rams and/or keyholes in a community?

[btate617]

Anything will possibly get along.

The thing about blue rams is although they are cichlids they are a bit on the shy side and also mellow fish if not spawning. Bala's are all over the place and very fast paced. You are never going to see your ram fully colored with balas zooming all around, they will stay stressed most of the time. Not saying they won't live, but lets face it most buy this fish for its color and you won't see its fulll potential with balas around.

Brian

[Time]

I bought the fish because I wanted a colorful fish, then I got into tetras, then I got into gourami, I still need a gourami. How about a dwarf gourami, great fish usually at the middle to top.

[Swifterz]

so at the store today they actually had keyholes! and they were nice size too. one was i'd say around 4". they were $5.99. i didn't buy any because they are just pretty plain looking, even more so than expected in person. i want to make sure i make a decision i won't second guess, but it was nice to know they are available.

the GBR's they had were tiny, tiny fish. i mean like 1/2 the size of my smallest tiger barb. i don't really want anything that small. so then i was looking at convicts. they had never really interested me much before but these had some really good colors.. a few had a big red spot and it looked great off their black body.

so now instead of GBR's, i was considering convicts. but i know they are generally regarded as more aggressive than firemouths. however, i also know they are kept in the same tank together all the time, so that might not be an issue. the question is whether or not the convicts will mix into my community with ease the same way the firemouths have.

[Time]

I though Convict Cichilds were aggressive fish that only would be in a tank with other Cichilds. You should go with the Tiger Barbs or German Blue Ram

[Swifterz]

Originally Posted by Time Keeper

I though Convict Cichilds were aggressive fish that only would be in a tank with other Cichilds. You should go with the Tiger Barbs or German Blue Ram

i have 10 tiger barbs

[Time]

I am really not sure. I saw them in the aggressive section so I wouldn't risk it. They also get pretty big.

[angelfish220]

yeah, I'd say a bolivian or german blue ram. The ones at your LFS are small now but they'll grow bigger...

[Swifterz]

Originally Posted by angelfish220

yeah, I'd say a bolivian or german blue ram. The ones at your lfs are small now but they'll grow bigger...

yeah but my tiger barbs seem like giants compared to them right now

[Swifterz]

i was surprised, but today some convicts really, really caught my eye. from what i've been reading they get aggressive during spawning especially, but not much otherwise. that is what everyone said about my firemouths too. while i do have 1 male and 1 female firemouth, the certainly are not a pair. they completely ignore eachother.

a single convict would be ok with me. or two femals, or whatever. two males would be ok except for possible fights over territory. it really doesn't matter to me as long as they won't be breeding and therefore become really aggressive.

i don't know what to do.

[angelfish220]

Seriously, I know you've been told it like a thousand times but... I would get the balas rehomed BEFORE you make anymore changes in stocking....

[Swifterz]

it's actually easy to sex the convicts, which is awesome. the females are darker black with the orange spots, which are the ones i noticed today. maybe a single female would work... wouldn't have to worry about breeding.

[Time]

Okay? I agree. The pet store should accept the balla sharks for free and maybe give you store credit. Don't make any changes listen to the person with almost 2000 posts.

[snowflake311]

Get a Bolivian ram and a keyhole they are perfect together. I have a Bolivian ram with a keyhole and they get along perfectly. You don't need to keep them in pairs in fact it is better to not have pairs. I have a male and female Bolivian ram they don't get along. I had 2 male GB rams one killed the other. just get one of each. If you did get a happy pair your peaceful tank would be filled with drama once the pair start to spawn.

The Bolivian ram is much more hardy then the GB Rams. I also think the Bolivians are cuter and have more personality. I had a GB Ram he was not nearly as fun as my Bolivians.

These fish will give you a taste of what cichlids are all about. I'm addicted to the NW cichlids.

[Swifterz]

they have some nice size keyholes for $5.99 each. tempting but they are so bland looking.