kacie

I am getting a 33g long, an almost 4ft footprint, and have come up with two stocking ideas. PLease let me know what you think, Please!

6 German Blue Rams
10 Neon Tetras
6 ottos

or

4 (1m/2f) cockatoo cichlids
2 (m/f) Bolivian Rams
6 cardinal tetras
6 ottos

Tell me which you would choose or another idea.
Thanks!

capekate

Hi
I personally like stocking option 1. I have found that the cockatoo dwarf cichlid can be aggressive and adding more to the group may cause problems between them and the GBRs, thats why I would not go with stocking option 2.
I think that it is best to go with the GBRs as your dwarf cichlid. With ten neons schooling all around with them, it can be a colorful, active and peaceful tank.

EDIT: I have found, but forgot to mention that having a lot of male GBRs in a tank can and most likely will lead to aggression among themselves. Having male GBRs before in my tank, this is what I have experienced. I would try to find females, which can be hard to do, as most places sell the males only since they tend to be more colorful than the females. So I would only do one or two male rams to 4 females if you can. Or possibly only one male to 5 females.

kacie

Thank you Kate. I think I can easily get females so I like the idea of 2m/4f.

capekate

Hi Kacie
Good for you! I can never find females at my smaller LFS, I think they keep them for breeders there. The chain store fish stores around here do not carry any rams. That is why I am down to one female bolivian right now.
Dont forget the photos when you get your tank all set!

kacie

I luckily found this african cichlid breeder/hatchery near me that does carry an interesting selection of SA cichlids and they say they can determine the sex of their fish. That's why I was considering Apistos, cause I can get rare species, but truly prefer rams. I can only imagine that the cape does not have alot of lfs but you do have beautiful beaches.

capekate

LOL thank you Kacie, yes the beaches are beautiful... but heck, would it be too much to have a good LFS around here? LOL... I wish I had the income, I'd open one on the lower Cape. We need it bad!

Matt

I no from personal experience that german blue rams get bery aggresive,

But yours may be different.

From Matt

04_si

The only problem with that is if the 2 males and 2 females pair they will really pick on the other 2 females especially if a pair is spawning

kacie

I am very worried about that. I am hoping that I could switch any breeders or overly stressed fish into my 20g if I could maybe move the Bolivians into the 33g. Or I can maybe give harassed females to my lfs? Hopefully plenty of hiding places will be enough.

capekate

Hi Kacie
If you are not interested in breeding your rams, you can always just get all females and still have the wonderful fish you are looking for. Personally, I like to stock my tanks with the amount of fish I am interested in without worrying about what to do with breeders, and fry. Since the males will harass each other anyway, why not just go with females?

kacie

I am interested in breeding and yet with this long tank I was hoping for a decent number of dwarfs. That's why, even though I like the rams more, I was considering the apistos because their harem breeding would allow me to have more fish. But when I research them the female is so likely to kill the male after fertilization. Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I thought this 33g long would be perfect for Dwarf Cichlids but it does present it's own problems too. I keep trying to figure it out so if anyone has experiences or more ideas to share that would be awesome.

au01st

I recently added a pair of German Blue Rams to my 55 gallon community to replace 2 Dwarf Gouramis that died of unknown reasons, and they're model citizens. If anything, they're taking heat from the Rainbow Shark.

mjordan

not trying to steal the tread from u guysbut i found som blue rams on live aquaria i guess babys because they ship bettween 1 and 1.5 inches. if u look at a ruller thats really small. the are 9 bucks is this a good find or should i look elsewere. thanks and i hope for help from u experianced hobiest... is rather tight so i dont want to have to have a second shipment of these guys if one dies. would the be stable and live at such a young state of development... for anybody wondering i live in ohio with cold winter so i would be waiting till the spring to get them.

kacie

Try www.cichlids.net or google Atlantis-Tropical Fish hatchery for a better price. They only grow to about 2-3 inches so 1 1/2 sounds okay.

04_si

If you form two pairs with your 2m/4f then moving the other 2 females into the 20g wouldnt be a problem at all. They might miss the male attention, but they would be happy. Another option, could be to take them to the lfs. you should get money, or atleast store credit for them. My lfs is begging me to bring him in some baby rams . Im not sure how well the Bolivians and GBRs would do together, it might end up the Bolivians picking on the Rams

i would look in the lfs first. they should only be about $10 a piece, then you dont have to worry about shipping in winter

kacie

I think the complications are worth it. I'd love to have breeding rams and having extra females might be the only way. Anyway the seller is giving me some problems so I hope that we can work it out.

Ram_Kelly

I love option 1, probably because its the same fish I have in my tank The school of neons looks great with the Rams. Like everyone has said, you probably will run into aggression problems. I had 2 males in my 26 gallon and one nearly killed the other, I had to separate them. I had really good luck the other day at Petco and they had a TON of female Rams. You may want to check there for your stocking, even though I know people on here aren't big fans of chain pet stores. Also, I don't think you can pick what sex you order when you are ordering from liveaquaria. Another thing I've heard about Rams is that if one pair pairs off they will probably be very aggressive towards all the other rams in the tank. They are crazy little guys. I adore mine and I really hope everything works out for you!!!

kacie

Well I don't know if the guy selling me the 33g long is reneging on me and trying to find a higher price so I've been looking around for another tank so I may end up with a 55g. Any ideas how to adjust my stocking with the extra space? I was thinking
10 cardinals
4 angels or keyhole cichlids
4 German Blue Rams or 1m/3f Cockatoo Cichlids or Bolivian rams
6 ottos or 1 Pleco
Please share experiences and ideas
Thanks

Ram_Kelly

With 55 gallons I'd say a few males would be fine! But IMO rams are kinda small for a big tank, they might not stand out. Oh wait, I just read where you'll have angels or keyhold cichlids too. Sounds great! Do it! Oh, and from my experience with ottos I'd say get a pleco. The ottos are too small to take care of all my algae. Good luck!!