# Tank mates for rams in a 110 XH



## centrecolonel51 (Aug 3, 2011)

I have 4 bolivian rams in a 110 XH tank (48x18x30H). I have been trying to stock with angels but the angels keep dying for whatever reason. Water is perfect and only have cory cats, the rams, and one albino bristlenose (3") in there with them. So I want to get something else for the tank while keeping the rams. With the tank being 30 inches high and the rams staying close to the bottom what can I get to house with my rams. Geophagus? Opening to any suggestions because I am mostly an African guy that is trying to broaden my hobby. Would like something that can occupy the upper part of the tank too. Thanks in advance.


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## hose91 (Mar 5, 2014)

That's a nice problem to have! Although not SA, and without looking at water parameters and such, what do you think about Australian Rainbows ? There are lots of varieties and when they're full grown they're really beautiful (An LFS nearby has about a dozen in a planted tank very similar to yours dimensionally , and they're spectacular!). I'm not any more broadened than you beyond Malawi, but if I had another 4' tank and was looking for top dwellers, they'd be among the first I researched.


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## mambee (Apr 13, 2003)

I have a similar sized tank with Bolivian Rams. My tank has the following fish: glass catfish, dwarf loaches (about 20 and very active), various cory cats, debauwi cats, glowlite tetras, black phantom tetras, rummynose tetras (my favorite). All of these fish get along well, with the exception of the cory cats and dwarf loaches. The dwarf loaches are too hyper for the sedate corys.

Rainbowfish are great but they do best is schools and get very large.

I keep geophagus in my 150 gallon tank, and they are about 8" long. I once threw a bolivian ram in there which was being bullied and all he did was hide.


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## centrecolonel51 (Aug 3, 2011)

Thanks for the quick responses.

hose91: kind of thinking more of the south/central america region fish

mambee: So tetras would be a good start. They will occupy the upper water column right? Was thinking more on the lines of the geophagus tapajos which only get to 5" correct?


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## mambee (Apr 13, 2003)

Don't keep tapajos but that sounds about right. Glowlights stay more towards the top but most of the other tetras stay closer to the bottom. With regards to angels, the really small ones that you see in the chain stores usually don't survive. I was lucky in that I purchased 7 medium sized angels over the last several years from chain stores and they all survived and are huge. With angels, your best bet is buying directly from a breeder or from aquabid.com. Not SA, but harlequin rasboras are great and stay near the top. Hatchetfish are good too.


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

The Tapajos would be chasing the Bolivians. I have a group of six, and they chase any kind of Cichlid that I put in the tank. They are relatively aggressive for _Geophagus_ types.


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## centrecolonel51 (Aug 3, 2011)

The angelfish come from a local aquarium shop in Knoxville, TN. Seems to be a reputable place. I dont understand why they would die. No to any geophagus then. I would rather keep tetras over rasboras and hatchetfish. Mambee so die off of angels is normal? I use RO water which is soft and has a ph below 7. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate, 0 nitrite. Has a marineland 350 HOB filter and a Fluval U4 about half way down. Tank is 80 degrees. I just dont understand. What about firemouths?


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## mambee (Apr 13, 2003)

The really small ones that are mass bred (probably in Asia) stores just aren't that viable. Your local shop is probably sourcing from the same distributors as the chain stores.

I had tried angelfish about 10 years ago and had problems. They would be fine for a few months and then suddenly stop eating and sulk in the corners before dying, which I attribute to an angelfish virus. You can get some really great angelfish from US breeders on aquabid.com.

Firemouths are CA and would probably terrorize the the Bolivian rams.

You have a fairly large tank and can have fun with different schools of tetras, including lemon tetras and neons. Rummynoses are my favorite because they sweep in a school from one side of the tank to the other.

Do you have any plants? My 90 gallon is low tech planted with twin T5 HO lights. I grow Java fern, Java moss, crypts and anubias in profusion.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

I have to concur with the above about angels. A friend who works at a Big Al's tells me the hardest fish to keep alive are the offshore bred angels and guppies. They have less problem with wild caught angels. I would try and source your angels from a local breeder. If you have trouble locating one, you may try a local fish club, for info on sources if nothing else. I am sure there are more than a few good breeders of angels in the US (actually I know there is). Perhaps it would be worth your while to check out the Angelfish forum, for some help and source of fish.


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## OllieNZ (Apr 18, 2014)

Your other issue could be with acclimation. If the fish are coming from harder water then you need to acclimatise them very slowly over a period of hours or better still put them in a qt tank with water that matches where they come from and then do small daily water changes with ro until the qt tank matches your tank and then transfer the fish.


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## centrecolonel51 (Aug 3, 2011)

mambee: can you pm me some angel sources you have had success with?
OllieNZ: I do not know what the water parameters are for their water. My tap water is around 8.0 ph which is awesome for all my africans. I first thought this is what was wrong so I switched to RO. The angels do a lot like what mambee said about being fine for a while then slowly die.


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## mambee (Apr 13, 2003)

I actually got lucky purchasing my angels from Petco and Pet Goods, a local chain. However, they aren't "1st quality" since some of them have crooked fins. I only purchased them because they were medium sized, active and with full bellies.

I would suggest either aquabid, googling "freshwater angelfish for sale" to find a breeder or posting on an angelfish forum. Buying directly from a breeder gives you the choice of color/strain.


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## OllieNZ (Apr 18, 2014)

centrecolonel51 said:


> mambee: can you pm me some angel sources you have had success with?
> OllieNZ: I do not know what the water parameters are for their water. My tap water is around 8.0 ph which is awesome for all my africans. I first thought this is what was wrong so I switched to RO. The angels do a lot like what mambee said about being fine for a while then slowly die.


It's the hardness that matters not the ph as the majority of fresh water fish are fairly tolerant of ph swings but changes in hardness take alot longer to adapt to. It is also more difficult for fish going from harder water to soft than the other way round. It's worth trying to find out the hardness of your tap water as I suspect your lfs keeps all but the specialty fish in tap water. Just because your ph is 8 doesn't mean that your tap water is hard, it's common practice here to artificially raise ph in soft water areas to prevent old copper and lead pipes leaching into the tap water and if you let the water stand 24hrs the ph will drop.


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## centrecolonel51 (Aug 3, 2011)

Ph stays at 8 in my tanks filled from tap water until the next water change so that is not the case.


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## OllieNZ (Apr 18, 2014)

Well in that case it's probably hard so it would worth checking out what water your lfs keeps their fish in. In my local they keep the majority of their fish (including angels)in tap(which is very hard) and have half a dozen soft water tanks with various apistos, discus, gbrs, tetras and corys. I would suggest seeing if they can get you some angel's that have been raised in soft water but with a tank as tall as yours I'd be tempted to try get hold of some altums


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