Rams - general advice please

[Minders]

I have a 60gal South American tank that I am still building. It's about 4 months old now and I am starting to put the more sensitive fish in now, like Emporer Tetras, Hatchets, etc. I also intend to put a pair of Rams (and possibly other dwarf Cich's) in, but am aware that they need a mature tank. Exactly how old constitutes "mature"?

Can anyone please give me some general advice in advance of getting these fish, so I can make sure they're entering a good environment, with the minimum of stress, etc. Also, if you could suggest what should be in the tank for their "furniture". What will they be looking for in terms of hidey places, spawning sites, etc. At the moment, it's well planted (though more plants to come) with four pieces of bogwood, and a sand substrate. Oh and one piece of slate which I've put in for the pleco... which is also still to come.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Neil]

Minders,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

In most cases, 4 month would be considered mature. If all the values in the tank have leveled off, you should be good to go. You may not want to add a bunch of fish all at once though, as there may be a little spike.
You would make the same evaluations with Dwarf Cichlids that you would with any fish. Look to see if the is any noticable marks or signs of damage on the body or fins. Check to see if they are acting right (no clamping of the fins, etc). Check the tank that they are in(if at the LFS) to see if there are any problems with any tankmates. If you can, find out the water conditions at the LFS or supplier to know how much acclimation is nec. And most of all, put them into conditions that will aid in their well-being (clean water!).
Their tank should not have aggressive tankmates, but non-aggressive can be a plus. There should be "structure" to the tank - meaning plants, wood, rocks and/or caves. Slate may be beneficial for open spawners, but the cave will be helpful for cave brooders. Know the fish that you atre getting first to know what they will need for tank structure. You pretty much have a pretty good forum to find out that info right here.
Good luck,
Neil

 

[Minders]

So what about acclimating a Ram, or other Apisto? I'm not really sure what to do. My pH is 7.6 currently - though as the tank matures I'm sure it'll gradually get lower. Nitrates are never lower than 20ppm as that's what comes out of my tap. Ammonia and Nitrite are zero. Slight nitrite readings occur only when I add new fish, but it quickly stabilises again. I do 25% water changes about every week and a half.

Presumably, most fish are bred in treated tapwater anyway, and probably are quite used to it. If that's the case, then there's no problem. But what do I do if it comes from somewhere where they really take pains over their pH levels and they're used to much lower pH levels. What do I do to correct that?? It's my understanding that it takes days to adjust to pH.

What do I do then? What happens if I just put them straight in, when they're used to a lower pH? Yikes! 8O

 

[Nermal]

Hi Minders,

I see you found the forum

As I mentioned, I don't know much about the rams. However, as for the Ph question, it's a good one.

What you might do is find out the Ph of the water where you intend to get the rams from BEFORE you get the fish. That way, if there is a significant difference, you can alter the Ph of your tank to be more in line with that of the rams you intend to get. I would say that the difference between your tank and the source of the new tank should be no more than 0.5. If the difference is greater, I'd consider adjusting your tank Ph before aquiring the new inhabitants. Someone else that knows these fish better might recomend closer parameters or another approach.

 

[Neil]

Mark give sound advice. Just make sure that your water is clean and that your values are not a long way off from where they are coming. Ideally rams like 6pH with soft (1-2dgh) water for breeding. But you don't have to have them in that water to make them happy. If you want to breed them, you will want to slowly move your water to soft and acidic. 7.6 is a little high, but can be altered by adding a little RO water to reduce the KH and then peat of acidifier to drop the pH some. Again, slowly with rams.
Neil

 

[soko]

I put blue rams in my tank the same day i put water and my plants in it, they are all very happy it's been a few weeks now. It's a 55gallon so the plants take care of all the ammonia and such, I never had any ammonia showing up in the tests.

 

[farm41]

yep, planted tanks work that way, only if you have enough light though, to get the plants growing and using the ammonia faster than the fish can produce it. If the lighting is at the minimum level, this won't work.