FishProfiles.com Message Forums

I'm going to keep rams in my 10 gallon... are things like these actually helpful or a waste of money:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=27941;category_id=2785
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=27473;category_id=2801
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=28503;category_id=2237

i DO know my PH is quite low as is my KH and my GH is quite high.

Last edited by devon7 at 24-Oct-2004 01:06

You don't need any of those products. Just make sure you feed them a variety of foods. ie. pellets, flakes, frozen foods etc. Also when you get your fish make sure you acclimate them correctly. The best method of acclimating fish that I have found is called the drip method. This method will prevent you from having to mess with your PH, buffer, and KH. Most fish will adapt to any water quality within reason. Once you start depending on chemicals to balance your tank you are stuck using them forever. This is not the method I reccommend. To use the drip method you simply put your rams in a container that is big enough to hold a gallon or so of water. Take regular air line hosing and tie a knot in it. Then stick one end into the aquarium and suck on the other end to start a siphon. Once you get a siphon started adjust the knot until you get about two drops per second. Then stick the end that is dripping into the container with the rams. Once the container has filled with water (over a couple of hours) they will be properly acclimated and they should thrive in your water as long as it isn't under 6 or over 8 in PH. Hope this helps.

P.S.- I keep over 250 gallons of SA/CA cichlids and have never used any of the products you have mentioned. I breed Jags and only use the water that comes out of my tap. Just wanted to let you know I have experience with the issue.

Last edited by lil-fishy at 24-Oct-2004 02:21

thats kind of what i figured, I dont want have so break out the chem lab every time i do a water test hahaha.... I think they'll be fine in the tap water with a little conditioner...

one thing that I probably should address though is my GH, it tested at 32 the other day. I have since done a big giant water change, but I am wondering how it got that high in the first place? out of the tap it is about 15 i think. I havent added anything besides stress coat when i do water changes, and there are no rocks or anything that could affect this. only thing i can think of is plants! do plants change the GH? Is there any way to bring down the GH without the use of chemicals?

oh and when the GH went way up, the KH went way down.

Trace elements are important, along with proper diet and plenty space promotes growth, my brother showed me an article about discus fish, where some univeristy had preformed a controlled experiment, were they took half of a batch of a fry and seperated them into two different tanks both using Reverse-osmosis water, how ever in one tank using trace elements and one using nothing both tanks recieved the same feedings, same amount of water changes, and were the same size and i cant remember the exact figure but the results showed the fish with the trace elements had much more growth than those with out it.

hmm interesting... yeah the trace elements is the one that stood out in my mind has potentially being worthwhile

you have to remember though that water coming out of the tap has a certain amount of Trace elements in it. RO water has none whatsoever. That's why they had to add it in. When I grow out my Jag fry the one's that I can't catch in the parent's tank always grow faster than the one's in the grow out tanks. I'm assuming this is a couple of factors: eating the parents slime coat, stronger filtration, and more room to swim.

hmm... i also have well water, does this affect anything?

That's even better In my opinion. You'll definatly have trace elements in well water. It's untreated and doesn't have any of the harsh chemicals of tap water. It wouldn't hurt to have it tested at the LFS just to see exactly what's in it.

Regarding Rams: they are definitely among the most delicate of commonly-kept freshwater fish, unfortunately. The fact that your pH is low is promising, but three more things:

(1) They seem to demand water a bit warmer than your average tropical -- about 82-84 deg F (27-28 C).

(2) Without this, they become extremely vulnerable to bacterial infections -- with the result that a lot of them are already carrying such infections when they arrive in the stores from the fish farms. One article I read about 15 years ago even recommended that you feed them for the first week or so on Tetra Medicated Flakes.

(3) Make SURE you keep the water clean.

OK, I am getting my rams from another person who no longer has space, so I am almost positive they are disease-free... I will definitely consider bringing some water to the LFS next time i go, too.

does anybody know what they prefer for hardness? I think i need to do something about that before they arrive, the GH is quite high and the KH is quite low.

I'd say that your weird readings for pH KH and GH are due to the fact that your water comes from a well. The actual levels of pH KH and GH shouldn't matter as long as they are consistant, and you acclimate your fish as best you can. It's a good idea to check your water params as you do a water change because well water is more likely to fluctuate than municipal water.

Last edited by mattyboombatty at 26-Oct-2004 15:58

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

yeah i have noticed the PH can go from about 5.8 to 6.8! I try to keep it at about 6.5, if the PH is too different then i wait for it to go back to 6.5.