# Cichlid tankmates with german rams?



## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

I have a 75g (48x18) with 9 ram cichlids (4 german blue & 5 gold) and I need suggestions for possible cichlid tankmates. I was possibly thinking of a rainbow cichlid, some kind of geophagus or apistogramma agassizi or borelli. If all else fails I can always do angelfish. My tank is 82F, 7.2 PH and hard Chicago water. Ill have to recheck the water to get the exact number but its pretty hard.


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## irondan (Nov 22, 2007)

you could try keyhole cichlids
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile64.html


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Most dwarf cichlids don't like hard water. Personally I'd wait and see how your Blue and Gold rams go for a couple of months before thinking about adding any other dwarves. No reason to buy more dwarves only to see them all die over time as they don't like the water.


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## RayQ (Sep 26, 2007)

Good call DFF. Also, the Rams will be a lot more timid than a Rainbow or most of the Geophagus, you will likely find the Rams are hiding most of the time.


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## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

9 rams in a 4 foot tank already seems like a bit much, especially once they pair off... Angels or discus might work, but I'd steer clear of bottom dwelling dwarves...


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## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

irondan said:


> you could try keyhole cichlids
> http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile64.html


Nice suggestion! Ill do some research on them.



DeadFishFloating said:


> Most dwarf cichlids don't like hard water. Personally I'd wait and see how your Blue and Gold rams go for a couple of months before thinking about adding any other dwarves. No reason to buy more dwarves only to see them all die over time as they don't like the water.


I picked up the german blues from a local breeder who keeps them in hard water and the gold ones came from a breeder in vegas who keeps them in hard water as well.



RayQ said:


> Good call DFF. Also, the Rams will be a lot more timid than a Rainbow or most of the Geophagus, you will likely find the Rams are hiding most of the time.


Ok. I guess Ill scratch those 2 off the list.



BelieveInBlue said:


> 9 rams in a 4 foot tank already seems like a bit much, especially once they pair off... Angels or discus might work, but I'd steer clear of bottom dwelling dwarves...


Right now theyre still pretty small. The 2 male german blues are maybe 1.25" and the female german blues and gold rams are .75"-1". I may move a pair or 2 to their own tank if I try my hand at breeding. And/or I may sell some of the gold rams keeping the best pair I like.

Thanks guys for all the input! Keep them coming!


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## neutrino (May 4, 2007)

I've had them with angels, discus, curviceps, rainbowfish (not rainbow cichlids), one or two festivum, a variety of tetras, farowella... and those are just what I can recall, I'm sure there were others. Never kept as many as 9 in a tank, though, so can't comment on that... also kept them with apistos, but it was more like 2 or 3 rams plus 2 or 3 apistos-- and lots of plants (this was in a 75).


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## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

neutrino said:


> I've had them with angels, discus, curviceps, rainbowfish (not rainbow cichlids), one or two festivum, a variety of tetras, farowella... and those are just what I can recall, I'm sure there were others. Never kept as many as 9 in a tank, though, so can't comment on that... also kept them with apistos, but it was more like 2 or 3 rams plus 2 or 3 apistos-- and lots of plants (this was in a 75).


i'm starting to like how the curviceps. what kind of apisto did you have?

ill be looking into some of the dwarf acara's


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## magpie (Nov 12, 2011)

I'm a huge fan of the dwarf acaras (have araguaiae). It does seem like a lot of rams, already, though. I'm not sure when dwarves start to pair off and do their thing. I read that you don't plan on keeping all 9 in your tank, but right now you do have 9 in there. I got my l. araguaiae when they were about 1-1.25", and they are little pigs - they ate a lot, and fed themselves on the snails in my tank also, and grew pretty quickly. I got them mid-February and 5 weeks later they had fattened up, colored up, and were spawning. I say this because you might get a couple of dwarf acaras thinking that you'll eventually get rid of the rams, but you could possibly have a breeding pair changing the dynamic pretty quickly if the pair is anything like mine. And then suddenly the tank could seem very crowded.

I actually tried to get two males so that they would be less likely to have issues with my apisto baenschi inka... it was a good plan, but they are hard to sex, esp. as juveniles. When they're not breeding, mine would only chase each other and they didn't bother the apisto. They would actually both defer to the male apisto - he was the king of the tank prior to their spawning.

As far as hard water, I've heard that blue rams and apistos aren't as forgiving in that regard. I don't have direct experience though, as my water is very soft.


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## mambee (Apr 13, 2003)

Not a cichlid but cichlid like, I'm fond of Badis Badis.


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## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

magpie said:


> I'm a huge fan of the dwarf acaras (have araguaiae). It does seem like a lot of rams, already, though. I'm not sure when dwarves start to pair off and do their thing. I read that you don't plan on keeping all 9 in your tank, but right now you do have 9 in there. I got my l. araguaiae when they were about 1-1.25", and they are little pigs - they ate a lot, and fed themselves on the snails in my tank also, and grew pretty quickly. I got them mid-February and 5 weeks later they had fattened up, colored up, and were spawning. I say this because you might get a couple of dwarf acaras thinking that you'll eventually get rid of the rams, but you could possibly have a breeding pair changing the dynamic pretty quickly if the pair is anything like mine. And then suddenly the tank could seem very crowded.
> 
> I actually tried to get two males so that they would be less likely to have issues with my apisto baenschi inka... it was a good plan, but they are hard to sex, esp. as juveniles. When they're not breeding, mine would only chase each other and they didn't bother the apisto. They would actually both defer to the male apisto - he was the king of the tank prior to their spawning.
> 
> As far as hard water, I've heard that blue rams and apistos aren't as forgiving in that regard. I don't have direct experience though, as my water is very soft.


would dwarf acaras be ok not in pairs or even all males?

im so jealous of all you people who have soft water!



mambee said:


> Not a cichlid but cichlid like, I'm fond of Badis Badis.


i really like the badis badis but they would not like my temps. i keep the tank at 82F. i have extra tanks that i may setup for them in the future though


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## moneygetter1 (Jan 8, 2006)

opcorn:



























Just a few runnin' mates for my GBR "T"


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## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

nice tank. what temp are you running? i love discus but im worried about the care level they require. *** heard a lot of guys do 80%-100% water changes every few days and that is something i cannot do.


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## moneygetter1 (Jan 8, 2006)

gutted said:


> nice tank. what temp are you running? i love discus but im worried about the care level they require. I've heard a lot of guys do 80%-100% water changes every few days and that is something i cannot do.


 opcorn: Thanx. Temp is usually 85 degrees (+/-0.5). They do require a bit more attention than most others. I do about 75% W/C every other day. Try to keep nitrates between 5/10ppm. Once you establish a routine, it's not so bad. "T"


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## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

thats too much for me but it does pay off to have some beautiful fish!

hows your neon tetras doing? i wanted to add a school of neons but people said they like cooler temps and to just go with cardinals. i like the cardinals better but for $3 each x 10/20 is a lot just for a "filler fish" IMO.


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## moneygetter1 (Jan 8, 2006)

opcorn: So far so good. I lost some of the babies but the older ones seem to be haging in there. They all school together but if you look real close you'll see they're in there. (The Cardinals have a bright blue stripe contrasted by a lower red stripe that runs the entire length of its body. Its cousin, the Neon Tetra, has a red stripe that runs only halfway down the body.) "T"


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## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

moneygetter1 said:


> opcorn: So far so good. I lost some of the babies but the older ones seem to be haging in there. They all school together but if you look real close you'll see they're in there. (The Cardinals have a bright blue stripe contrasted by a lower red stripe that runs the entire length of its body. Its cousin, the Neon Tetra, has a red stripe that runs only halfway down the body.) "T"


yah i saw in the pic and your sig. i did not know they would school together. i had 21 glowlight tetras but sold them because had too many orange/yellow fish.

UPDATE:
I lost one male longfin gold ram, i finally found him wedged in between a driftwood and the back glass. Poor guy.

I moved a pair of german blues to their own breeding tank

I changed out my substrate to Estes permacolor

and until i can finally decide on tankmates ill be focusing on plants

















my largest male when i first put him back in the tank









same male just a couple hours later









BTW is there a way i can edit my first post to put up these pics?


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## moneygetter1 (Jan 8, 2006)

> same male just a couple hours later


 opcorn: BEAUTIFUL!!!!


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Is that a blue betta in there?


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## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

Thanks

Yes it is. Good eye.


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