[drewsuf82]

Hey everyone!

My 55 which has been a community tank for forever with swordtails mollies and guppies, I've been thinking of switching our to GBR and I have a few questions?

1. Will my anchor and flame moss do ok with the slightly higher temps
2. Will GBR be alright with co2 injection, it's ph controlled down to 6.5 during the day and rebounds to 7.5 at night
3. It's pretty heavily planted with plenty of hiding places, including a few self built rock caves, do they do better with flower pots?
4. Would it be better just to set up a different or new tank for them (man I love excuses for new tanks)

That's it for now I'm sure I'll think of more as the thread progresses

 

[LB79]

The only thing that's wrong is the pH shift. That's a mighty change in pH, and GBR are fish that need stable conditions to keep them from becoming stressed. That's the problem with GBR, usually. They get stressed, and they can't handle the stuff, so they die off like flies. In a stable tank, they're as tough as any other fish. So yeah, I think it's a great excuse for another tank.

 

[lauraleellbp]

pH shifts that are caused only by dissolved gasses (aka CO2) have been pretty well documented to have little to no impact on livestock. It's pH shifts caused by fluctuating TDS (especially those related to organic buildups) that are really problematic.

I'd run an airstone at night/alternate it with the CO2 timer just as a safety measure for the Rams, to make sure that the O2 doesn't bottom out.

If this is a community tank and your goal is to raise some Ram fry, then yes, you'll most likely need a separate tank for them. If you don't really care about rasing fry, then they're usually pretty good community tank inhabitants (given appropriate tankmates).

If you're planning on keeping more than one pair of Rams in this tank, make sure that your plants and hardscape are arranged so that there are lots of breaks in the line of sight. Rams will generally only chase each other till one is out of sight of the other, so this is one of the easiest ways to keep aggression in check.

I can't answer about your mosses- probably just have to try that and see. Maybe try slowly bumping up the temps over a few weeks before you get your Rams to see if they'll acclimate?