German blue and gold balloon rams.

My local fish store has both the blue and gold variety of the German balloon rams. I've done a lot of research on them and have fallen in love and want to try my hand on breeding something different other than my endlers. I was going to buy a pair yesterday for $28 for my 30 gallon long but didn't because due to how young the fish are I couldn't accurately sex them and didn't want to get stuck with two same sex fish. The only other problem I'm having is how many would I be able to keep in my 30 gallon planted tank with a 75 gallon rated canister filter? The base demensions of the tank is 36"x12". The only reason I ask this is because I'll need somewhere to put the fry once they reach a juvenile size before selling them. Thank you my friends!

 

A 30 gallon is good for a pair of rams. Personally I wouldn't get into the balloon belly type, as this is caused by spinal deformities, but that's a topic for another time. You can likely find some sexed rams for sale online, perhaps on Aquabid or Ebay.

 

Hi, I agree with Junebug. Sexing them is going to be important and so your best bet is to find a pair on line and a pair will do fine in that size-maybe even two pair given the area you mention.

These are not sexed but you get the idea!

 

My other option was dwarf gourami. I already have year old male that I love and wanted to create a species tank with two pairs. Yet again I couldn't find out how many I could keep in a tank like this. I know males aren't too fond of each other but females are fine (usually). My main goal is I want this to be a breeding project and a learning experience with some new fish that I haven't tried my hand at.

 

For DGs you'd be better off with a single trio rather than multiple males. The boys are not friendly with each other. At all.

A heavily planted tank with broken lines of sight should take care of aggression issues with them. You'll also probably want to really be careful where you get your stock. They're a fish I would consider getting wild caught stock rather than tank bred, because they are already so weak genetically from inbreeding. Wild stock will be healthier.