The ram and the puffer !!!

wallywonka

ok so I have my moderately planted 60 gallon tank with 2 pieces of driftwood. I plan on adding more planted and getting more into a heavy planted tank setup, but I will wait until my co2 system is in place. right now I am using co2 in a bottle. anyways, the reason for the post is this:

i currently have 4 cardinal tetras, 1 Blue Ram, 1 Dwarf Puffer, and 7-8 ghost shrimp.

my main concern is with the DP, i have read conflicting reports that the DP should be housing by themselves and some say it is a DP can be housed in a community tank. my observation thus far is good. the tetras have swam by the DP without a territory conflict or fin nipping. the DP for the most part is doing a lot of exploring.
the ram even before the DP came into the tank has been in hiding most of the day. to my knowledge he has not even come to the front of the tank.

my questions are as follows:

should a Blue Ram be so shy?
what do people think about my DP and Ram and tetras in the same tank setup?
obviously i have plenty room for more fish .. any suggestions?
can i put a beta in the tank?

tank pic:

Calmwaters

I would remove the puffer and add more cardinals your ram will fill better with more fish in the tank. I have them and they are very curious little fish with a lot of personality even coming to explore my hand when I am moving thins around in the tank. I think he hides because he is scared and insecure. The Dp may be fine now because it may be a juvenile they get more agressive as they get older. You could house him in a 5 gallon tank by himself and he will be perfectly happy.

Christople

yah what are the water params

Christople

I also sugest getting a female

Byron

I agree with what's been suggested. Mikrogeophagus ramirezi can be quite feisty, but in spite of that they are basically shy fish. When your plants fill in more the existing ram will feel more comfortable. But having more, a lot more, peaceful fish above him (rams remain close to the substrate) will help. And cardinals should be in a larger group for their own good. In that tank, I would add another 7-9 cardinals to your 4.

And a female ram would be good. They form pairs, and sometimes the male may reject the female, but you can only try. In that size tank with hiding spots (more plants, even more wood) they should be OK.

And remove the Puffer as mentioned previously by others.

Some peaceful catfish would be nice, but consider first that if you want success at spawning the rams, forget any catfish. All catfish are nocturnal to some degree, the rams are not, and in a community tank the eggs or the fry will always get eaten by catfish--later if not sooner. This applies to corys, pleco, etc. Farlowella seem to be OK in my experience, but they are not strictly speaking substrate catfish.

Byron.

Christople

don't puffers like brakish water

Calmwaters

Dwarf Puffers are fresh water.

Christople

Oh then I was thinking of the wrong one, how big do they get

Calmwaters

Dwarf puffers get to be maybe an inch to an inch and a half they are neat little fish with spunk and personality and can be kept very easily in a 5 gallon tank alone with lots of plants mine will only eat snails but others will eat bloodworms and stuff like that.

Christople

hmmmm... How about with the fish I have