What Are My German Blue Rams Doing?

[youngfisher]

I would rather have two females minx, saves me hassle and them stress tbh.

Do the males have no pink belly at all then?

 

[minxfishy]

Yep males no pink tummy

 

[youngfisher]

Half of me thinks.... I wanted a pair!

But the other half thinks, yay!

As I want to spend a lot of time on my planted tank etc. So minx, I am thinking of possibly adding a couple more Cichlids/Rams at the end of july. What do you think? Anything you recommend? Bolivion Rams or somthing?

Or would you advise me to leave it at just them?

 

[minxfishy]

If you wanted to add one more ram, then ok, but no more, its a 22g tank (approx) and two need a 20g minimum, IMO. I would put a nice sized shoal of something else in there, you wanted galaxy rasboras didnt you? They would be good in there.

 

[youngfisher]

Are they ok with ocean rock then ?

 

[minxfishy]

Well I assume you know it can raise your ph, so I hope your keeping an eye on it, but if the rams are ok, it certainly wont bother the rasboras.

 

[youngfisher]

Dw minx, Tests everyday, w/c every other day unless its needed

 

[ALW]

No to the Ocean Rock, It will raise the pH too much. German Rams are very sensitive to water quality. As for keeping more Dwarf Cichlids with them this should be ok if there is enough coverage in the tank (eg plants, caves & bogwood). If you decide to get more D.C then dont get the Bolivian Rams. as they will have issues with the smaller Germans OR you could add another FEMALE ram, if you do make sure you dont get a male as then he will pair up with a female and together they will kill the other. 3 female would work though. As for other D.C any of these should work:

Agassiz's Cichlid-Apistogramma agassizi
Cockatoo Cichlid-Apistogramma cacatoides
Viejita's Cichlid-Apistogramma viejita
Panda Dwarf Cichlid-Apistogramma nijsseni
Borelli's Dwarf Cichlid-Apistogramma borellii

 

[youngfisher]

Andy - my tank is full of ocean rock already, the GBR's seem to be ok at the minute. But any sign of illness etc. I will move them

 

[minxfishy]

I thought it was fake stuff, not real, seriously you do need to keep an eye on it, water changes wont help if your ph starts to rise, you could end up just shocking the rams too much.

 

[youngfisher]

Is there any signs on the fish I should look for if they start getting bad with shock etc.

 

[ALW]

Keep a clos eye on the stats then. All S.American Cichlids require at least slightly soft acidic water. Could you remore some rock and maybe add some bogwood?

Is there any signs on the fish I should look for if they start getting bad with shock etc.

The less dominante female will show the first signs, mainly fading in colour, heavy breathing with rapid gill movement. Then death within a few days.

 

[youngfisher]

I have no bog wood at all, and I think my dad would ring my neck if I mentioned changing it again

 

[ALW]

What other fish are in the same tank?

 

[youngfisher]

Non. Just the two rams.