The Puffer Forum

I've set up a tank for my husband's Christmas present, and eventually it will be home to a pair of German Blue Rams. So far it is home to many Ramshorn Snails. When it stabilizes, I'll be moving my school of Cardinal Tetras over, hopefully that will be soon.
Hardscape:

Newly Planted:

Very nice, how many gallons is that ?

Thanks
It's what they call a 55, but it holds about 50.

It looks great! We had a pair of rams but they were too aggressive for me (the male constantly harassed the female).

Oh? That's no good. Should I just get females? We don't like bullies either :/

sevenyearnight wrote:Thanks
It's what they call a 55, but it holds about 50.

Where did you get this wonderful driftwood from ?

The males are randy lol. I had 1 maleNAND 2 females together, the male and the chosen female used to chase off the other female, then the male changed its mind and paired with the other female. They are prolific breeders , I gained a lot of store credit breeding these.

We were going to get a second female but were recommended not to as then the pair will bully the newcomer. They just don't seem to make for a peaceful tank if that is what your intentions are.

+1 to bertie 83's comments.

It has been a long time since i worked with these fish, but I agree w' the above comments. I had the best results as usual with substrate/cave spawmers be having duplicate tanks end-to-end su that the males can display to other male(s) in adjacent tanks. It is even better if the two tanks are linked bt a common sump (which can be used for fry grow-out as well). That allows not only visual clues/displays, but some pheromone exchange as well. The males must be given some outlet to release aggression IME. Without seeing conspecifics, at least attaching a mirror to one or both end glasses will help, but is not as good as a separate male conspecific. (See Konrad Lorentz' "King Solomon's Ring" for more info on captive Cichlid interactions).

Cichlid breeding is not ever fully peaceful. Controlled release of aggression is key. Long-term stable paris are an artifact of captivity and generally seriously shortens the life of the female. IME a choice of females is safest if allowed by tank size.

It is a very nice looking setup. The Ram colors and shading will be excellent there.

My 55s do not that much water.

Just females is the safest option. Rtrs suggestion is kind of what I did when I started breeding them. I had 2 tanks face to face so we looked in on the end so I could keep multiple pairs close by, however they were not linked, I may consider such a setup for future endeavours lol. The eggs were left with the parents through to free swimming fry when I moved the parents to separate tanks so the female could rest for 2-3 mnths, then I stopped breeding them and they remain together with carefully selected fish in a really heavily decorated tank. Looks like an amazing setup for these as yours always are lol.

sevenyearnight wrote:Oh? That's no good. Should I just get females? We don't like bullies either :/

I have kept multiple males together with little problems. They do hassle eachother but nothing too serious. I also kept males with multiple females and the aggression was spread out so not too bad until breeding commenced then it was more vicious

Thank you all for the comments and suggestions. I believe my husband, Roba, will opt for a female only tank, I know he doesn't like watching fish fight, and he definitely wouldn't want to shorten their potential life.

Thank you for the kind words as well, I am excited that Roba is interested in having a tank and is more involved with the set up.

RTR, this tank would hold only about 50 gallons completely empty filled to the brim, but still I'm rounding up.

Don't forget pics. I spent hours choosing my rams, just stood in the shop staring making sure I got the right sex and dominance levels. Can be hard to tell them apart when young though. One I chose as a male ended up female etc. Seven your plants always look incredible what suppliments do you use and what dosage?

Lol, bertie, if you could see the 75 gallon right now. I had to rescape because the Dwarf Sagitaria had clustered itself up to epic proportions, I took every single plant out, pruned, and replanted. Needless to say, it's looking kind of scrawny right now and there is still "dust" on everything.

Ok, but my dosing depends on the tank and its lighting and bioload. I use Seachem Comprehensive, Excel, and Phosphate, but I dose the phosphate very infrequently, and the Excel only if I am changing out my DIY CO2. I just the yeast and sugar method. For nitrate I dose KNO3, (stump remover/potassium nitrate), and for potassium I use Morton Salt Substitute. I also use API Leaf Zone, but think I'll swap that out for Seachem Iron since I have potassium already.