# Are my Bolivian's ok??



## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

So I am back to Bolivian keeping, and man oh man did I miss them!

Though I am worried that something may be wrong.

I have had them for.. about 5 days now.

And they are very dark, when the lights are on. They eat fine, swim fine, and all that. But they all stick together, and I know for sure that majority are females, from what I have seen, its 2m/4f.

Here are some pictures of them and the tank. ohh and yes, I know... FAKE PLANT!!!!! BAH!!!! lol I am strapped for cash, and have had these fake ones forever, so until I get a chance to get live ones... these will do.


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## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

I had changed the tank up a few hours after posting this up, they are still paired together, but look to possibly be loosing the color.

I now have live plants and actually Malaysian DW.


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## mambee (Apr 13, 2003)

Add some dither fish to make them feel more secure. You can add a school of small tetras such as glowlites, neons or Rummynoses.


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## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

I am looking for an close to ALL red fish.. like Rosy Barbs? Or cherry Barbs? Or yellow? Or something bright?


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## Z90a (Sep 25, 2011)

well i have talked to you in the past about bolivians and you helped me alot. i loved watching yours spawn and have babys.
as for them being so dark i believe its a camoflage reaction. i had black gravel with a very little planted tank, and my bolivians were always a dark grey. not as dark as yours but still dark. i moved them into a 30 gallon and it is now moderatly planted, using organic dirt substraight with a light gravel. my bolivians are now colorful and light colored. i believe its a mixture of having places to hide and substraight color. if you are at all intrested in pics of my tank let me know and ill post a few. 
but were did you find all those? my lfs never have bolivians. the ones i have i stumbled apon and took the only two they had. just interested if you ordered them or not...


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## Jronicaing (May 28, 2012)

You can add a school of small tetras such as glowlites, neons or Rummynoses.


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## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

Oh yeah!! Hi again! How are your tanks doing!/ Send me a PM on them if you have a journal or something!

I am sorry to have just up and left awhile back.. 

Anyways, I figured it was their camouflage, as they eat well, and appear to ALL get along and follow each other constantly. Today they seemed alot lighter then previous, so I am hoping adding plants and fish will help that even more so.

And I buy them at my local PetSmart, they now carry them all the time just like guppies. lol. I guess I had lucked out, living here by them. lol

If you are interested in some, I can pick some up for you and ship them to you. They ALWAYS have them, and ALWAYS have both male and females... I think I may now have more Males.. I am not sure still as some are a bit still "under developed".


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## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

Here are pictures from today.


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## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

Would guppies be ok? I know... Guppies... but just wondering.


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## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

Copper harlequins would look awesome. Loving those little guys since we got a good batch in.


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## curt_914 (Oct 24, 2007)

ember tetras would also look great. I had a school with mine when i had them a few years ago and they did very well.

Curt


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## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

my german blue rams did the exact same thing when i first switched out their substrate to "black sand"


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## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

Yeah, I found out it was just their camouflage.... I went back to PFS.. they lightened right up when I put them in!


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## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

i plan on switching to PFS too. its easier to plant, cichlids love it sifting through it and the its so natural. im just lazy.

did you use black substrate because you thought their colors would pop out more? because i did. lol. lesson learned.


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## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

I liked it for my Yellow Labs mainly.. And when I switched from them to a planted tank.. the plants POPPED! But I would rather have the fish in a somewhat more natural looking tank for now.. I am debating switching substrates again... just not sure if I want to possibly shock my plants.. not that they have been in this substrate for along time anyways...

Here is the tank now.


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## Z90a (Sep 25, 2011)

its taking a while to get you pics of my tank. im having camera problems. but i really love the look of that sand. iv never used sand before not sure if it will do good with the amount of plants i have. plus i dirt my tanks. guess ill have to look into it.


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## halffrozen (Sep 24, 2011)

I am switching substrates.. HA!

Again!

I am going back to black.. but Eco-Complete this time.

Got in quite a few plants yesterday, so I didn't really arrange them all too well.


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## Z90a (Sep 25, 2011)

Now im really starting to hate texas. We dont have many good places to buy aquatic plants here. its a mater of collecting wild speciemins or getting crapy plants from lfs that come in tubes that were obviously grown above water.


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