NOLANANO

Update: I have had one spawn but the parents ate the eggs. The two that spawned together don’t seem to be permanently paired as she doesn’t hangout by him as much anymore but he still tolerates her in his territory more than any other ram. I have 3 males and the breeder is the most dominant and claimed the left 3rd of the tank. The second male has claimed the right/back third and the least dominant male has the least desired area near the front glass with the fewest plants (we are working on making it better for him.) here are some pictures:

I know almost nothing about African cichlids but number 1 is quite the stunner.

You are correct. While blue rams prefer water in the mid 80's (my tank is at 82.5 F), Bolivian rams prefer around 78 F. Also while all fish have their preferences, the Bolivians will give you more lee way as far as water parameters.

good looking out but lucky for me I live in Louisiana and bought it at a LFS. I would hope the LFS would be compliant with local laws and regs.

I used to have a 29G planted tank so I will just give my stocking opinion: 1) Center Piece: Pair of Bolivian Rams or a nice colorful Betta fish. The rams are hardier than their blue ram cousins and still get wonderful colors and have a little personality. A Betta isn't usually thought of as a community fish but as long as you're purposeful about tank mates then they are great centerpiece fish. 2) Dither Fish: 6-8 Neon/Cardinal Tetra. You honestly could do a ton of different options for dither fish but I find that everyone who isn't a hobbyist notice neon and/or cardinal tetra first because of their striking color. 3) Bottom Dwellers: 6-8 Panda Cories. Again, there are other types of cories that will also work but Pandas stay relatively small and will thrive in a 20 or 29G. 4) Clean Up Crew: 3-5 Amano Shrimp and/or a Bristlenose Pleco.

Anyone have any experience with this plant? Can't find a ton of info online so I figured I'd ask. From what I do know, its typically sold as a pond plant because it grows out of the water nicely and provides a good bit of cover for bait fish. I have had the plant for a couple of weeks and the leaves are converting from these really "Snowflake" looking pine tree-like leaves to more bushy needles. I believe this is just the difference in submersed growth and immersed growth (did I use those terms correctly?) and the plant is converting. any tips would be greatly appreciated. This is what the plant looked like when I got it: Now it is converting into this but so far I still have a red stem:

You can find plans for building one out of wood on pinterest but you will probably have to extrapolate the plans for the size of tank you will need for a Bichir.

If you need clean water, look into getting floating plants. I'd steer clear of duckweed because once its in the tank, its very hard to get rid of. I use Salvinia but there is also frog bit or red root floaters. The Betta will love the cover from above and the floaters will use up the excess nitrates. A lot of stem plants work the same but those are a little more work because you have to trim them when they get too long. With floaters, you just scoop out a few hand fulls when it gets too dense.

@JettsPapa I have a quick question and didn't think it needed a whole new thread. I have had the male Pearl in the tank for about a month and his color is still pretty drab. Is this a sign that his living conditions aren't right? He seems happy and doesn't bully or get bullied. Or is he still too young and will color up as he ages? Should I be feeding something to help?

@Fish Folk @Guppysnail I bought the 5 Rams as noted but it turns out I got 3 M and 2F. The alpha male has already paired with one female and it looks to me like the second male and the remaining female are beginning to hang out and pair. Should I buy another female for the remaining male or will that ruin the balance between the fish? Right now they bicker some over territory and access to females but its nothing crazy and the females stay out of it. Would adding another female be beneficial or would it ruin the vibe?

Update 2: everyone is looking amazing this morning. Only new development is that the dominant male claimed the left side of my tank (most structure) and the other 4 mostly stay on the right side of the tank. Obviously they venture over to his side some but then he shows off and they end up back on the right. No violence so I’m sure they will figure out who belongs where soon enough. here is 2 pics:

Update: I got 5 Rams this morning. I temp acclimated them for 30 minutes and then dropped them in and so far all the fish look great. The 2 males are bickering some to figure out the pecking order and/or territories but the females are all getting along fine. One of the males has picked the biggest female as his target to pair with but so far she is resistant. This is the best result I have gotten so far as even the 2 that lasted 3 months breathed heavy and hid for a day or two before recovering and being fine. These little guys don't look like they are stressed at all. Lets hope it stays that way lol.

Thanks for the tips and That’s an amazing looking GBR! I’ve never seen one like that one before. Here is a pic of the pair that I managed to keep alive for 3 months.

How did you acclimate? I plan to drip acclimate for an hour or two but I read a post by a guy on some other board who claims that I should only temperature acclimate for 15 minutes and then put the fish in the tank. He claimed that the transfer from the store to your tank and the acclimation process stresses the fish out more than anything and that he finds much more success if he minimizes the time spent acclimating. Thats literally the only person I have ever heard say that about acclimating so I wanted to see if anyone else thinks there is any truth to his claim? I don't plan to just toss them in unless someone else can corroborate that it will work.

Most surprising fish: Panda Gara - I only have one but that sucker never stops moving and searching for food. I just wanted a bottom feeder and ended up with one of my favorite fish in the tank. Most disappointing fish: Rummynose Tetra - I know its not a popular opinion but I have black sand and a black background and their bodies turned a dull gray. In my mind I pictured a school of bright white bodies with bright red noses that I could see from across the room. What I have is a school of dull gray fish with red noses that are invisible until you get up close to the tank. They do school really well and I do see why people like them, I just feel like they are taking up a lot of space in my tank and aren't giving the display that I was looking for. Whenever I find a new home for these guys (or they live out their full lives), I will probably look at cardinal tetra or some Rasboras or something like that.

The only fish I have ever seen Pearls get aggressive with is other Gouramis. I have 3 Pearls in my community tank right now and they get along with everyone and each other.

Good Afternoon Fish People, I plan on getting 5 GBRs this week for my 75G and was looking for any helpful tips for these sometimes finicky fish. My plan is to get 2 M and 3 F. Does this ratio work or should I be getting 1:1 or 1:4? Tank: Standard 75G (4 feet across) Heavily planted. Tons of stem plants and floaters to clean water. Already in the tank: 3 Pearl Gourami (1M and 2F) 11 Rummynose Tetra 6 Panda Cories 4 Endler Livebearers 1 Panda Gara 1 CPO Dwarf Crawfish Parameters: Temp: 82.5 F PH: 7.5 Nitrites: 0 ppm Ammonia: 0 ppm Nitrate: 10 ppm GH and KH: unknown but I do believe that the water is fairly hard. I have a decent amount of drift wood in the tank to help soften it some. I have kept Rams on 3 different occasions with varied success. My first pair died within 24 hours of being acclimated and my second pair lasted about a week before succumbing to Ick. At this point I decided that I was done with rams for a while until I could get a bigger tank (had a 29g at the time). About a year ago I got my 75G and decided to give the rams a chance again. During my hiatus from rams I search all the LFS and found one that felt pretty confident they could sell me a healthy pair that would last longer than a week so I went there and sure enough the rams did great...For about 3 months. They were doing so great at one point that they even spawned. But one day the male didn't come out to eat and I found him hiding under a plant breathing heavy. I treated the whole tank with general cure but he succumbed to his sickness despite the effort. About a week later, the female fell victim to the same symptoms and perished as well. No other fish in the tank ever got sick. Based on my research I believe that the rams died either of internal parasites or due to stress from me adding new fish to the tank. I don't think it was the parasites because I treated for it and no other fish ever looked or acted abnormal. The new fish that I added that I believe stressed the male literally to death was a small Apisto Borelli that a friend of mine needed to find a home for because he was being picked on in her tank. The Apisto never bothered any other fish and mostly stayed hidden. AND the female Ram would actually chase the Apisto out of their territory (which was most of the tank) if she saw him. So my only guess is that the Male got stressed by new competition in his territory and died and then the female got stressed her male that she paired with died and also died. Now that the Apisto has passed away, I am trying Rams again. Sorry for the long winded post but I wanted to tell my whole experience with these fish in hopes that someone with more experience can maybe point out my mistakes and I can enjoy these wonderful fish for an extended period of time. Any tips or critiques from post are most welcomed!

And if so, share your favorite fish names. I generally don't name a fish unless the name comes naturally. For example, I have 30 or so fish and only my male Red shoulder Apisto Macmasteri has been definitively named Redneck. I have tried to name other showcase fish or even give my school of Rummynose a group name but nothing ever sticks. Do you name all your fish, some of your fish, or none at all?

Update: When I turned the lights on the next morning, everyone was chill. They no longer aggressively chase each other, now its in more of a playful/flirty manor. They must have figured out the pecking order and everyone is satisfied with where they stand lol.

I am not sure if this is the case with other white fish but I put some Rummynose tetra in my black sand tank and they turned a dull gray color. Just thought I'd let you know since I didn't read about this issue anywhere before buying them and seeing it for myself.

I have a bunch of plants, drift wood, and petrified wood stones in the tank with plenty of sightline breaks. I even have some salvinia floating to give them cover from above. The picture is of my tank the day it was set up and while some plants and wood have been moved around a little the general layout is the same. If I were to add more, should they all be females? or should it be 1 Male to 2 females? what's a good ratio? The tank is fairly heavily stocked with 12 Rummynose Tetra, 3 Panda Cories, 8 Pygmy Cories, 2 Apisto Macmasteri (m/f pair), 4 endler livebearers, a pandagara, 2 dwarf CPO Crayfish, and now the 3 pearl Gourami. Its a standard 75G tank (4 feet across). Everyone is peaceful except the Gouramis since I added the male.

my hope is that it will work itself out. The smaller female is now also chasing the male some but not as aggressively. When I got my pair of Apistos, the male chased the female for a day or two and now they are best buddies (or at least cohabitate peacefully). Unless someone with Pearl Gourami experience tells me otherwise, I will turn the lights off to the tank for the day and see how they are looking tomorrow.

I have had a pair of female Pearl Gouramis in my 75G planted tank for about a month and today at the LFS I saw a male. I introduced the male and the bigger of the two females is chasing the new male and to a lesser degree the small female around the tank pretty aggressively. I'd say its similar in the aggression that a male apisto might stalk a female or a rival male apisto. Prior to the male being added, the big female would chase the smaller female some but would never pursue beyind the initial burst. With the new male, she is chasing him constantly. Is it normal for a female to be the aggressor? will it subside over time or should I look into rehoming the aggressive fish?

Just curious, what happens if I add a single Male and neither female wants to pair with him? Is it like Apistos where the females will be harassed until they they die?

I have them with: pair of Red shoulder Macmasteri Apistos 13 Rummynose tetra 5 Endler Livebearers 5Panda Cories 2 CPO Crawfish