Too many fish?

[Aurora]

Hi everybody.

I have a 4ft x 18 x 18 tank that currently has 20 cardinals and 10 black widows. I am wanting to get 4 blue rams, 4 gold rams and 4 bolivian butterflys.

The tank has an Ehiem 2026 canister, a 9W UV and is well planted.

Do people think that is too many fish for the tank?

Will they all get along?

Do I need pots for them?

[Aurora]

woops, almost forgot to mention the 4 small bristlenose :D

[Merrilyn]

Chris, that's a pretty light bio load for a 4 foot tank. The only problem I can see is with the rams staking out territory if they decide to breed. Provide lots of caves and hiding places and you should be fine. And add some wood for the bristlenoses.

[weird]

Aurora, gee I tell u, I don't know about your luck with bolivians but gee I got a bad couple, looks like all the space in a 4x2x2 is not big enough to separate these too. Cichlids can be funny.

[Aurora]

Well thats what I was thinking about too. I wasnt as worried about the bioload as much as if it was just too many fish for the tank.

Well I hope I dont get any bolivians like that Dave. If they come from the same tank at the shop and are not killing each other there it should be OK shouldnt it?

There should be places to hide. In case you cant remember my tank, here it is again.

[Mattzilla]

great looking tank

[flukes]

Would look better with a few plates..

[Aurora]

Thanks

Indeed it would have looked better with discus. I brought a pair of red and yellow pigeons which would have showed up really well again the green plants.
Unfortunately when I put them in there they didnt like it. They most just hid in the the corner and didnt eat anything for the first 2 weeks. So I moved them to a small bare bottom and from the first moment they were happier and the male had lost nearly all his peppering.
So I dont think I will be able to put them back in there again, which as Derryn Hinch would say is a 'shame, shame, shame' :D

[vishy100]

Hey,
Just my unfortunate experience but when i bought 4 gold rams and 4 blue rams and put them in a 4x2x2 it was all out war only one remaining gold ram :cry: but he looks kool :)

[Aurora]

Hi all,

Well on Friday I brought the 4 blue rams and 4 gold rams. I held off on the bolivians to see what the space arrangements would be after adding the rams.

All seem to have settled pretty well. There is a bit of territorry staking going on, but nothing too major.

Then, on Sunday, I looked in the tank and hey presto the gold rams have laid eggs on one of the leaves :D

The male and female are guarding them well, I left the light on last night to help them fend off all comers. But what I want to know is if the eggs are white does that mean they are not fertile like with discus, or are their eggs meant to be white?

I dont hold much hope for the fry if they do hatch as they have laid them on a leave in possibly the worst location in the tank. It is great for photos but high in traffic too, especially at feeding time.

Do they take the same amount of time to hatch as discus eggs?

Any other help or advice is appreciated.

Thanks :)

[Merrilyn]

Congratulations on the spawn Dave, that's great. Rams do lay pale coloured eggs, so they may still be fertile. They hatch after 4-5 days, and the wrigglers lay helpless on the spawning site absorbing the yolk sack for the next three days. They often eat their own eggs if disturbed, so if you want to raise this spawn, removing the eggs to another tank is recommended.

The fry are very small and need infusoria for the first few days till they are large enough to take baby brine shrimp. They become fully mature in 6 months.

[DiscusMad]

I use a smaal pice of boiled egg yoke and mix it in a small amount of tank water untill its all broken up and give mine that for the first 2 weeks and then some fine crushed coloured bits mixed up in water after that