Can you provide the footprints for the tanks?
People will probably disagree with me, but I don't like keeping a bunch of rams in smaller tanks. They do form territories and will chase and fight like any cichlid, so it's best to give them their space. The long tanks work well -- water volume is not as important as the actual tank footprint. The larger the footprint, the more room you have for them to form territories and settle into their own space. I'm currently keeping breeding pairs or trios in 20 longs with other small tankmates and this seems to work well. A lot of articles will tell you they do best in groups, and this is true if you have a large enough tank... I usually grow them out in groups of six or eight in 55 gallons with lots of driftwood, clay pots, etc. Once they pair off, I like to move them to a smaller breeding tank (or it can be impossible to get fry from them).
Rams appreciate warm, clean water. I keep them around 84F. They will take micro pellets (I use the really tiny NLS ones) but also love things like frozen brine shrimp, frozen bloodworms, freeze-dried black worms, and even shaved beefheart (controversial, I know, but as a discus hobbyist I still use it occasionally). Water changes are important because they appreciate low nitrates and DOCs. I use silica sand as substrate in all my tanks and they will happily graze this all day, looking for bits of food. Hiding spaces are a good idea. Males can and do pester females when they're in the mood, and rival males also give each other a hard time. I use small clay pots because they provide shelter and also real estate in the tank for the fish to form territories around. They often spawn on a flat, smooth surface, so flat stones are a good idea. They will sometimes spawn on the top or side of an overturned flower pot, or even on the bottom of the tank itself (if the sand is shallow enough for them to clear it away). You can use plants if you'd like. I don't mess with live plants so I can't really make suggestions there. If I do use them for aesthetic purposes, I tend to like the silk artificial plants.
These little fish have a reputation for being bad parents. I'll admit that they are sometimes lax when it comes to guarding a territory. Still, I've had pairs that get it right after a few tries and do a pretty good job of tending eggs and fry. If you have tankmates (other rams, small tetras, etc.) the fry probably won't make it long. I've always fed newly hatched brine shrimp but that's pretty standard for any cichlid fry.
Rams also have a bad reputation in the hobby for being difficult to keep or dying too quickly/easily, but I think this stems from their naturally short life span and the overabundance of inferior quality fish from pet stores. If you get healthy, young stock from a breeder and keep them in warm, clean, stable water, rams should live for a couple years without much fuss or headache. The important thing is to make sure nothing is stressing them out, and that includes not only water quality but also stress from other fish (including other rams). If you stock them properly and they're not fighting all the time, they'll be a lot less stressed and therefore healthier and happier. I notice less aggression when you have more females than males.
You can keep them with discus and other peaceful cichlids, but for small tanks I'd probably just keep them with things like tetras and corydoras that appreciate the same warm water. I've always kept mine with rummynose and cardinal tetras.
EDIT: I should mention that I'm talking about Mikrogeophagus ramirezi, the blue ram (which then became the German Blue Ram, the Gold Ram, the Electric Blue Ram, the Angel Ram, the longfinned varieties of all these, etc.). M. altispinosus, the Bolivian ram, tends to grow a bit larger and be a bit more forgiving. They are also beautifully colored, though noticeably different than the blue rams.
