# 55Gallon Rams



## fishman232 (Apr 25, 2010)

Well Im getting a community tank from a 55gallon and Im putting in 4 of every type or rams(bolivan, German Blue, German Gold, Ballon Blue Rams) so yeah but the problem is I dont have any of them... I'd like to get some Locally for a really good price.... Anyone Have any


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

German Blue, Gold, and Balloon rams will interbreed. I strongly think you should not do this... WHy not just Bolivians and German Blues? IMO


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

That's way too many rams for a 55 gallon tank. That's the type of stocking I'd expect from some one who is used to keeping African cichlids.

In a 55 gallon tank I would stock 2 pairs of rams of the same species/line bred variant.

The tank should be semi planted to heavily planted with a sand or very fine river gravel substrate. It should also have some driftwood spread around the tank. Here's one of my tanks that has a suitable aquascape for blue rams.


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## cage623 (Feb 2, 2008)

*fishman232*

I am also in Iowa and I sent you a PM with some info in it.


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## fishman232 (Apr 25, 2010)

So does anyone have any for sale


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## ChadRamsey (Mar 12, 2010)

Deadfish, what sand do you have in the bottom of that tank? do you have a closer pic of it


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

I second what Deadfishfloating said. The are small earth eaters as their name implies.


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## whitedevil13 (Apr 28, 2010)

substrate question since I am rescaping for dwarfs.
eco complete or flourite black are OK for these fish correct?

two pairs of rams per 55 sounds fine, but they recommend buying atleast 5 to get some paired off.

what about other dwarfs? I had 4 rams and 2 curviceps in my 52g now just 1 EB male ram I think my GB's were bad fish as they perished same stock and only ones to die from that LFS my curviceps have colored up nicely and they like my rams ate with the angels and never showed much aggression outside of the one time a GB and my EB spawned.


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## fishman232 (Apr 25, 2010)

Yeah.... ok so does anyone have any


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## whitedevil13 (Apr 28, 2010)

I can get them all day long for 30 bucks a piece, usually 50 a pair. I know a Ram breeder that is close by. I think there is an ad on aquabid for his rams. he is in st charles illinois.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

I have a fine river gravel in that tank. I don't have any close up photo's of it, but I have a close up photo of a similar river gravel in another tank. The only difference is that the two gravels are different colours.


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## whitedevil13 (Apr 28, 2010)

ok the flourite black seems to be larger then that but smaller then gravel, *** seen my guppies spit out some before when they went after food.

What kind of dwarf is that? an apisto?

I only got rams and dwarf acaras right now.

I ultimately want my 52 to have a few different kinda of dwarfs in there.


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## fishman232 (Apr 25, 2010)

nice grqvel where'd u get it


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

*whitedevil13* it's an Apistogramma agassizii "Alenquer". One thing to remember is that rams and apistogramma are small eartheaters. They do like to take up mouthfulls of sand and filter it out through thier gills. While I do have fine river gravel in some tanks, others have a very fine white sand. The apistos in the sand tanks show much "natural" behavior when feeding from the substrate.

It can be hard to stock different species of dwarf cichlids in smallish tanks. Generally they compete for the same territories and spawning sites. While general aggression may not be as high as con-specific aggression, they can still be pretty rough on each other. I've had dwarf acaras kill apistogramma before, and I've had apistogramma injure dwarf acaras to the point that I had to euthenaise the dwarf acara. But I've also had success mixing dwarf acaras and apistogramma. It can come down to the individual dwarf cichlid and/or the species you are trying to mix together. My advice is to give your dwarf cichlids plenty of room when looking at stocking levels.

*fishman232* I live in Australia mate, so I think you'll find a LFS that stocks a good range of substrates. Or check out your local landscape supplier. What ever substrate you buy, make sure you wash out well.


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## fishman232 (Apr 25, 2010)

so does anyone have any for sale


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Buying and selling is not allowed on the forum. There is a dedicated trading post section here on C-F, I suggest you place a WTB add there.

I suggest you talk to your LFS and see what they can order for you. Or contact your local cichlid or aquarium society and see if any of the members have any for sale.

It wasn't discussed here, but I suggest you do some research on the different species of rams. Bolivian rams and Blue rams do require slightly different requirements for living, and it's recommended not to keep them together. Blue rams can also have a reputation of being hard to care for and dying quite easily if not looked after properly.


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## fishman232 (Apr 25, 2010)

any1 have any


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## cage623 (Feb 2, 2008)

*fishman232*

Did you get the private message I sent you?


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## middlearth (Dec 30, 2009)

DeadFishFloating- That is one gorgeous fish! I've never seen those colors before :drooling:

I just got the stand for my 46 gallon tank, setting it up with apistogrammas in mind.
The gravel I have I was thinking was pretty fine, but not nearly as fine as what you show there... 
If the gravel is not as fine as they would prefer, does it primarily affect their breeding?


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Shouldn't affect thier breeding. But will affect thier general happiness. Apistos are small eartheaters to an extent. Mine do sift the snad when looking for food, just not to the extent that the larger eartheaters do.


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

fishman232 said:


> any1 have any


Have you read and understood any of the responses to your original post?


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## cage623 (Feb 2, 2008)

emptyhead said:


> fishman232 said:
> 
> 
> > any1 have any
> ...


I live not too far from this guy and sent him tons of info in a pm on the area and good places to check. I didn't get any reply there either. I don't get this guy, it is like he is not even reading the posts from anybody.


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