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Male and female bolivian rams 20 gallon good filter.

5K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  doki 
#1 ·
My Ph is 7.4 water is Soft

I traded my 8 Serpae Tetras for these guys, I just recently put them in, did a water change Nitrite is still fairly high at .2ppm and Nitrate is Fine .25ppm. The Female stays in one area and hovers usually hiding in different spots the Male does too but hes a little more active, I was worried about the Female so I tried getting her attention by poking her gently and she didn't really respond just stayed still, after i touched her most fish would have some kind of reaction. I'm asssuming they are still in shock and just need to get used to the tank i will give them about 10-14 days. Also worth mentioning I threw some sinkable pellet for them specifically and they ignored it one of them actually hit her in the head and she just stayed still DERP DERP. I figure in two days they will be hungry enough to eat and if anything I have some plants they can munch on.



The one to the left is the Female and the right is the Male.​
 
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#2 ·
My Ph is 7.4 water is Soft

I traded my 8 Serpae Tetras for these guys, I just recently put them in, did a water change Nitrite is still fairly high at .2ppm and Nitrate is Fine .25ppm. The Female stays in one area and hovers usually hiding in different spots the Male does too but hes a little more active, I was worried about the Female so I tried getting her attention by poking her gently and she didn't really respond just stayed still, after i touched her most fish would have some kind of reaction. I'm asssuming they are still in shock and just need to get used to the tank i will give them about 10-14 days. Also worth mentioning I threw some sinkable pellet for them specifically and they ignored it one of them actually hit her in the head and she just stayed still DERP DERP. I figure in two days they will be hungry enough to eat and if anything I have some plants they can munch on.



The one to the left is the Female and the right is the Male.​
Your fish are completely stressed. You can tell by the dark color. You need to immediately do a water change. Any level of nitrites are deadly. Get a good water conditioner, like Prime. After you take care of that, it is not likely a 20 gallon will be big enough for a male and female, but worry about getting your water good first.

Gwen
 
#3 ·
I agree get those water changes going to keep the nitrites down, but rams are also stubborn little fish, when I first got my pair my male would not move when I was vacuuming the gravel and I would have to push him around with the side of the gravel vac until he finally got annoyed and scurried off. Of course each fish is different.
 
#4 ·
I agree with what everyone said- do a 50% water change anytime you have Ammonia or Nitrite readings above 0ppm, Nitrates above 20ppm, or weekly (whichever comes first).

Do you have plants now? A Bolivian's tank should be heavily planted. What types of plants do you have, and how many of each? What kind of lighting do you have (number of bulbs, watts, K rating, length of photoperiod, age of bulbs)? Depending on what you have, we can help you choose some more plants that will help your nitrogen cycle.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Actually I think my tank is cycling and the nitrite is spiking so at least it will be over soon I did a huge 60% water change and siphoned everything in the gravel, Added some Stress coat and CO2 booster i bought this thing called Outbreak Freshwater its supposed to reduce nitrite levels. They look a little brighter too I have some cabombas and some plant i don't know the rest are fake but its well planted i give them plenty of space to hide. I do tests daily we'll see how this goes.

Also, They are so hard to feed, I have some Hikari sinkable pellets, New life spectrum Cichlid, Freeze Dried Bloodworms, Omega 3 flakes, Micro wafers. They seem to eat the sinkable pellets and micro wafers I bought this food holder but the spaces in between are too big the food just drops but its fine.
 
#6 ·
Is the Green Cabomba growing well? It can require more light than some plants, and liquid fertilization. But if it is growing really well, it will help with the excess nitrogen.

If you can, it would be great to start replacing your fake plants with real ones. Hornwort, Brazilian Pennywort, Amazon Frogbit, Vallisneria, various Swords, Water Sprite, Dwarf Sagittaria are some that can be really useful, depending on your light.

Testing your water daily is an excellent idea! Then you'll know just when to do a large water change.

You'll want to feed them lightly during the cycle. The less waste they produce, the less ammonia (etc.) is getting put in their environment.

I was unclear in your previous post if they are refusing food. If they're completely refusing food, you may need to offer live foods to get them settled in. Bloodworms, Blackworms, and Brine Shrimp seem to be favorites. Usually these would just be occasional treats, though. Be sure to remove any uneaten food, as this will convert to ammonia.

Good luck, you have some beautiful fish!
 
#7 · (Edited)
Thank you :D

The Cabombas actually grew pretty well except I got rid of the live plants because I change the tank a lot and clean it so it gets annoying taking them out plus my light isn't too good I bought a 24" inch light from ocean sun 10,000k but it is too big turns out I need an 18" because I have an Aqueon Hood with a standard flourescent light 18W light also the glass blocking the light is glued with silicone if I want to replace the light then I have to cut the glue and reglue it with silicone or would it be better to just make a canopy/hood and attach the light?



Fake plants but they seem to enjoy it. The white rock has 2 caves.
They are lookin better.



Top - Female
Bottom - Male

I feed them new life spectrum cichlid formula along with Hikari sinking wafers sometimes micro wafers. I try bloodworms but they never notice them I will get some live food and krill, whatever I can get at the pet store thats suitable. is it a good idea to add some platys so that they can reproduce so the rams have some snacks? ;)

They are really cute sometimes very interesting to watch them interact they are so funny.
 
#8 ·
Thank you :D

The Cabombas actually grew pretty well except I got rid of the live plants because I change the tank a lot and clean it so it gets annoying taking them out plus my light isn't too good I bought a 24" inch light from ocean sun 10,000k but it is too big turns out I need an 18" because I have an Aqueon Hood with a standard flourescent light 18W light also the glass blocking the light is glued with silicone if I want to replace the light then I have to cut the glue and reglue it with silicone or would it be better to just make a canopy/hood and attach the light?



Fake plants but they seem to enjoy it. The white rock has 2 caves.
They are lookin better.



Top - Female
Bottom - Male

I feed them new life spectrum cichlid formula along with Hikari sinking wafers sometimes micro wafers. I try bloodworms but they never notice them I will get some live food and krill, whatever I can get at the pet store thats suitable. is it a good idea to add some platys so that they can reproduce so the rams have some snacks? ;)

They are really cute sometimes very interesting to watch them interact they are so funny.


Looks nice, but don't go cleaning your tank like crazy, or you'll have problems keeping the water parameters safe for the fish. I have lots of live plants. You never take them out when you clean. They use the nutrients in the gravel, and you would just vaccuum around them, without disturbing too much in the tank. You don't need to scrub all your decorations etc. If you don't keep an algae eater, such as a few small oto cats, then all you really need to do is periodically clean the glass during water changes. If you limit light, you'll keep your algae down. If the tank gets no light at all, than you won't have algae. Nice you're enjoying the pair. Do watch them, because a male and female pair may not work. I hope it does for you!


Gwen
 
#10 ·
I would get some algae eaters in the future or a small school of something still undecided. I just got a new light from Ocean Sun 10,000k Blue light and the colors look amazing!

Bolivian Rams - YouTube

Wow, with that much light, you're gonna have some algea! I hope they work out for you. I still think they looked stressed to me.

Gwen
 
#11 ·
these guys are kind of difficult to feed so i took a shot glass and i use it for food like new life spectrum cichlid formula and sometimes micro wafers, every two days i drop a cube of frozen bloodworms they go crazy for it. i think its a really good clever idea for rams since they can be a pain in the ass to feed.

they aren't too comfortable because unfortunately my tank is going through the last stage of nitrate cycle so it should be done by next week. im considering getting a tank separator because the female bullies the male, instead for now i added some fake plants and more hiding spots.

heres a picture: http://i40.tinypic.com/2na2qkn.jpg
 
#12 ·

Nice tank set up. I think an entire cube of bloodworms is over feeding them, but that's me. Especially if your tank is still cycling, than you should be very careful not to overfeed. I can't even imagine how they are alive if you have nitrites (which I'm assuming you are referring to) You wrote "nitrates" but remember most tanks (except those very heavily planted) will usually have some nitrate reading. You want to keep it under 20ppm.

Gwen
 
#13 ·


so the tank is cycled and heres whats going on, so what i thought was a female is actually a male the bigger ram bullies the smaller one, i split the tank in half to rehabilitate the smaller ram because he had beautiful color when i first got him he was in a 37 gal bow front. so anyways both look brighter since i split them occasionally they ram each other through the divider but no harm is done they seem to like it. the smaller one hasn't been eating food so i am fasting both of them until tomorrow and ill feed them frozen bloodworms. i think its because he is still stressed from the water change and the bigger ram but these are slow fish so gotta be patient.
i did a nitrate test and its only 10ppm. so basically they seem to be getter brighter and look less stressed. im in the process of getting a separate 10 gallon for the smaller one or breed guppies and feed the fry to the rams.
 
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