Angelfish, Gouramis and Rams Oh my!

I am wanting to put angelfish, gouramis and rams in a 55 gal tank. are they compatible? At least angelfish and gouramis...

 

That depends on the type of gouramis really,
I have my angels with 2 three spot gouramis (gold gouramis) and a kissing gourami. I have no problems with mine, but from what I have heard temperament varies between individual fish. I also have both bolivian and german rams, and they are compatible with the angels and gouramis as well.
So what type of gouramis were you thinking?

 

I really like the pearl gouramis. I have never heard of a bolivian ram. I have a 55 gal and was planning on 4 angels, 2 gouramis, and one or two rams. Is that too much for one tank and do Rams do well by themselves?

 

No that's not too much, just be aware that pearls like to be in larger groups than two(I think, somebody correct me if I am wrong). All those fish are compatible. Rams can be fine by themselves but I would not do a 55 with just rams, but that is personal preference. A bolivian ram is very similar to the ram that you are probably thinking of, the german blue ram, bolivians are a little bigger but a little less colorful. But they are also much easier to keep than German Blue Rams Il attach a picture of the two side by side, the german is on the top.

 

Awesome fish! Could I keep like 2 pearl gouramis and 2 opaline gouramis, would that make them happier? Since I am a beginner, I think I will stick with the bolivian ram, I have been reading some stuff on them, and I think they are the pick for me.

 

Bolivian is definitely a good choice especially if you are a beginner. Germans also don't do very well in new tanks, the german you saw in the picture I just got today, I waited 6 months before getting it so my tank could become established. As far as the gouramis go, opaline gouramis are the same species as blue gouramis and gold gouramis. They are all 3 spot gouramis, I have two gold ones that seem to do fine as just the two of them, so getting 2 opalines should be fine. Once again I am not 100% sure but I think that pearls like to be in groups of at least 4ish, but I have never kept them so I don't know for sure. If you are going to get 4 gouramis, I would get 4 pearls or 4 three-spots, but it is really up to you. Have you already set this tank up?

 

no, picking it tomorrow from some people who don't want to take care of it anymore. I am of course going to wait until the tank cycles again, it does come with some fish. Head and tail light tetras, ghost corys and a pleco. I don't know quite yeat what I'm going to do with them, probably put the tetras in my 20 gal. And I think you're right, I am going to do 4 pearls instead of 2 of each.

 

That's good that it comes with some corys and a pleco, I was about to suggest you get some type of cleaner fish. Unless readings say otherwise, the tank probably won't have to cycle again depending on how much you drain it when you pick it up. I'd suggest bringing some buckets to fill with tank water that you can put back in the tank when you get it where you want, that way you shouldn't have to re cycle the tank, or at least you decrease the chances of having to. The tetras would be fine with your fish though, so you don't necessarily have to move them

 

cool, I was just worried about fin nipping with the tetras. I might actually see if my LFS will babysit the fish that are coming with the tank until I get it cycled. She is pretty awesome like that. I figured it would take somewhere around 6 months to get this tank completed. I'm thinking about running a thread and having some experts run me thru the process step by step, with pics, so I do it correctly and for other beginners to actually see how its done. What do you think?

 

It should take no where near 6 months to cycle if that's what you mean, maybe 3 weeks max, but chances are it will be a lot less because the tank has been running for a while now. Also head and tail lights shouldn't fin nip much if at all

 

oh, I know it won't take 6 months to cycle, I mean 6 months to have it completed with fish and plants.

 

are you doing live plants?

 

yes

 

Cool, 6 months seems like a reasonable time then, buying all the plants at once is bad because it is hard to know how much you need, so what I do is get about half then add on little by little until I am happy with what I have. I am still planting my 55 that I started in July, It is mostly done, but you always manage to find a need for a little more. plus getting all at once really hurts the wallet

 

ya! $10.00 a plant! Yikes! Have you ever heard of anyone starting from seed?

 

No, but i'm sure people have done it. I have bad ADHD so I wouldn't be able to sit there and wait for them to grow haha. I don't know what costs 10 bucks near you but most thinks near me are about 3 potted plants for 8-11 dollars

 

I live in a gold mining town, everything is expensive here! I was at wal mart today, (not somewhere I try to make a regular appearence,) and I made a quick stop by the fish dept to see what they had compared to my LFS, and they had plant bulbs! Like 10 for 3.47! But I'm like you, I can't sit and wait, I NEED instant gratification!

 

If the tank has been up and running with fish in it for very long I would assume that it is cycled so you shouldn’t need a baby sitter if your going to set it right back up. I would suggest giving a light cleaning to all the deco and giving the gravel a good vacuuming. You could give the filter a light cleaning after a few weeks but for the time being I would leave it alone so that you keep as much of the good bacteria colony as possible.

I would also dump a bottle of Tetra SafeStart (TSS) into the tank just to be on the safe side once you have it set up and added the fish back into it. Be sure to treat the new water with a good water conditioner so that the new water has all the chlorine or chloramines removed. Personally I use SeaChem Prime because it not only removes the chlorine but also detoxifies ammonia and nitrites at the same time but if you add the TSS I would use a simple de-chlorinator instead of Prime.

Remember to acclimate the fish to the new tank, I would suggest you read up on drip acclimation. Even the fish that are coming with it because you will be taking it totally down and setting it back up. Try to match the water temperature to what the fish like. From what I have seen on the stocking list that is coming with the tank and what you are planning on getting I would suggest a temperature around 78 to 82 degrees.

I have a 125 gallon tank with both Angels and Gourami and they get along great but not all fish are alike. Some types of Tetra can be a bit nippy, like the Serpae, so I would look into what type you will have before jumping off and getting Angelfish. Also I would not add any new fish for at least two weeks after you have set it back up and added back the fish it is coming with.