Suggestions for mid to bottom-level fish?

[kellyturner]

Hi everyone!

I have a cycled 36 gallon bowfront aquarium that I am stocking now. Currently, I have 10 Glofish (in assorted colors) and 11 Harlequin Rasbora. The tank is starting to look a little crowded in the upper parts of the tank, so I think I'll stop adding to those schools. However, the bottom half of the tank looks quite empty, so I'm looking for suggestions of fish that will hang out below the others.

I'm not a huge fan of catfish or bottom feeders. Do cardinal tetras generally hang out in the bottom half of the tank? Any other suggestions?

Water parameters:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: <5
The water is soft and acidic (ph 6.5)

Thank you for your help!

Kelly

[pjaldave]

I think rams would be a good choice for you. Go with bolivian rams if you can find it locally. They are hardier than the Germans and would like to stay at the bottom.

Kribs are also a good choice, but it's either kribensis or rams.

Corydoras also can be a good choice. But seeing that you already have 2 schools, i wouldn't add another school as your tank might look a little crowded.

[FinalJenemba]

Hi Kelly, first, props to you on doing research and getting proper sized schools of the fish you have, I bet they look great in there. Personally I wouldn't add a third school of fish to a tank of that size, and cardinals generally hang out in the middle in my experience. If it where me id start looking into some centerpeice fish so you have something that stands out from the schools.

You have really great water for dwarf cichlids, a couple Rams (german or bolivian) or Apistogramma if you can find them would look great with the schools and tend to stay lower. They needs allot of hiding spots on the bottom and like lots of plants, hows the tank decorated?

edit: ninja'd by Paul lol, great minds and all that....

[ryann]

I agree that bolivian rams would be great, even german blue rams would be good for your tank. More of a centerpiece fish than a school so it will stand out more from the crowds above it.

[kellyturner]

Oooh...Bolivian Rams! Thanks for the suggestion! I wasn't thinking enough outside the box

@FinalJenemba - I have a couple of pieces of medium-sized mopani driftwood, a cave decoration, and several plastic plants along the back of the aquarium (still not brave enough to try real plants, even though I was a botany major in college!) I've attached a picture of the aquarium. Do you think this would give me enough hiding places?

[kellyturner]

When I put Bolivian Rams into AqAdvisor, I got this warning:

When Bolivian Ram starts to breed, they may become too aggressive to co-exist with Harlequin Rasbora

Also, my water temperature is currently 74 degrees. Will the Rams or apistogramma tolerate such a low water temp?

[FinalJenemba]

Why not just raise the tamp? Glofish and Harlequins are both happy in temps from 72-82, why not just set the temp at 78 so everyone including the rams is happy? And ignore Aquadvisor, it gives terrible advice.

And while I like Bolivians most people get them because they are more adaptable to hard water then Germans or Apisto's, your water is perfect for soft water fish so I'd recommend trying the fancier guys if you can find them.

[MChambers]

When I put Bolivian Rams into AqAdvisor, I got this warning:

When Bolivian Ram starts to breed, they may become too aggressive to co-exist with Harlequin Rasbora

Also, my water temperature is currently 74 degrees. Will the Rams or apistogramma tolerate such a low water temp?

My Bolivian rams are not very aggressive when breeding. They're fine in 74 degree water.

[escamosa]

Honestly, if you would like to get the Bolivians, go for it! They'll be fine in with all the rest of them. I think that they're the best dwarf cichlid for a community tank. My favorite fish! Your current water temperature is okish for Bolivians, but they do prefer warmer temperatures of around 79 - 80. You'll find that the warmer water will bring their colours out more, and they'll be far more active. In the wild, they actually come from water that can get to around 82 - 83. Your other fishes will all be fine in the higher temperature too.

If you do decide to go with the Bolivians, or any of the other dwarf cichlids, then provide them with some rock caves so that they can hide for a while, if a little bit of bullying starts. You won't really see much of it happen with Bolivians, but it's good to have the caves just in case.

Also, you will need to buy 1 male and 3 females to make them all nice and happy. Sometimes if you have even amounts of males to females or more males than females, then there can be trouble.

[kellyturner]

What about a single Bolivian Ram to minimize aggression?