# Group of Bolivian Rams in a 75 Gallon Tank



## DragonFishKeeper (Sep 10, 2018)

I am working on stocking my first aquarium, an awesome 75 gallon community tank! Currently, I have 12 Kuhli Loaches and 6 Honey Gouramis in the tank, and 3 Peacock Gudgeons in my quarantine tank. I want to add 3 more Gudgeons, because I have heard that they are social, so there will be a total of 6 in the final stock. I also want to get a group of Bolivian Rams as a bit of a centerpiece fish, but I'm not sure how many I should keep. Since they are social, I want to keep at least a small group, but I don't want to overcrowd the bottom of the tank. Would 6 be too many? How many would you guys recommend keeping in my tank, if 6 won't work? Also, what male/female ratio would you recommend? I'm super excited to get this fully stocked, and I want to make sure I get it right.

Also, here's my current (rough) stocking plan:
http://aqadvisor.com/AquStockImage.php? ... 0909300157:

Any advice/critiques for anything about this plan would be great as well.


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## mambee (Apr 13, 2003)

6 will work if you have plenty of plants and driftwood to breakup sight lines and provide refuge. I have a 90 gallon with no cichlids currently resident. However, I highly recommend schools of rummynoses and pencilfish for your tank. I also have 10 kuhli loaches which never come out of hiding.


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## DragonFishKeeper (Sep 10, 2018)

Thank you for your advice. I currently have one really large piece of driftwood around the center of the tank, a lot of caves, and some plants. The aquascape is definitely a work in progress, but hopefully I'll have it ready for the rams soon. I appreciate the recommendation for schooling fish, both of these are pretty awesome. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how well they'll work in the tank. Don't you have to feed pencilfish almost exclusively live food? I can give my fish some frozen food, but I think that live food all of the time isn't really realistic. Also, wouldn't I have to get rid of the neon tetras to get rummynose tetras? I personally like rummynose tetras, but my mom loves the neons. Since this is a family tank, I'd like to make sure there's something in there that she'll like.

I'm sorry that your kuhlis hide all of the time. I have 12 and they are all over the place, and super funny.


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## mambee (Apr 13, 2003)

My pencilfish eat flakes and pellet food, as well as frozen foods. Neons and rummynoses work well together as both form tight schools. The rummynoses like to sweep back and forth as a school.


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## DragonFishKeeper (Sep 10, 2018)

I understand that the Rummynose and Neon tetras should be able to live together, I'm actually more worried about space and bioload. I figure that, if I follow the plan I have right now, I must be close to fully stocked, so I think that having 3 schools would be too much. If I can get more fish, I think that I'd rather have two bigger schools than 3 smaller ones. Anyway, I'll definately have to think about the pencilfish (maybe I could replace the rasboras with them). Those little guys are awesome, some of them look like tiny Dension Barbs. I might have a hard time finding a place to get them, though, so I might have to stick with my original plan. Thank you for your suggestions.


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## mambee (Apr 13, 2003)

Believe it or not, I purchased the pencilfish from Petco. Harlequins are great fish too. I have about 8. I like that you are doing large schools of fewer species.


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## DragonFishKeeper (Sep 10, 2018)

Thanks, I'm pretty pleased with the idea of larger schools of fish. I love those videos where the people have a large, really nicely planted tank with nothing but neon tetras. They just look so spectacular. I want a bit more personality than just the tetras with my fish, but I think that a couple of big schools will make the tank look great. Now I just have to impatiently wait another 2 weeks for my Peacock Gudgeons to be done with their Quarantine period, then maybe I can start getting one of the schools of fish.


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