New stock for my 33 gallon long ? (wife wants a change... in fish!)
- Thread starter simko
- Start date
Rams are not strict earth eaters like geophagus, they can be kept on any substrate. Also, I have shrimp with my rams and apistos, they do fine. Japonica shrimp are the best kind to keep with these fish, as they get a bit bigger and are more boisterous. Bamboo filter shrimp are good too. I would not recommend the tiny crystal shrimp, those only really do well in small tanks with very small fish, in my opinion.
You can do rocks or driftwood, either will be fine as long as the cichlids have hiding spaces. I prefer driftwood or a mix of both with SA cichlids.
I don't know about the clay based substrate as I have never used it. I keep my rams on sand. They love to sift through it and will also dig pits to keep their wrigglers in after the eggs hatch. You might be able to do a base of the clay with a layer of sand over it. I have a mix of driftwood and large river rocks. The Rams will lay eggs on both.
I keep six 33L tanks and mine are all set up with Tanganyika cichlids since the footprint is almost ideal.
Some ideas are 'Lamprologus' caudopunctatus, a pretty cichlid that utilizes most of the tank, doesn't disrupt the substrate too much as they are more of a cave/rock spawner and have done well for me with multiple adults in a tank.
'Lamprologus' similis are a shell dweller that looks great though they do move substrate around though not quite as much as multies.
Altolamprologus compressiceps 'sumbu shell' are a smaller version of the family and can often be found though maybe at higher costs.
Even some of the Julidochromis species would make for an interesting set up if you can add rock piles for them to hide in.
Some ideas are 'Lamprologus' caudopunctatus, a pretty cichlid that utilizes most of the tank, doesn't disrupt the substrate too much as they are more of a cave/rock spawner and have done well for me with multiple adults in a tank.
'Lamprologus' similis are a shell dweller that looks great though they do move substrate around though not quite as much as multies.
Altolamprologus compressiceps 'sumbu shell' are a smaller version of the family and can often be found though maybe at higher costs.
Even some of the Julidochromis species would make for an interesting set up if you can add rock piles for them to hide in.
I use flourite by seachem in my tank which is baked clay. Not the best but is does have a medium CEC which is alright to keep plants. Rams like to have a spot in the tank with sand but you dont have to cover the whole tank. I have a cup of sand in the back corner with a flat rock for them to breed (all out of sight) Other than that its flourite. I am not sure about the apistos man as i have never kept them before so i will leave that for another member.
I use it in combination with osmocote, getting great growth with lowish light and liquid carbon
Oh well that is awesome. I am going to be trying out ADA amazonia on my next build here in a few days. It's much more expensive but i hear its the best that you can get for planted tanks.
It is very good quality, unfortunately where I live ADA is hard to get, especially amazonia. With it imo
Oh yeah it can be a little bit difficult to find over there. We are the recruiters for ADA here in Canada so we have fairly decent access to ADA products. We also have a store in my town that now sells some of their products so i am fairly lucky
