keeping one Ram?

[Eve]

I have a 50 gallon tank with 7 lemon tetras and 1 ghost knife fish.Can i add one germen ram.I would like 2 but I wouldnt want them to breed and I dont know if two males would fight?Thank you Eve

 

[farm41]

A ghost Knife? :? With a dwarf. Don't they eat fish?

 

[Eve]

He has been living with the tetras for a very long time and there has never been a problem.I read he is peaceful except with his own kind.Ive had him for 1 1/2 years.If i put him with baby fish that might be a diffrent story.Eve

 

[Neil]

Eve,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

The fact that your GK has not eaten you lemon tetras is not a sure sign that it will not eat a slower, bottom dwelling fish like a ram. GK are preditory animals and might jump at the chance to make a meal out of a unsuspecting ram. You certainly could try it, but at least be aware of the possibility that a ram might not fair as well as much faster tetras that occupy a different part of the tank than you GK.

Good luck,
Neil

 

[Eve]

Thank you for your advice.I am not going to try to add a Ram.I will keep the tank the way it is.But I was just curious if Rams need to have partners? Can they be alone in a peacful community tank or is that cruel?EVE

 

[aspen]

i have often kept mis-matched pairs of different fish, and things have been fine. fish don't need to pair to live 'happily'. (really though, are fish happy or sad? i'm pretty sure not.) you won't see the fish in it's breeding colours but in fact things are much more peaceful when breeding is not an issue.

rick

 

[2la]

If your concern centers around not wanting to raise up fry, you really need not worry about keeping a pair of rams in a community tank as they will be hard-pressed to raise up fry with all those predators. Breeding rams is hard enough but next to impossible in a community tank. I'd recommend keeping a pair, as you will miss out on a lot of the interactions and, thus, charm of keeping this species. I know whereof I speak: I've been unable to find a wild male ram to keep my wild female company, and she spends most of her days swimming incessantly against the front glass. If she weren't the first fully healthy wild ram I've encountered, I'd have returned her to the store long ago.

 

[aspen]

gee 2la, how far is oregon from toronto?? :x aww, too bad, my lfs just got in a hundred nice wild rams. they came in on monday from brasil, and people were grabbing them out of his tank before he even got to pick the ones he wanted for his show tank. he grabbed a dozen for himself. i got a nice pair yesterday. i have a pair from his last order a couple of months ago- nice fish, growing well and like you said, they are nice and healthy. they make a nice addition to my discus tank, and the new pair will go into my mixed s/a cichlid tank with geo's, ruby's, and apistos if they don't spawn in the next few weeks.

rick

 

[aspen]

eve, to answer your question specifically about keeping single rams... i find that agression problems are much less when you get a bunch of cichlids and raise them up, esp fsh like geophagus, which rams are definately like. having a group however, invariably leads to breeding if pairs are available. i have never kept multiple male rams together in the long term without females available, but i would suspect that it is like many other cichlids i have kept. eventually a fish will find it's place in the hierarchy of the tank, and live as it will. i have kept a single discus in a planted 20 gal with a pair of rams, and some rummy-nose tetras and some small algae eaters. most people will tell you that keeping 1 discus will cause it to be 'lonely' and 'pine'. in fact, the discus i had was quite an active fish, finding it's place in the hierarchy of the tank (the boss) and it was one of the nicest tanks i have ever kept. it was my first exp with hand feeding actually.

you only know by trying things. and when situations develop, we deal with them, by minimising agression, and removing fish if necessary. all experienced fishkeepers started with their first fish and learned as they went along. rams are very able to deal with predators. they are quite a tough fish and very quick. my ram pair went head to head with my very agressive discus, even raising spawns in that tank and protecting their corner from almost constant poking around from the discus. i was never able to put this discus with any other fish, eventualy selling it to someone who wanted to try a single discus display. i wish i had a home movie of the male ram standing up to that 5" discus, protecting his little piece if the world.

rick

 

[2la]

gee 2la, how far is oregon from toronto?? :x aww, too bad, my lfs just got in a hundred nice wild rams. they came in on monday from brasil, and people were grabbing them out of his tank before he even got to pick the ones he wanted for his show tank. he grabbed a dozen for himself. i got a nice pair yesterday. i have a pair from his last order a couple of months ago- nice fish, growing well and like you said, they are nice and healthy. they make a nice addition to my discus tank, and the new pair will go into my mixed s/a cichlid tank with geo's, ruby's, and apistos if they don't spawn in the next few weeks.

*Siiiiiiiiigh...*

Well, maybe if end up in Rochester this summer... :?

 

[aspen]

by summer there wil be a high speed ferry from rochester to toronto. i plan to have lots of f1's by then...

rick

 

[mm12463]

A ferry? Damn that is cool. Course 2La could drive over to Niagara Falls, see the falls, do the Maid of the Mist then drive to St Catherines or what not and grab the Go Train into Toronto. Least it was called the GO train back when I used to run of to Canada in high school with friends 10 years ago.

Okay found the website.

http://www.catsfastferry.com/

Man sounds like a damn cruise boat. Wow. Wonder how it will work in the winter when Lake Ontario is not so nice.

 

[2la]

Well, mm, Minneapolis is actually my first choice, followed very closely by Rochester. I've already visited World of Fish and met one of the staff members. I'll find out in March where I'm headed.