I was wondering if you guys have no problems with german blue ram in your tanks.
I`m trying to get a stable level of co2 in my tank so I adjust a bubble rate to achieve that goal and noticed one thing. When I add more co2 my rams are in stress but other fish like rosy barbs are just fine. I`m wondering if co2 issue in our tanks has someting to do with the fish we keep in. It`s possible that when we try to adjust co2 levels just looking at fish behavior we still can not get to levels that will be required.

Any idea?

My idea, because I am on this kick right now, is that if you use an ADA style "drop checker" to determine how much CO2 you really do have in the tank you will be surprised, or you will finally know how much CO2 you have, with some accuracy for a change. Here is a thread at APC that describes it pretty well: DIY Drop Checker - Aquatic Plant Central- aquascaping...a living art

i was interested in keeping some of these fish too... just wondering how sensative they will be to DIY co2, its not always 100% stable

I have a couple German Blue Rams in my planted tank with very unreliable DIY CO2 and I haven't had a single problem with them. My experience with them is that they are actually a bit hardy once they are "settled in" so to speak as long as you do your usual maintenance. (Just my experience tho, I may be the exception to the rule)

While a few of us may appear to be preoccupied or obsessive regarding "Accurate" Co2 Measurements. This is yet another splendid example as to "Why" it "Should" matter !!!

Who the hell knows why we get algae blooms, fish/shrimp die offs, poor growth, and melting plants ? We could easily presume it's Co2 related, but lacking any accurate reference point let face it...Anything less is just a Wild Ass Guess !

I have noticed that Blue rams are sensitive to High Co2 levels (in excess of 30ppm)... It would be more accurate to say they stress from Low o2 levels ! HTH Prof M

I'l be more specific in your answer.

1st. : @ per the required levels that would depend on the individual circumstances. "One Size Does Not Fit all" ! Generalized WQ parameters are merely a reference and not magical by virtue.

2nd. : Cichlids and Dwarf Cichlids have significantly more developed swim bladders than schooling fish. This allows them to interact with their envioronment more effectively. They tend to live lower in the water column tracing the toppography in search of prey and foraging. This larger bladder puts a strain on them internally. While they can hover in place seemingly effortlessly. It comes at a cost. Likewise the dwell time on their liquid "Ballast" is more significant making them more suseptible to internal infection in the process. Schooling fishes are constantly purging their swim bladders and readjusting their "Ballast". Not so for Cichlids ! Rams in general have a very pronounced swim bladder for their size and physical anatomy (short squat body cavity like ornamental Goldfish), and yet the envioronment they tend to prefer is lower in oxygen so they will exhibit signs of anoxia sooner than barbs. Kind of like watching the Rays wash up on shore when pollution/heavy metals surge. Savvy ??? HTH. Prof M

Hi all, I am new here. I have a 300 gallon heavily planted tank with a pressurized CO2 system. I accordance with my pH and KH my CO2 is running at 38ppm. I have 10 Blue Rams, 50 Bolivian Rams, 7 Cockatoos and 3 Borellis as well as many other fish, shrimp and Snails. The Rams and Apistos show no signs of stress at all.

HTH

I've kept and bred blue rams. They seem to be one of those fish that is affected by pH.

I've bred them in alkaline water but the eggs never hatched. In acid water (6.5 pH or so) they were easy to breed and the young grew fast. (The alkaline water was also harder, and that could have contributed.)

But more to the point, the population kept in acid water always looked more robust than that kept in alkaline water. It might be that it's not the CO2 that's causing the problem, but the pH that is a function of the that.

Just a personal observation . . .

Bill