purchased. There is a lot of research out there surrounding leaving pH as it is naturally from the tap and this is what we follow, we have fish breeding and thriving. I won't go into a discussion further as this wasn't the topic of my thread.
It was purely to ask which fish would go together and how many.
No, I'm not set on rams. I just want to bring back some passion to the small tank and do something different. However, we do prefer lots of smaller fish rather than keeping one tank to home a pair so may re think.

 

[Byron]

If my fish were stressed in the conditions they are in, after almost 2 years, they would be having diseases, illnesses and signs of stress, none of which there are. However, like I said, I would change the temperature to suit whichever new fish I decide to go with. Thank you for all your advice and explanation.
We have also spent a long time researching pH and water hardness over the years (guppies, and Africans all in our soft water), spoken with the breeder and how he treats the fish before we purchased. There is a lot of research out there surrounding leaving pH as it is naturally from the tap and this is what we follow, we have fish breeding and thriving. I won't go into a discussion further as this wasn't the topic of my thread.
It was purely to ask which fish would go together and how many.
No, I'm not set on rams. I just want to bring back some passion to the small tank and do something different. However, we do prefer lots of smaller fish rather than keeping one tank to home a pair so may re think.

Again, GH is the more important, don't get hung up on pH. And I'm sorry, but none of us can possibly say the fish are thriving in such conditions. all we can do is research the habitat conditions and provide them, and the fish will then and only then be likely to thrive, rather than survive. Fish can survive for months and even years, struggling to do so. It is a world of difference, I can assure you. The information in my last post was taken from the book The Manual of Fish Health authored by five highly-knowledgeable biologists in this hobby.

 

[Madison25]

Again, GH is the more important, don't get hung up on pH. And I'm sorry, but none of us can possibly say the fish are thriving in such conditions. all we can do is research the habitat conditions and provide them, and the fish will then and only then be likely to thrive, rather than survive. Fish can survive for months and even years, struggling to do so. It is a world of difference, I can assure you. The information in my last post was taken from the book The Manual of Fish Health authored by five highly-knowledgeable biologists in this hobby.

Again, GH is the more important, don't get hung up on pH. And I'm sorry, but none of us can possibly say the fish are thriving in such conditions. all we can do is research the habitat conditions and provide them, and the fish will then and only then be likely to thrive, rather than survive. Fish can survive for months and even years, struggling to do so. It is a world of difference, I can assure you. The information in my last post was taken from the book The Manual of Fish Health authored by five highly-knowledgeable biologists in this hobby.

So what would you recommend doing to improve my tanks? Obviously you suggest lowering the temperature in the small one.
And how to change the gh in the African?

 

[Essjay]

With your soft water you need to use Rift Lake salts to make the water harder. These should be mixed with water outside the the tank at a water change, to the same concentration every time. For example

Seachem - Cichlid Lake Salt

www.seachem.com

and they also recommend adding a buffer; for Mbuna you'd need their Malawi buffer.

 

[Madison25]

With your soft water you need to use Rift Lake salts to make the water harder. These should be mixed with water outside the the tank at a water change, to the same concentration every time. For example

Seachem - Cichlid Lake Salt

www.seachem.com

and they also recommend adding a buffer; for Mbuna you'd need their Malawi buffer.

With your soft water you need to use Rift Lake salts to make the water harder. These should be mixed with water outside the the tank at a water change, to the same concentration every time. For example

Seachem - Cichlid Lake Salt

www.seachem.com

and they also recommend adding a buffer; for Mbuna you'd need their Malawi buffer.

See the breeder advised us to not worry about adding anything, he knew we had soft water. He is quite a reputable breeder with a big site online.
When we have taken water to our local shops they have also said its all fine. Colours are popping, breeding, all feeding, haven't lost a single fish.
Will have a look into your suggestions though.