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I am thinking of getting a boilivan ram for a centre piece fish for my new community tank i am setting up and was wondering:

1. Is it better for them to be kept in pairs or is it fine to keep them by themselves?

2. Do i need to feed them cichlid food and does it matter if the other fish in the tank (tetras, guppies, cories) eat some of the cichlid food since it is not made for them and the same if the rams eat the other food. Will this matter as long as thier getting some of thier own food

Thanks for all the advice since i am very new to cichlids
p.s what is the minimum tank size you can keep boilivan rams in?

Hi there,
Bolivian rams are a great fish. Hardy, robust, and very peaceful.

1) Rams can be kept alone, thought it is better to keep them in groups if the space is available. These fish develop dynamic social behaviour in groups, and 2 males will only develop their best colors if at least 1 female is available. I kept them in a group of 5, 3 males and 2 females, and it was fantastic watching them flirt, squabble, mate, and all the rest.

2) Bolivian rams are an omnivore so will eat anything. They seem to really enjoy a quality veggie flake, so HBH 8 Veggie flake would be a good choice, its my fave veggie flake of choice cuz it isnt just plain spirulina and wheat.
With all fish, you should try to keep a good half dozen or so foods, frozen, fresh, and dried to rotate your fishes diet. Fish are healthier when they dont eat the same thing every day.

3) Bolivian Rams are a fairly large dwarf cichlid, reaching about 4 inches in length and perhaps 2 inches tall. They would need, in my opinion, at least 20 gallons to be happy and develop appropriate territories. 10g just isnt enough room for this fish.


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I have a pair in my 5ft tank and they are very peacefull.
As far as food they eat most things I put into the tank (I am refering to non fish foods) They seem to hang close to each other yet each has its own little area/cave they prefer to stay close to.
As far as tank size I would say go as big as you can and certainly not below 20g as it would be far to small for them.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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