Holland rams in a 10g?

**Bracehero** · 15th Oct 2016, 22:29

Hi guys, how many holland rams can i put in a 10g with 4 dwarf corys and rcs?

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**boofeng** · 15th Oct 2016, 23:20

10 US gallons is 30+ litres. I'd say one or two. But really if you're feeling adventurous LFS keep like 10 rams in 30x45 cm - which is even less than 10 gallons. But what are you keeping them for? If it's to enjoy their behaviour, two males would be interesting (with enough tank structure to form two territories). Or a male-female pair, if you can provide spawning conditions.

**Bracehero** · 16th Oct 2016, 14:35

Yes mainly to look at them and see how they are behaving lol, but I also have 8 neons, I think too overcrowded :/

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**boofeng** · 16th Oct 2016, 16:32

Yes it might be - I've never kept rams in a small tank before. But I think it really depends on how much physical structure the tank has. Given enough plants/wood/rocks (think jungle-plus), lots of fish can co-exist somewhat peacefully. And also given that your filtration system can handle the bioload.

I do keep apisto pairs in 45Lx30Wx25H tanks, with a 2-5 dither fish, and they even spawn. So maybe consider apistos? If you search around on the internet you'll find a lot of talk about how rams are too inbred/domesticated to spawn properly, e.g. parents don't care for eggs or fry. That's not true in my experience - a pair of rams I had did look after their own fry. But you almost never hear about apistos not caring for fry, so they might be a safer bet if you're hoping to see some spawning behaviour.

A caveat, though - apistos are mostly black water fish, and need soft, acidic water to thrive and spawn. There are some species which come from white water and clear water habitats though - cacatuoides, trifasciata, borelli. All very interesting fish!

In any case, it's not impossible to have a breeding pair of dwarf cichlids in a 10 gallon community tank. But it does require quite a bit finessing to keep on top of things (aggression, bioload, fry predation, etc)!

**Bracehero** · 16th Oct 2016, 18:27

Originally Posted by boofeng

Yes it might be - I've never kept rams in a small tank before. But I think it really depends on how much physical structure the tank has. Given enough plants/wood/rocks (think jungle-plus), lots of fish can co-exist somewhat peacefully. And also given that your filtration system can handle the bioload.

I do keep apisto pairs in 45Lx30Wx25H tanks, with a 2-5 dither fish, and they even spawn. So maybe consider apistos? If you search around on the internet you'll find a lot of talk about how rams are too inbred/domesticated to spawn properly, e.g. parents don't care for eggs or fry. That's not true in my experience - a pair of rams I had did look after their own fry. But you almost never hear about apistos not caring for fry, so they might be a safer bet if you're hoping to see some spawning behaviour.

A caveat, though - apistos are mostly black water fish, and need soft, acidic water to thrive and spawn. There are some species which come from white water and clear water habitats though - cacatuoides, trifasciata, borelli. All very interesting fish!

In any case, it's not impossible to have a breeding pair of dwarf cichlids in a 10 gallon community tank. But it does require quite a bit finessing to keep on top of things (aggression, bioload, fry predation, etc)!

Ohh, ok sure. Apisto's are beautiful! Dont mind keeping them, where do you think i can find them? Yes, my tank has a decent amount of plants and still thinking of buying more plants.

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**boofeng** · 16th Oct 2016, 18:57

Simply Cichlids has a very good selection, and Adrian is always very helpful. He's also the only shop I know who regularly brings in wild caught fish. Green Chapter at Macpherson has a huge variety of apistos right now as well. Aquarist Chamber used to stock a lot, but they don't carry any nowadays. Alvin says he'll order them in if there are requests. I've heard that C328 brings them in, but I don't know the details, and Seaview also stocks a few species, but I'm worried about the way they sell them - in cookie jars. I'm sure quite a few other shops sell apistos too, but I'm only familiar with shops in the northeast.

Forum members occasionally sell fish too - check the marketplace. I think Arron Miyuki was selling some agassizi recently?

I don't have any nice fish now to let go of now. You'll probably want to pick up a nice pair at the shops. Happy shopping!