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Wow jspark, so your angels and you rams dont bother each other? alot of ppl told me that they would. How many angels do you have in all and what kind of gravel do you have?

Rams are territorial only to each other. They don't attack other kinds. They are very peaceful, a good community aquarium. Add tetras, it shows that its safe to swim when tetras are free swimming.

"so your angels and you rams dont bother each other?"

Honestly, why would they? Rams are bottom swimmers, Angels are top water swimmers. Their territories dont even overlap.
Very very nice tank. Looks so clean!

What adding peat to your filter does is lower PH and soften the water. It makes it more acidic, more suited to south american fish like rams and angels.
I put 1 lb of peat in each one of my canister filters because we have very hard water here, and it changes the water from a ph 7.6 hardness of over 180ppm , to a ph of 6.6 and hardness of under 80ppm.
Rams colors really come out in soft water.


Last edited by So_Very_Sneaky at 02-Oct-2005 17:33

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wow do you have the number for that place? thats such a deal! I'm not gonna use the eco-complete its too expensive, and i'm not gonna have that many plants

Well somebody told me that the rams would bother the angels so I was lead to believe that. I would much prefer a pair of angels in my tank w/ my rams rather than gouramis

ok but i'm getting golden rams

There's no difference except golds are arguably more fragile.

Last edited by djtj at 02-Oct-2005 20:18

Go with a Bolivian. They are larger than than blues and have good color once they adjust. Here's a pic:



tetratech attached this image:


My Scapes

Ok i'm gonna stick with the golden rams and gouramis. Does anybody know of anyone selling gravel for cheap?

If the angels are small then the rams would probably be dominant over them, but as angels grow they might be dominate over the rams. If you getting blue rams, you better off having them as the most dominant fish in the tank, because they are very sensitive to any kind of stress (temp change, agressive fish, water quality, etc.) and will not live long.

My Scapes

Unique, the angels and rams swim right past each other like the other wasn't even there! I made sure they were compatible before I bought them. I've read several places that they work together and asked at the LFS...the one that I trust. I use sandblasting gravel in all of my tanks. There are like 4 different sizes available at a local gravel company so I use the largest. The particles are 1/16" to 1/8". LFS's charge like $12 for a 5 lb bag of regular gravel...I get this stuff for $5 for a 100 lb bag! Can't beat that price!

can you clean the eco complete w/ a gravel vac?

Yes, you can vacuum eco complete. You won't have to where you have plants, but the other areas you vac it just like gravel.



My Scapes

Sorry...I posted my account link...try this one.

http://community.webshots.com/album/459553078ENNLOA]http://community.webshots.com/album/459553078ENNLOA[/link][link=http://www.fishprofiles.com

I've got one pair of each right now...that's all the store had. I'll probably add at least one maybe two more pair.

James

jspark, i cant get to your pictures. I'd like to see them! How many pairs of blue and gold rams do you have?

Unique, I just set up my 135 gal and decided to go with Angels, blue and gold rams and black neon tetras. I wasn't so sure about the tetras but they were on sale so I bought five. Under the tank lights they are much more appealing than in the store...I went back and got 5 more this weekend. The driftwood will be good for the water quality for rams / angels.

Here's a link to some pics
http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=showPhoto&albumID=459553078&photoID=459570480&security=hGvthn

James

can you clean the eco complete w/ a gravel vac?

Driftwood and Eco-complete are really perfect for your set-up.

If you could find drifwood with some holes in it the rams will swim in and out. Most substrate recommendation is 2lbs per gallon, to give you about 3 inch depth, Eco-complete says you don't need that much, but more depth is better, so for your 55 you probably will need 5 bags at 20 lbs each.

I wouldn't bother with the peat, it does soften water a little but it's another thing to add, that you really don't need. It will also tint the water a light brownish color.

My Scapes

Thanks for the replies and ideas I was wondering can i put drift wood in my tank? How much is the eco-complete? How many lbs would I need for the tank? And can I have half fake half real plants? I'm just full of questions oh, yea...what does putting peat in your filter do?

Agreed, a Ph of between 6.5-7.0 is perfect for all those fish.
You could add peat to the filter if you have a canister, but honestly you can just leave it alone. A neutral PH is acceptable for pretty much all fish except really hard water fish.
Yes, plants are good. I havent found my rams to use caves at all, but they do dig in the gravel, so go with a smallish stone or a sand bottom, or with something like eco-complete (great for plants and a pretty black)
Planted is important, rams need the cover to feel safe. I have always found they appreciate plants that give them cover under the leaves, like big swords, anubias, lotus, crypts, etc.
If you provide some larger smooth stones on the gravel surface, the rams will often spawn on those.


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7.0 ph is ok, though 6.5 is better (for all the fish)
Tank sounds good, and as for aquascaping, make a couple of caves (lots of little pieces of slate is better than a few big pieces). You'll need about 3 caves with slate pieces too for spawing. I'd space them out to avoid territory issues. You should also heavily plant. For this you'll need a good light and a green thumb.