Ok I feel much better about my tank now. You guys have been great help and I appreciate your advice and the time you've all been taking to help me out. The Loaches and Tetras have been removed.
I will start bringing the numbers up on the Corys and the Rosy Barbs when I have a chance and as they become available with a goal of 6 each of the Cory species (total 12) and perhaps 7-8 Rosy Barbs, this will be the final pop of the 55g along with the Bristlenose and the Bolivian Ram.
This is fine. Temperature should be around 76-77 F (24-25 C), no higher, but no lower either. Bolivian Ram (
Mikrogeophagus altispinosus) does not need 80F (the cousin, blue ram
M. ramirezi, does). My former Bolivian was in a tank with this temperature and he was well into his ninth year when he died last year, which is pretty good for a species that has a normal lifespan of four to five years.
I have decided to just keep the Melinis in the tank for now but with the correct group size, with the acceptance that the pH is probably a little high for them but quite a few people that keep them are suggesting that as long as its stable and not outrageously high then they should be OK with it.
I am not going to keep arguing over parameters. The GH is the more important. With one or two exceptions, there is no
Corydoras species that lives in water having a GH higher than 1 dGH, but the ichthyologists have sorted this out. You are fine.
Now that being said, will that be fully stocked for a 55 gallon tank, or do I have room to add a few fish in the future?
Like another Bolivian Ram or 2( I seem to be reading that they like company), or perhaps a pair of Kribensis?
Please don't crucify me if this is a bad idea, I know I am probably approaching the limit for this tank but I just really like the dwarf Cichlids and am still feeling the empty space my Electric Blue Acara left.
There will be room for additional species, but not cichlids; this would give you problems. Generally, only one species of cichlid should be in an aquarium. [The exception are the rift lake species from East Africa, a very different thing.] In large tanks, it is sometimes possible to combine species from Central America, or from South America. But that is not here. A Bolivian Ram will, like all male cichlids, establish his territory, and it will be the entire tank, guaranteed. He will be happier (less stressed) not having competitors. One cichlid species to a tank.
As for adding another (or more) Bolivians, this is fraught with danger. Like all neo-tropic cichlid species (there may be an exception or two that I have not come across), cichlids must select their mates. Some are "pair" species, like the two rams; some are harem species, like many but not all of the
Apistogramma species. A male and female Ram will select each other and bond; this bond may last their lifetime, or it may not. But if they have not selected each other, and a male/female are put together, one of them (usually but not always the female) may be dead before long. You might hit it off, but not likely. I speak from experience; a year or two after I acquired my former Bolivian Ram male, I added a female. They seemed to accept one another, but I was not as informed then as I am now on cichlid bonding, and looking back I can see there were clear signs of trouble brewing. They spawned four times, but with odd interactive behaviour each time; finally the male had enough, and the female was dead. And this was in a well planted five-foot long 115g tank with over 100 characins and cories. The male owned that space, period, and he was not having it invaded by some female he didn't accept. It was also amusing to watch him ordering the cories and tetras around too. No physical aggression, other than pushing cories away from his food tablet, but he clearly ruled the tank, and the other fish knew it. Fish send out chemical signals, and they make their wants clear.
I also mentioned that I wanted to make this a planted tank and wanted to add some Java Fern or Java Moss or some type of Anubias. Do these sound like good choices or is there something better suited for my population?
These are low-light plants. I would also get some floating plants. Will need to know about the lighting before proceeding.
