Army Ninja asked:
I am planning on setting up a new 30 gallon tank. I am interested in the blue rams now. I have had peacocks in the past so im pretty much knowledgeable with cichlids. On all the websites i looked at about the rams it doesnt say how many i can have in one 30 gal tank. They say they are difficult to take care of but if i take care of the water quality it shouldnt be hard. So if anyone can give me info on these please help me. I also plan on putting corys and a pictus catfish in there. Thank you
I am planning on setting up a new 30 gallon tank. I am interested in the blue rams now. I have had peacocks in the past so im pretty much knowledgeable with cichlids. On all the websites i looked at about the rams it doesnt say how many i can have in one 30 gal tank. They say they are difficult to take care of but if i take care of the water quality it shouldnt be hard. So if anyone can give me info on these please help me. I also plan on putting corys and a pictus catfish in there. Thank you
March 26th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
ur tamk isnt big enuff for those fish sorry maybe some neons tetras and guppies and a catfish
March 27th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I believe that the general rule of thumb for stocking a tank is 1 inch per gallon of water. Obviously this is a general guideline. For example, you cannot have a thirty inch fish in a thirty gallon aquarium. However, for keeping several average size fish, this rule is a good guideline.
March 30th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
If you want to mate them then its 20 gallons/pair
April 1st, 2009 at 8:06 pm
For a 30 gallon you can house a three but only one male and two females. One male per tank as they are territorial (the males). You can house more males if your tank is 50 gallon or more.
April 5th, 2009 at 7:40 am
Being dwarf cichlids, rams don’t need an incredibly large tank, but they can be territorial. 30 gallons is fine as long as you heavily plant or decorate it so that each ram can stake out it’s own territory. Decor and plants also help to break each fish’s line of sight so that it isn’t constantly chasing away other rams that come into view. I wouldn’t recommend putting in more than two blue rams into a 30 gallon. The “inch per gallon rule”, does not work in this case (actually most cases) due to the fact that it doesn’t take into account the established territories needed for even these small cichlids.
Even though rams are usually only territorial towards other dwarf cichlids, they may become aggressive towards other fish while breeding, so take that into consideration if you end up with a mating pair.
Rams need very clean, pristine water and prefer soft, acidic water, but it MAY be possible to acclimate them to harder, alkaline water. Keep up with water changes, at least 25% once a week. You can dose your filter with peat granules in a nylon stocking or use Aquasoil, the planting substrate or reverse-osmosis water mixed with some tap water to lower your pH. DO NOT USE PH DOWN or other pH adjusting chemicals as the buffers in your water will prevent the pH from staying low and it will simply climb back up. Rapid swings in pH are one of the most dangerous things for fish. They’re also sensitive to medications, so use them sparingly.
That should get you started. Good luck!