# 29 gallon - German Blue Ram



## Flipacoin (Jun 28, 2011)

I am starting up a 29 gallon tank and I have had my heart set on Blue rams for some time now. I assume the tank will be a little too small for two pairs of the rams in which case I was wondering if a male and two females will be a problem for which ever girl does not get paired or if the 3 would live happily.
I understand that I will want to let the tank cycle before introducing the rams. However, I am not sure what I should put in the with the rams. I would like to have some corys but I don't know what number would be good.
What else could live happily in this tank?


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## Aulonocara_Freak (May 19, 2011)

Have you made anything of this project yet?


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## lil_gold_ram (Mar 1, 2011)

6 medium sized cories would be fine in your tank, you could also do a school of tetras or rasboras.


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## Bruce Haynes (Sep 8, 2010)

Just bear in mind that the rams need high temps--around 86-88 and most cory cats will not do well with this high temp. Do some research and find out what lives in the same biotype as rams in the wild and then stock accordingly. A 29 is a small tank--esp if it is a tall as opposed to a long one. IMO/E 1 pair is all you will be able to accomodate in that small of a space. A couple dithers and a cat/cory that doesn't mind the high temps and you should be good to go. Best of luck to you.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Cichlid-Forum does have species profiles for many cichlids, including Blue rams. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=421

Traditionally Blue rams are harder to keep because of thier requirements. If you can find locally bred Blue rams, that's a good start. If your local water doesn't suite thier specific needs, you are going to have to look into how you can meet thier requirements.

Typically, Blue rams are not a good beginner dwarf SA cichlid.


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## fozzy (Feb 21, 2006)

All,

I have a 75 gallon aquarium. It's got five small parrots (I know, everyone hates parrots) and some rainbow fish. They range from 3 inches to 4 and a half, and don't seem to grow after years. I've always kept 1-2 medium-big angels in this tank (obviously not a biotope but my wife loves those parrots and rainbows).

I always raise the angels from quarter or dime size in my 25gallon tank (chock full of vals and crypts and driftwood). When their bodies get about 2 inches in diameter, I move them over to the 75 gallon with the parrots where they do great for several months, and seem to grow swiftly.

Last year I lost a beautiful big black velvet angel out of nowhere. There was a strange barely perceptible lesion to the upper left of his right eye for a few weeks. He still acted bold and active, and then a few weeks into having the lesion- "poof!" he died. A few months later I went through the same cylce with a beautiful big silver angel. The lesion developed in the exact same spot. Now I've got a nice big gold angel in there, and again a lesion has appeared to the upper left of his right eye. He acts just as healthy as ever except for that lesion. I just know he's going to die like the last two.

What the heck? And why does the lesion develop after about three-five months in the exact same spot even though the angels have all been from different fish shops?

What the HECK?


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## lil_gold_ram (Mar 1, 2011)

^ that's a good question, you should make your own thread to get more reponses.


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## lil_gold_ram (Mar 1, 2011)

Bruce Haynes said:


> Just bear in mind that the rams need high temps--around 86-88 and most cory cats will not do well with this high temp. Do some research and find out what lives in the same biotype as rams in the wild and then stock accordingly. A 29 is a small tank--esp if it is a tall as opposed to a long one. IMO/E 1 pair is all you will be able to accomodate in that small of a space. A couple dithers and a cat/cory that doesn't mind the high temps and you should be good to go. Best of luck to you.


True that, no panda cories they prefer cooler temps.


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## Flipacoin (Jun 28, 2011)

I have added some java moss and anubias hastifolia. I have also placed a large piece of driftwood in the tank. I have seen a lot of different temperature ranges for the rams and the corys and it seems like they may be able to coexist at about 80Ã‚Â°F. Please, correct me if that is complete lies.
I am more worried about the pH level which is currently too high and would like any suggestions for lowering it.
I am leaning toward rasboras to school in the tank. Although I don't know which kind or how many.


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## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

This comes mostly from personal experience, but I have a pair of GBR and 4 albino cories in a 20gal; the temperature is currently about 80F and the PH is about 7.7. They've been absolutely fine for almost 3 months now; they are eating and behaving normally. Since most rams and cories are captive bred now, they're pretty much able to adapt to most parameters, provided that they are not too extreme. I do weekly water changes and keep the nitrates below 20ppm, which is rly the major thing (Ammonia and nitrites are 0, tanks been set up for almost 5 years now). The main thing about higher PH, i find, is that you keep it constant and basically unchanging, and that u acclimatize them slowly when you bring the home from the store (I acclimatized them over a period of about 1.5 hours). I've also recently added 8 neons for a school and they're doing well so far, although harlequins/pork chops/etc would be fine as well. As for numbers, i tend to recommand 6+ with 8+ being best. Ofc, WILD fish are an entirely different story, and in that case u'll want to match their natural habitat as closely as humanly possible. Hope i helped =P


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## fozzy (Feb 21, 2006)

Guys,

I have no idea why my post about sick angels posted in the middle of this totally unrelated thread. My apologies to all.

Back to your blue rams, and sorry!


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## slava2929 (Dec 24, 2017)

@BelieveinBlue


BelieveInBlue said:


> This comes mostly from personal experience, but I have a pair of GBR and 4 albino cories in a 20gal; the temperature is currently about 80F and the PH is about 7.7. They've been absolutely fine for almost 3 months now; they are eating and behaving normally. Since most rams and cories are captive bred now, they're pretty much able to adapt to most parameters, provided that they are not too extreme. I do weekly water changes and keep the nitrates below 20ppm, which is rly the major thing (Ammonia and nitrites are 0, tanks been set up for almost 5 years now). =P


This has been my experience to a TEE. I have a pair of GBR in a 29 gallon with 5 rummies and a couple of endlers for a few months. I feed them frozen food daily, temp at about 79F, PH about 7.6 and do a 30% water change weekly. As long as I keep the nitrates at or around 20ppm, I think I'll be okay. The fish are in excellent shape. I can't imagine a healthier pair of fish than my two rams. I have heard all of the ram horror stories, but have yet to see any evidence of disease or dis-ease among my two fish. Nice to see someone else has similar experiences, although I'm not saying that rams are easy, just that I haven't come across any issues.


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