55G Cichlid tank

abcdefghi said:

I checked with Frank he is out of stock at the moment, will take a look at that website you listed though. I have actually not had bad luck at all with the majority of fish purchased through LFS and Petco. My angel for example came from Petco.

I would definitely prefer to buy from a breeder though, not only because of the overall health but I suspect they could help out with M/F as well.

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If you want a definitely mated pair, check out that website. I've gotten 5 total mated pair from them. True mated pair, beautiful and healthy fish.

Batfish regularly has them in his pre-order list. The pre-order that ended yesterday has four kinds of German Blue Rams in it. He does not gurantee sex on Rams though. You can, however, buy mated pairs of Apisto's from Batfish.

I used to say the same thing about my LFS and PetCo, but then I started getting more fish from there and that's when I saw the problem. They will definitely have healthy fish, but I find that rare. Just about as rare as a well kept PetCo fish section. Especially with how their filtration systems are set up, etc. etc. I could write you a paper on it. Anyways....I'm just not ever willing to go back there and take the risk on something I've invested so much time and money into. Especially considering the health of my existing fish. If you go, at least now you know .

PetCo sells fish online from LiveAquaria. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of their stores stocking came from them too. My experiences with LiveAquaria have been that about 30% of the fish I got from them were healthy. 25% died before arriving. The remaining 45% came sick or developed illnesses within a week of QT. I will NEVER buy fish from them again.

I've lost a lot of fish because of it. Both gotten from the store and because I introduced sickly fish into community tanks. I QT now, but I also like to get healthy fish. They live longer, look better, and they wont get my other fish sick if it's an asymptomatic carrier, etc.

I've bred GBRs in the past. Overall, I'm not impressed with their hardiness, no matter where they come from. They can be somewhat picky about water conditions and have trouble adjusting to water that is not similar to what they're accustomed to. They also stress easily.

Bolivian Rams are a much hardier fish and still very attractive. They are not inbred like GBRs. Wild rams are not inbred, but they can still be somewhat finicky and fragile. If you really want a ram, I'd go with the Bolivians. They might not look as pretty as a fully colored GBR, but they're going to spend a lot more time happy, healthy, and fully colored.

So...I gambled on some GBR's from an LFS. I had seen these ones there a couple weeks back and they were still there last Saturday swimming around actively. Picked up all 6 of them.

They apparently are settling in very nicely as I am 99.9% sure that 2 of them are already spawning. I noticed them digging a pit in the substrate and it looks like they are fanning back and forth over it now. The annoying piece is it's next to impossible to see as it is kind of behind/between some driftwood and a terracota pot so I can't actually see into the pit they dug. Not a snowballs chance of any fry surviving as I have no where to move eggs/fry etc. but still kind of neat all the same.

The other 4 are just going about their business. Chasing each other, tetra's etc. I think I have 3m and 3f, not 100% sure yet though. Certain that I have at least 2 females and 2 males.

it's possible for a fry or 2 to survive. I had Emperor Tetras spawning in my community tank with cat fish and lots of other tetras and would see 2 or 3 fry appear and grow every few months. I did have lots of plants and hiding spaces for them though.

I do have plenty of plants in there, along with some driftwood and clay pots (ideally I want to get some slate and swap out the clay pots) so I suppose it is a possibility.

Moot point today, overnight something demolished the pit they were digging. Likely some cory cats! I am sure they will find another spot though, hopefully this time more where I can see them!

They spawn when moved from tank to tank. I've seen cories do the same thing. Every time I moved my GBR's they would spawn. They don't keep very well, though, as Becca mentioned. They just don't adjust as quickly as other fish, making water changes a potential killer every time.

That is definitely where part of the gamble comes in with them, so far though they are doing great, 3 water changes and no issues with any of them. They were a little faded the first couple days but now are very bright and active, it's interesting watching how they interact with each other. Some aggression, but thankfully not too much.

I do kind of miss having a large fish in the tank, but at the same time with a bunch of smaller fish the whole tank is really active.

Cories will eat their eggs. If your pair is good at defending their nest, cories might just end up without eyeballs (really the only vulnerable part of a cory cat).

When I bred them commercially we used slate and a light layer of sand on the floor of the tank. Usually they'd unearth the slate and lay eggs on it. Depending on each pair's history, we'd either leave eggs with parents or pull the eggs and put them in a 2 gallon glass jug with a drop or two of methylene blue and a rigid airline with airstone inserted in a way that bubbles passed lightly over the eggs to mimic the cleaning behavior of the parents.

It's rare to see Rams raise fry in tanks with egg scavengers (or other fish), but not unheard of. They nest in a way that leaves the eggs exposed.

Will have to keep an eye on the cories, not worried at all about raising any of the fry so that's not a concern of mine. But, I definitely do not want pirate cory cats.

Looks like they are getting ready to spawn again, this time the pair are clearing an area right at the front of the tank, neat watching them shuffle into the substrate to make a little pit. Funny thing is I added a handful of rock's yesterday, making 3 caves for them to use, so of course they ignored those entirely! haha



They are digging just to the left of the center pile of rocks.

rainbowfish would loook nice in there. The PVAS spring auction is coming up in a couple weeks, definitely check that out. The will be fish from lots of local breeders there.

While I do like rainbowfish, I think I am about capacity at the moment. I already have plans on the day of the auction, so won't be attending.

No surprises woke up this morning to their gravel pit filled in again, maybe next time they will pick one of the caves, although I might close them in at the back since they are more like tunnels than caves currently.

abcdefghi said:

While I do like rainbowfish, I think I am about capacity at the moment. I already have plans on the day of the auction, so won't be attending.

No surprises woke up this morning to their gravel pit filled in again, maybe next time they will pick one of the caves, although I might close them in at the back since they are more like tunnels than caves currently.

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They really aren't cave spawners. If you give them something flat and smooth to unearth (like a piece of slate, or a very smooth river stone) they will dig that up and spawn on that. They like smooth surfaces.

Becca said:

They really aren't cave spawners. If you give them something flat and smooth to unearth (like a piece of slate, or a very smooth river stone) they will dig that up and spawn on that. They like smooth surfaces.

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Good to know, I did actually bury a piece of flat rock right beside where they dug the little area out (based on a reply you had previously posted). Maybe I should bury a few other small pieces.