BipBop

Yesterday I put the sand and water in my new 29 gallon tank (donated by my daughter, thank ye kindly). I know I'll be relocating my 3 cory cats and 4 male cherry barbs there, but was wondering what else to add. I'm considering a few more corys or a couple of otos, and perhaps some ghost shrimp.

Don't want to overstock, but I would also like to add a new colorful variety, a type fish that would be happy single or in pairs.

open to suggestions!

(taking bets on when my tank will by fully cycled! I just filled it up yesterday and am seeding with the old filter from the 10 gallon tank)

fishrule101

Ghost shrimp arent much of a bio-load so you can add about 5-9? I never had cory cats back when I was doing FW but i heard they like to be in goups, so i guess you might be able to get some more. Well what kind of colorful fish are you looking at?? I would say guppies but your barbs might nip at there fins. How can you tell there males?? You might get mollies. They can be kept single and some are colorful as well as platies. Well hope everything goes well.

BipBop

Oh then I'll definitely get some ghost shrimp.

All my cherry barbs are very deep red, with frilly fins lined in black. Definitely boys!

I was looking at the gold rams on a website. I've never had those before. Do they need to be kept in groups?

MissMTS

You can keep rams in pairs they are really delicate though. They reqiuire really soft water, so unless you have the water conditions that they thrive in, I wouldn't try them. I have tried to keep them many times and have even tried lowering the pH of our hard water that we have here, but they always seem to break my heart I would suggest a pair of angels, but they would probably eat your shrimp. You may want to look into a school of Dwarf Precox Rainbowfish. They only get 2.5 to 3 inches and I think they are gorgeous. They should be in a school of at least 5. I have been waiting to get a school for one of my tanks cause I think they are so pretty

fishrule101

I don't know much about the ram but some people say it hard and other easy.

BipBop

My water has been running around 6.8 - is that soft enough for rams? So you think Rainbowfish may be hardier than rams?

fishrule101

Don't rams need an established tank( at least six months)?? I've had asturalian rainbow fish and without knowing it I happen to get two females and a male. The males seem to have more color than the females. They spawed almost every three- five weeks!!!! I could never save the babies though. The fish seem to eat them fast. I would say rainbows are way hardier than rams.

Blub

Rams are VERY VERY VERY delicate. I know lots of members who keep their tank spotless, but their rams died. Maybe not. There is a species called a cockatoo apisto that is similar to rams, but much easier which should thrive for you. Apistogramma cacatoides is the Latin.

So, 4 male cherry barbs + 3 corys (Assuming the corys are bronze) = 17", that leaves 12" to play with. I would get 6 Praecox rainbows or 8 neons. Or, for variety, 6 mixed male platys.

BipBop

Wonder why their rams died? are those fish picky about pH?

Nope, no bronze corys. I have a BIG Schwartzi cory, one that's not so big, and a Julii cory.

Cockatoo apisto? those are cichlids, right? are they going to throw my corys out of their caves? If not, do I need two females and one male? Never kept those fish before. How large do they get?

Blub

Rams are just pure sensitive - good for tank which get daily water changes and low pH but not much else!

Well, you'd have 15" to play with because Julli corys are smaller than bornze's.

Cockatoo apistos are cichlids. Care is basically the same as a Ram, just much hardier! 1 Trio of a male and 2 Females would work well. So, That would leave you with about 7" to play with. Perhaps a school of 6 neons?

platy ben

ive tried rams before and as soon as i put them in my tank they started breathing quickly,hiding and they were moving there fins very fast, they are very delicate.
Dwarf gouramis are nice

Blub

It's quite hard to find a good Dwarf gourami at the moment, because all the DGs from Asian fish farms have a virus called Iridivious that kills them, and you can't tell if they have it UNTIL they start dieng off. The only known remedy is to stop inbreeding the fish - so it doesn't happen at all.

BipBop

Lord knows I'm not about to make daily water changes in a cycled tank! I'm worn out changing betta water as it is.

Well, this discussion is helping me quite a bit. I think I'll go with a trio of cockatoo apistos (if their color suits me, haha) and either some more corys or a school of neons. I do like to see neons swimming together. Does anyone know approximately how large the cockatoo apisto gets?

I had gouramis a long time ago. Dunno if they were dwarf variety or not, but they were MEAN. Always fighting.

Blub

Females get about 2", males 3.5". Do some research on them! Trust me Apistos are packed with personality.

platy ben

i went into a fish shop before and asked to buy a cockatoo apistos and i was told they grow around 6"-7" long and are very aggresive and was told theyre definitly not a community fish.

Blub

They must be confused. Where they speaking about Apistogramma cacatuoides? There might be more than one common name for some other fish - or just a bad fish shop you walked into. I can tell you with confidence that Coackatoo apistos (A.Cacatuoides) are territtorial (To their own kind) bottom dwelling fishes, with the males growing to 3.5" and the females 2". I wouldn't shop at that LFS again mind you... They are obviously very confused. Google Cockatoo apisto - see what you get!

BipBop

Google it. Yes. Come to think of it, one could Google everything and not have to ask anything here! Hmmm...

All RIGHT! (color me gone.... )

Blub

Keep asking questions - I won't be here for a few days but I'm only one out of several thousand members!

platy ben

i checked my book on tropical aquarium fish and you were right and the fish shop was wrong , would it be possible to breed these easily in a 60G aquarium?

Blub

They might spawn, but I don't know about raising the fry.

livetowin

What about Black-Skirt tetras they are Very hardy and easy to keep i have three Black and White Skirt Tetras in my 29 Gallon and its very cool to watch them school

zambize

I wouldn't recommend daily water changes with Rams. They definitely are sensitive and most sensitive to fluctuations in pH, which can easily happen if water changes are not done slowly and carefully. They can tolerate a stable, higher pH over a fluctuating pH.

Also, I think you are looking at too many bottom- and mid-dwellers. The shrimp and the Cory mostly stay on the bottom. The Ram is classified as a bottom- to mid-dweller, but mine always stay at the bottom.

Many Rams are peaceful, but they can be territorial if they don't have enough space. They will pick a spot and mostly protect that spot, and are usually all bark and no bite, just running off any intruders....*unless* they don't have enough room, then they can cause trouble. Your planned stock may be too many for a Ram to have room, especially with the other bottom-dwellers.

Too bad the Gourami's are so sick right now. I've had a Gourami and Ram together and it has been perfect. The Gourami hangs out at the top, the Ram at the bottom and sometimes they swim together in the middle.

Zambize

Blub

Daily water changes are good. They get rid of the nasty things that are bad to fish and keep nitrate low. They shouldn't alter pH - unless you are using pH altering chemicals.