I never was very patient.

[ancientaquarist]

Hi Everyone-
I've ordered my 125 gallon and have started saving clean rain water and R/O water in a 33 gallon Rubbermade garbage can-brand new and spotless.

When I was shopping earlier this week I decided to but a complete set up 29 gallon aquarium to store more water and with the potential of being used as quarrantine headquarters, a hospital tank, and in an emergency a breeding tank.

I've tested my mix of rain and R/O and it shows no conductivity and the Ph. measures 5.8-I'm assuming the chloromine will be dealt with by the power canister filter-am I right. I've got the temp. at 83F. The water is aging and all the equipment working.

Now comes my question-my LFS got in a huge shipment of rams on Thurs.
There are four different kinds: German Blues, Goldens, wild caught Bolivian and wild caught original type we used to call Apistogramma
ramirezi back in 1960. The German Blues are awesome and quite large-I'm guessing over 2.25" and in spectacular condition. The Goldens are much younger and smaller and I'm really not sure how I feel about them.
I'd never seen the Bolivian Ram before but both groupsof wild caught are
pretty tatty and in quarrantine for at least a month. The last group is my old friend-Apistogramma ramirezi, now Microgeophagus-The are in fair shape, all are eating like piggies but they certainly don't have as much blue as the German clone but do have additional subtle colors.

Can I buy 2 or three of each type and put them in the 29 along with 7
bleeding heart tetras. Will they mate indescriminately or seek out their own race. The tank will have a black substrate, has a black painted background and I will add several 7 or 8 flat stones and a bunch of plants.
The shop gave me a quart of R/O water already aged and possessing the right bacteria. If I can keep these well they will go into the 125 which I'm guessing will be in about 6 weeks. I already picked 3 German Blues and 3
Bolivians and they were moved into a tank in the shop with some Otocinclus sp.

Will they sense their different racial make-up even though they are the same sp. of will they breed with any compatible mate? Would the 12
rams (3 each) get along in a well planted 29 gallon. They are feeding them something called "black worms" and all four types seem ravenous.

Finally a secret-I had fishes from 1945-63. I was twenty when I sold off my aquariums and fishes and turned the little room into a room for breeding roller canaries. Coming back to fishes now-especially ones that I've owned before is making me feel 12 years old which was the peak of my interest in aquaria. It's better than viagra or cialis-its not quite the "fountain" of youth-but its wet! Best always-

 

[Randall]

Microgeophagus ramirezi

Hello Michael,

The Microgeophagus ramirezi that you ask about are all the same species and will interbreed, regardless of the superficial little names that we assign to them. It might be best to pick out the one color form that you like the most and stick with them. In a 29-gallon tank, up to two pairs plus some small dither fish should work out fine. The tank is simply too small to house more than two pairs.

Microgeophagus mutispinosa (Bolivian ram) prefers soft, slightly alkaline water, so if you're water is acidic, it might be best to stick to the M. ramirezi.

Good luck!

 

[2la]

Chloramine is a relatively stable molecule, and while I don't know how it would end up in rainwater I certainly would advise against relying on the filtration system to take care of it if you suspect its presence in your water. Use a water conditioner that specifically mentions that it neutralizes it, such as Prime.

 

[ancientaquarist]

Alas, someone else bought all 20 German Blues.

One man bought all twenty German Blues-no luck for me. The Bolivians seemed pale and lacklustre but the sexes were distinguishable. I got two breeding sized pairs of them, four juvenile
goldens, plants, rocks, and mixed the R/O with our alkaline water. I had planned to use peat to acidify-do neither of these geo-morphs need darkened peat water?

I'm unclear-I probably can boost alkalinity and harden the water a bit but
it comes from the tap filled with sediment-flakes of a chalky white substance and is not clear - loaded with mineral debris-I am sending raw water and post R/O water to a lab. What must they test for for rams, other dwarfs and Discus, large school of cardinals and 5 each of bleading hearts and 5 diamond tetras, little babies a month or two old.

I met Corydoras pygmaeus is a huge school. They were charming to watch. I also encountered quite a collection of fresh water cherry and candycane shrimp which the discus not bother.

It was a very exciting visit to the home of a gorgeous young man with unlimited money and generousity. He has seven tanks, none over 80
gallons. He recently divested himselfof a 750 gallon where the plecos
were becoming grotesque. He's a follower of the Japanese photographer
who wrote Nature Aquarium World. Very trippy evening since I came right from a bird club meeting with Rascal, my Blue Fronted Amamzon parrot. He added to the Amazonian feel of the entire apartment as his ancestors come from the very same places as the discus, the plants, etc. They even have a salt bank above a huge school of cardinal tetras in habitat which they eat if they can catch 'em. Festivums, cardinals, discus, unearthly dracaenas plus my parrot made for a festive evening.
Cheers from the ever wetter desert in tone if not fact