[crissy7399]

I have a 46g bowfront. With driftwood and live plants (not a fully stocked planted tank though).

The current fish are as follows:

1 Kribensis (2 inch)
1 Gold German Ram (think it's really a Bolivian; 2 inch)
6 xray tetras (1 inch)
3 otos (1+ inch)
1 ADF (2 inch)
1 Opaline Gourami (3 inch)
1 Gold Gourami (2+ inch)


the gourami's I added yest. We are probably going to get 1 small angel fish for the very last fish. Do you think I could add something else? Or get another fish to pair up? It just looks like the tank is empty. Is it because most of them are still young and not fully grown? When I see tanks at restaurants or Docs offices, they seem more stocked with fish.

I was thinking maybe getting a blue german ram or a mating pair.

what about more gourami's, but I've read that you don't want more than one (I got the two because my tank is fairly large and I tried to pick both females) I would like to get either a Blue Gourami (then there'd be 3) or get 1 more Gold and 1 more Opaline.

THANKS!

 

[eklikewhoa]

I would not get the angel but instead get a mating pair or mate for the GBR or a few more of the gourami's

 

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

crissy, the reason most the tanks at most doctor's offices or resturants seem so stocked is because they are usually way overstocked. I wouldn't say your tank is overstocked at all. There is room for a few more fish in there. You want to avoid getting a mated pair of rams, they might be passive dwarf cichlids but they still are cichlids by nature and as such are quite agressive when mating. Just as a matter of personal preference I don't mix continents with my fish, I find I run into fewer compatibility issues that way. Ok ok, so I'm really a purist. But since I see that you already have 3 different continents it really doesn't much matter. You probably could get away with that third gourami providing it is a female. Your other option on the gouramis would be to try to find Pearl Gouramis. T. leeri are amount the most passiv eof the gouramis and can actually be kept in groups with multiple males.

 

[joejoeg]

agreed that you can add more. my 90 is soo stocked i personally think it looks stupid so im getting rid of many ( ass backwards). you tank would be cool for a few more gouramis but 1 single angels looks like an oddball , keep in mind opaline and gold gouramis may get aggressive at there 7 inch average size mark.

 

[crissy7399]

thanks eklikewhoa & ILuvMyGoldBarb

After hearing from someone else, not to get anymore Gouramis, I may hold off on them, or not get anymore at all.

On fish from different continents. Ya, guess I didn't research THAT part of the fish info. I was pretty absorbed into the info on the fish itself, and not of it's origin. Does that mean I shouldn't get a German Blue Ram? That's what I wanted to get (before getting the Gold or bolivian, whatever it is) and I could never find one, and ended up getting that one thinking I'd get the GBR later.

Someone else has now told me that putting an Angel in with the Gourami's is a bad idea.

 

[crissy7399]

joejoeg thanks,

the LFS had their size as 4" max. I researched some info finding 5 or 6". Probably depends on size of tank though.

The reason for the angel is, that's the only fish my hubby wants. I don't really care if we have it or not, but wanted something he would like. Maybe he could find something else?

 

[joejoeg]

is the gold/bolivian ram yellow in body color or brownish silver? post a picture?
i have angels and gouramis together with no problems. ide make sure you dont have 2 male rams in that smaller tank.

 

[crissy7399]

is that good enough? they don't stay still well enough for you to take pictures!

I remember at the LFS, he looked more yellow and less of the black. There seems to be a lot of black going on on the side of his body. The fins have pink on the edges.

I'm actually not convinced that it's male either.

here's some more pics, and of the Krib too.

 

[joejoeg]

it is forsure a bolivian ram, nice krib thats a female forsure. you can add a angel ive done it , in fact there living together as we speak in my basment soo go for it if he likes them that much. angels arnt as agressive as people think only the big boys with small fish like neon tetras , and the odball evil one .babies grown in the tank there in for life arnt usually aggressive

 

[Lupin]

Angels are still cichlids. We all know that cichlids have varying behaviors so I don't blame them for being docile or aggressive.

 

[crissy7399]

Joe, do you say it's Bolivian because of the lack of yellow? Another LFS had "bolivian" rams, and they had hardly any black, and definitely had more yellow. Could they have misnamed it? I wouldn't doubt it if they did, it's not specifically a fish store, it's a store with other animals too.

 

[joejoeg]

uhh gold rams look totally differnt. and the pink tips on the dorsal tell me its a bolivian , bolivians are bigger than golds, golds are yellow not gray , even if you find the ugliest gold ram its going to be yellow. youre forsure have a bolivian

 

[crissy7399]

thanks joejoeg.

I tried to find more pics online, and it verified what you have said. Did not plan on getting a bolivian. And it actually had yellow in it's color at the LFS. I hate that LFS's don't always know what the heck they are getting...which causes us buyers to not know how to properly care for our fish.

oh well. I'm glad you were able to clarify it for me!

 

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I hate that LFS's don't always know what the heck they are getting...which causes us buyers to not know how to properly care for our fish.

As a general rule for all of us this is the very reason it is important for us to research the fish we are planning to purchase before we purchase them. It is also very important that we be able to identify the fish we are looking for. If we can properly ID the fish we are looking for then when something else shows up and is labled as the fish we want we will know right away that it is not correct. Sometimes it can take a good bit of research to be able to ID a fish properly as some are quite similar in appearance. A good example of a potential mistaken id would be C. siamensis. Many fish keepers are unable to differentiate between C. siamensis and the 3 other species that are similar: E. kalopterus, G. cambogdiensis, and C. oblongus. All 4 fish look very very similar but all have destinguishing features.

 

[crissy7399]

Good point ILMGB, but gosh, how much time do we really have in our lives? You'd think that since they were fish employees, they SHOULD know more than we do. But, that's probably the same for anything..fish, electronics, whatever.

 

[crissy7399]

What if I were to add a catfish/pleco? Like the bristlenose catfish/pleco. I had been looking for an algae eater that didn't get a foot in size. I've heard lots of good things on these plecos, but would it be a good idea to have one with the cichlids and gouramis in there? I would think they wouldn't get bothered with since they would be either hiding, or being sucked to the glass or driftwood.

Any comments on the bristlenose catfish? aka bushynose pleco? Ancistrus Sp?

 

[James From Cali]

Good point ILMGB, but gosh, how much time do we really have in our lives? You'd think that since they were fish employees, they SHOULD know more than we do. But, that's probably the same for anything..fish, electronics, whatever.

You would think since they work in a fish department they would know somethings but they only one thing, and that is how to make money. They really dont care where the fish go as long as they are making the moola for the fish.

 

[James From Cali]

What if I were to add a catfish/pleco? Like the bristlenose catfish/pleco. I had been looking for an algae eater that didn't get a foot in size. I've heard lots of good things on these plecos, but would it be a good idea to have one with the cichlids and gouramis in there? I would think they wouldn't get bothered with since they would be either hiding, or being sucked to the glass or driftwood.

Any comments on the bristlenose catfish? aka bushynose pleco? Ancistrus Sp?

The BN would be nice in there for algae clean up and extra something bt they tend to get lazy(at least mine alwasy did). The alternative to a huge pl*co is 3 or 4 Otos. They wont get bothered much either. But both will work very well in your tank IMO if you keep up on wc's cause Pl*cos are messy eaters.

 

[crissy7399]

I actually have 3 otos, but I can't tell they've done anything. Maybe it's because I have a 46g. Or maybe because of the BGA, or the algae they eat isn't bad in my tank. They are eating something though, cause their bellies are still rounded.

What's hard is that after getting live plants, that is when I started getting algae, and for the exception of the BGA, I get algae in...well...this way. First couple months it was the thread algae, next couple months, the brown diatom algae, then something else, then the BGA. So it's not like I can look up an algae that I have and say, oh, that fish will eat this. It's constantly changing.

Guess it's just the survival of the fittest.

How many BN's did you have? How did you feed them, or if at all?

 

[James From Cali]

I dont personally have BN de to the lack of Availabilty. But algae wafers, driftwood, and algae itself is there diets pretty much.