Dwarf Gouarmi & Boesemani Rainbow Thoughts?

[mort]

Yeah I think I've been put off the dwarfs. Can't be bothered with unnecessary health battles.

The only thing about more tetras is they seem to lack a bit of personality. I've really enjoyed watching the rams as they seem like 'thinking fish'. I only really see two at a time and it just seems like there is something missing in the tank. The tetras are great at filling the space but I would really like some more feature fish. Maybe more rams then?

I completely get what you mean and cichlids do have more interaction than tetras. The trouble is finding a balance with rams. You might only see two at a time because this is the way they have setup their territories as they tend to claim a few square feet of floor space. That might mean you don't have room for more so you either need to look at something else or use the policy of packing them in which reduces the risk of an individual being picked on. I've not tried it so I'll let someone else give their opinion on that.
There are other species that I've seen mixed with rams that are similar, like apistogramma. So you might be able to get what you need from them but again I've never mixed the two species so I'll let others advise.

 

[Matt @ ScapeEasy]

Yeah you want enough territory with rams. As a guide each pair needs 2 square feet MINIMUM.

I don't believe the policy of overstocking them works with dwarf cichlids personally it is more appropriate for mbunas etc.

I do mix dwarf cichlid types BUT the policy i follow is that I only mix from the same area, in my case South America (as this means they understand each other's signals etc) and different species (microgeophagus pair, apitstogramma pair, nannacara pair...) BUT you still need sufficient tank floor space for this. In my case it was 6 dwarf cichlids max using the above rule.

 

[alto]

I wouldn’t mix Apistogramma with M ramirezi - especially in a 90cm tank - most Apisto are way tougher than any ram variants currently available in the trade (though I’ve had some very “tough” wilds they are still much smaller than most Apisto)
Both species will be seeking/holding territory in the same lower zones of the tank

You might consider Dicrossus filamentosus - do some research before deciding,
I began with a group of dull grey (wild caught) juveniles in a heavily planted Juwel Rio 180 which turned out to be 4-5 males, 3-4 females (sorry I’ve forgotten exact numbers) - they were a determined social group that always moved about the tank as a group, females spawned within a few inches of each other, 2 males matured decidedly faster & were dominant to junior boys but I never saw any real aggression (no roughed scales or fin damage) ... all boys showed lovely color & extended finnage, females are quite colourful in breeding dress

Again though, I’d do a group or Dicrossus OR M ramirezi


If you want to expand your ram group, I’d try for 4-5 females, and 3-4 males - I know this is in contradiction to how some people keep Rams, but I find groups do better long term than a couple “pairs” or a single “pair”
These are not really pair bonding fish, though occasionally you’ll manage to find a long term compatible couple

You may also end up with overly dominant or submissive fish in the group, I remove these to alternate tanks
Some individual fish do fine, others seem to prefer life as lowest fish in a group
- I’ve not had dominant fish fail to do fine on their own

Note that my tap water is very soft, pH 6ish - there are published scientific behavioural papers on pH/ hardness effects on fish activity,breeding etc

 

[Matt @ ScapeEasy]

Dicrossus need very soft water indeed... practically RO!

 

[alto]

I actually kept my Dicrossus in Ireland - definitely not RO soft water there judging by all the limescale products sold in the shops
Water report listed pH 7.4 average, conductivity 300-400, neglible nitrites/nitrates
I had no test kits at the time (not much available locally) & I’d found the D filamentosus juvies on a trip to Portabello street in London (buying the last 9)

 

[PAYN3Y]

Just thought I'd update this thread.

I went to the best LFS and they had a lot of Gouramis. The had some very healthy looking dwarfs, some not so healthy looks blues and some cross-bread mostly red with blue line at the top. I was very tempted with the standard ones but decided to go for the pearls in the end.

I bought one male and two females - beautiful fish. Unfortunately one of the females was very skittish in the tank for the first couple of days and I didn't see her at all, even when the other two started getting more confident. Last night I did some maintenance and found her dead in the cupboard beneath the tank! She must have flipped out of the back - a pretty tragic end.

The remaining male and female now seem very happy and spend a lot of time almost kissing and circling around each other. It's fascinating to watch. Do you think they'll be ok just as a pair?

 

[alto]

I’d just wait a couple weeks & see how they go on
“skittish” especially “very skittish” can often be an indication the fish is not feeling all that well

I always feel rather sad at their imagined demise (some (research) reports suggest fish enter a “shock-like” state ... so I like to believe this is likely)