Big fish for 20g long.

IonBaller07

Ok forget the convicts, I now REALLY want some blue rams again. They were the first fish I wanted but then I got into bettas, now I wanted convicts but they breed to much, now Im back to rams. Not only are they small enough to live happily in my 20g but my water is also pretty close to the ideal. It says their ideal condition is ph close to 6 and soft water. My tap water runs at 6.4 ph and is very soft (maybe too soft ). Now I just have to get my tank cycled and I can goo looking for them, hopefully I will find some in town but if not I guess I could go to aquabid. Any suggestions on filters for my tank, and would they like a powerhead?

SamG

German blue rams are, in my opinion, the neatest looking aquarium fish. You're so lucky to have soft water! If only our water wasn't so hard and I had more fish experience, you can only guess what I'd be planning to do with my empty 20 gallon long...

Byron

Yes, you are lucky (as I am too) with the tap water. That would be perfect for the common ram, Bolivian Ram or any other South American dwarf cichlid, and the small shoaling fish (like tetras, pencilfish, corys) that are excellent tankmates. But as 1077 said, the german/blue rams are sensitive to water and shuld only be acquired once the tank is well established (fully cycled, then a few weeks longer to "mature"). Same goes for most of the other dwarf cichlids; they do not like "new" water and are very sensitive to fluctuating water parameters which is more common in newer setups. They also react negatively to any chemicals (as do many of the characins and corys).

IonBaller07

Yah I think I will put my shoal of neons or maybe my cories in the 10g while Im waiting for it to cycle,I know its mean but really if I dont have a fish in there my parents will be *angry* that Im spending all my money on a bowl of water. Then I will move them back into their previous tank or leave them in as tankmates. Out of those two which would be the best tank mate for rams, or even a different hardy fish if you have ideas.

Byron

Of the neons and corys, I would use the neons to cycle; corys are very sensitive to water fluctuations which as I mentioned before are more frequent in new tanks. Once cycled, the neons and the corys will make good companions for a pair of rams as far as getting along. Rams do prefer warm water, 79F minimum, and neons prefer it a bit cooler, 75-77F, but at 79F I think they should be OK. If the tank is nicely planted, as it should be for the rams, the neons and corys will be happy. As for other suggestions, almost any of the small SA tetras would be fine with rams, and leave the corys as bottomdwellers. Rams can be very shy and having other fish swimming around tends to bring them out more.

iamntbatman

Have you purchased the fish, yet? If you haven't, consider that Bolivian rams are hardier than the German blue rams, grow a bit larger and it will be easier to find a pair of them (GBR's are mostly male due to hormone injections at the fish farms when they're young, similar to dwarf gouramis). However, I don't think they look quite as nice as the rams, so it's up to you. If you get two rams and you don't have a pair, be sure to divide the tank into two distinct territories with plenty of cover so that they don't do too much bickering.

Also, if you're still interested in jewel cichlids a single jewel in a 20g tank would be a very nice tank. They're mean fish, though, so I can't exactly recommend putting much of anything else with one.

Other cool ideas for 20g long tanks that I've thrown around:

-River biotope tank with hillstream loaches and white clouds and a lot of water movement
-Small species tank of dwarf shelldwellers like lamprologus ocellatus or lamprologus multifasciatus (hard to come by and need the right tank setup but are hardy fish and not difficult to breed)
-A sandy-bottomed tank that slopes down into shallow brackish water on one side and up to a beach surface on the other. Inhabitants would include fiddler crabs, mudskippers and possibly bumblebee gobies.