Stocking questions

[ltb11uk]

Hello all I was looking at getting back into the hobby again after a few years off. I was looking at getting a tank again depending on what I could put in one.
The first one I was looking at is a 100cm x 40cm x 50cm tank and the second is 80 x 35 x 50cm.

I would be looking at getting the biggest possible fish with the best looks as a pose to a community tank. I was looking for help on what the options would be for either of the above tanks. I wouldve been hoping for something similar looks wise to a green terror, EBJD, blue acara etc. I had seen some Electric Blue rams and they look very nice but I was hoping for something just a bit bigger maybe around 4"+.

If anyone could help me narrow it down then I could decide on which tank then.
Thanks and happy holidays!

 

[kornel351]

Jack dempsey, Sardini cichlids, bolivian rams, Red Terror just a few that came to mind rn

 

[Essjay]

None of the fish mentioned are suitable for an 80 cm tank. Bolivian rams might be OK in a 100 cm tank but none of the other fish mentioned.

For example, JD's need a tank at least 120 cm; green terrors need 150 cm; blue acara 130cm. These are minimum sizes with bigger being better.

Most fish that grow to 4 inches or more need tanks bigger than 100 cm long.


But before deciding on fish, you need to know how hard your tap water is and buy fish that suit your hardness.

 

[kornel351]

None of the fish mentioned are suitable for an 80 cm tank. Bolivian rams might be OK in a 100 cm tank but none of the other fish mentioned.

For example, JD's need a tank at least 120 cm; green terrors need 150 cm; blue acara 130cm. These are minimum sizes with bigger being better.

Most fish that grow to 4 inches or more need tanks bigger than 100 cm long.


But before deciding on fish, you need to know how hard your tap water is and buy fish that suit your hardness.

Not very Familiar with the cm measurements but just went off the fish i thought that were closest to maybe the size of a green terror or a little bigger

 

[Essjay]

To make things clearer for those who are unfamiliar with cm -

The two tanks under consideration are
100 x 40 x 50 cm = 39.5 x 16 x 20 inches
80 x 35 x 50 cm = 31.5 x 14 x 20 inches


The minimum tank length for the fish mentioned are
JD 120 cm = 47 inches
Green terror 150 cm = 60 inches
Blue acara 130 cm = 51 inches

 

[ltb11uk]

Not very Familiar with the cm measurements but just went off the fish i thought that were closest to maybe the size of a green terror or a little bigger

Thanks for the help anyway!

To make things clearer for those who are unfamiliar with cm -

The two tanks under consideration are
100 x 40 x 50 cm = 39.5 x 16 x 20 inches
80 x 35 x 50 cm = 31.5 x 14 x 20 inches


The minimum tank length for the fish mentioned are
JD 120 cm = 47 inches
Green terror 150 cm = 60 inches
Blue acara 130 cm = 51 inches

Thanks for the help!

So they are out of the window for those fish then. How about rams?

 

[Essjay]

Bolivian rams would be OK in the larger tank. But if you want a pair, you must buy a bonded pair. The way to do this is to stand quietly in front of the shop tank till the fish forget you are there and start behaving naturally. The males will be obvious - they will be the ones pushing each other about. If any male allows a female to be near him, they are more likely to be a bonded pair, though it isn't guaranteed.
Bolivian rams are also fine kept as a single fish.

Rams, other than Bolivian rams, are all the same species (German rams, German blue rams, gold rams, electric blue rams, balloon rams etc). They are slightly smaller than Bolivian rams, but the same applies about buying a bonded pair. Rams are more difficult to keep than Bolivian rams as they need soft water and slightly higher temperatures.

 

[ltb11uk]

Bolivian rams would be OK in the larger tank. But if you want a pair, you must buy a bonded pair. The way to do this is to stand quietly in front of the shop tank till the fish forget you are there and start behaving naturally. The males will be obvious - they will be the ones pushing each other about. If any male allows a female to be near him, they are more likely to be a bonded pair, though it isn't guaranteed.
Bolivian rams are also fine kept as a single fish.

Rams, other than Bolivian rams, are all the same species (German rams, German blue rams, gold rams, electric blue rams, balloon rams etc). They are slightly smaller than Bolivian rams, but the same applies about buying a bonded pair. Rams are more difficult to keep than Bolivian rams as they need soft water and slightly higher temperatures.

Would a single GBR or EBR fit in the smaller tank or would even the smaller single ram need the 100cm?

Thanks for the reply! My area has soft water its 34 mg/l.

 

[Essjay]

34 mg/l of what? If you are in the UK and that 34 mg/l is from your water company's website, it is likely to be 34 mg/l as calcium. Elsewhere in the world, it is likely to be 34 mg/l as calcium carbonate. GH testers are also likely to use mg/l as calcium carbonate.
34 mg/l as calcium converts to 85 ppm and 4.75 dH.

This gives you the info you need for any colour/body form of ram (except Bolivian rams) http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/mikrogeophagus-ramirezi/

 

[ltb11uk]

34 mg/l of what? If you are in the UK and that 34 mg/l is from your water company's website, it is likely to be 34 mg/l as calcium. Elsewhere in the world, it is likely to be 34 mg/l as calcium carbonate. GH testers are also likely to use mg/l as calcium carbonate.
34 mg/l as calcium converts to 85 ppm and 4.75 dH.

This gives you the info you need for any colour/body form of ram (except Bolivian rams) http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/mikrogeophagus-ramirezi/

It was 30mg/l from my UK based water provider. On another forum someone translated to 34 mg/l something and it came back soft. Sorry im not good at that kind of stuff I didnt really understand it. That website says a base of 60cm would be good for a pair. Im just looking at one and maybe a small community would I be OK to go with the 80cm tank?

 

[Essjay]

Hardness has about half a dozen units and the most common one used in the UK is mg/l as calcium. See if you can find it again on your water company's website and write down exactly what it says - or take a screenshot.

80 cm long should be OK for a ram, but I don't know if this species can be kept as a single fish, I'm afraid. We need an expert like Byron, but at this time of year you may have to wait a few days for him to see this thread.

 

[ltb11uk]

Hardness has about half a dozen units and the most common one used in the UK is mg/l as calcium. See if you can find it again on your water company's website and write down exactly what it says - or take a screenshot.

80 cm long should be OK for a ram, but I don't know if this species can be kept as a single fish, I'm afraid. We need an expert like Byron, but at this time of year you may have to wait a few days for him to see this thread.

Sweet no problem it will be a week or so before I can get the tank and longer still before the fish goes in!

Thanks for the help!

 

[Essjay]

Unfortunately, that's the water quality report, not the hardness.

My son used to work as an analyst for a water testing company and he explained to me what hardness is. Hardness is the amount of divalent metal ions in the water. In practice, this means mainly calcium with some magnesium and trace amounts of other metals. They give the amounts of each of those metal ions in the water quality report.
But hardness is all those metal ions added together. They can't say "hardness is x calcium, y magnesium and z other metals" so they give a figure as though it was all calcium or all calcium carbonate.
And they give the hardness in a separate section on their website. If you do a search for hardness on the website, it should give a link to that somewhere. If you can't find it, tell me the name of the water company and I'll see what I can find.

 

[ltb11uk]

Unfortunately, that's the water quality report, not the hardness.

My son used to work as an analyst for a water testing company and he explained to me what hardness is. Hardness is the amount of divalent metal ions in the water. In practice, this means mainly calcium with some magnesium and trace amounts of other metals. They give the amounts of each of those metal ions in the water quality report.
But hardness is all those metal ions added together. They can't say "hardness is x calcium, y magnesium and z other metals" so they give a figure as though it was all calcium or all calcium carbonate.
And they give the hardness in a separate section on their website. If you do a search for hardness on the website, it should give a link to that somewhere. If you can't find it, tell me the name of the water company and I'll see what I can find.

Sorry for posting the wrong section. The converter on the website came back as 4.2 german degrees. Ill post a SS of the correct info.

 

[Essjay]

That's perfect You do have soft water.

The two units used in fishkeeping are ppm and dH (aka German degrees) so when you look at fish profiles, they'll give the fish's hardness range in one or other of those two units. You already know that your hardness converts to 4.2 dH, and it also converts to 75 ppm.

Your water is fine for rams, Bolivian rams, and indeed virtually all fish from south America and Asia.


Another species for you to consider would be a pair of kribs (Pelvicachromis pulcher). Again these are fish that must choose their own mate like rams and Bolivian rams; just any male and any female won't necessarily get along and could end up killing each other. Although kribs are African cichlids they are not from the Rift Lakes so don't need hard water.
There are other species of Pelvicachromis besides kribs, though not all shops will stock the less common species. http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/search/pelvicachromis