# 10 Gallon Blue Ram + Runny Nose Tetra



## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

I finally got my 10 gallon tank running, I believe i cycled it before placing the new fish by squeezing some of the delicious juices from another tank filter. 

So about the tank. its a 10 gallon planted tank with some java moss, java ferns, riccia, and some other stem plants that i forgot the name of. 

For substrate I have flourite and sand and will hopefully get some more stem plants to put in.
Hardscape: got some found wood that i treated and some river rocks that i have found.

I will soon have picture up, just havent had the time to upload them to photobucket.

and for fish, 
1 blue ram
6 runny nose
and maybe adding some other fish if its possible.

Filter: aquaclear 50 but might be changing it to a marineland bio wheel 30 since the aquaclear being really loud and its in my bed room.

Im still waiting till they get more comfortable with the new tank as they still seem to be scared and dull in color.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

Im a bit worried about the runny nose and the blue ram as they seem very frighted by light. so im debating if i should just turn on the lights and let them get use to it, or let them get more comfortable with there surroundings. There color did come out a bit but they still dont have that deep red nose. I also believe that i might not have enough cover for them to be more relax except they seem to like swimming in the open space. 

water perimeters are okay
ph steady 7
ammonia 0
nitrite a bit high 0.5 roughly


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

Your tank isn't cycled if there are nitrites... Did u mean nitrate? And the fish are new to the tank, give them a week and let them settle in.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

BelieveInBlue said:


> Your tank isn't cycled if there are nitrites... Did u mean nitrate? And the fish are new to the tank, give them a week and let them settle in.


Yeah there is nitrite, so hopefully it will go down, I know that nitrite are not as poisonous to them unless high level. Im guessing i should just wait till the cycled almost finished or should, I squeeze some more juices from my other cycled 10 gallon tank into the new one.

Oh i also finally got a picture up








and here is my cheap wannabe ADA tools


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

If they're both 10 gallons, and the filters are the same, just swap the sponge on it. Bacteria need a surface to dwell on, the squeezings will help, but it's that mulm on the sponge and the filters that really harbor the good stuff. If the other tank is disease free and has been for at least 3 months, and isn't too heavily stocked, just swap the filters around.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

I would switch the filter burt ones an aquaclear 50 and the other ones a biowheel 30


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

wait you have an AC50 for a TEN GALLON TANK??? holy hell talk about filtration overload... And do you mean Penguin 150 by marineland? If so, heres something you could do; (if the AC50 is on the already cycled tank), take a small mesh net or something (you can buy one at PJ's for like 5 bucks), and put some of the little biomedia things (the little cylinders that are on top of the carbon insert) in that bag, and then put that bag in the filter, and you should be good to go.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

Yeah i got a 2 10 gallon tanks one was a crappy petcetra one also got a stand ac50 filter and a marineland stealth heater which i traded it in for the new ones. ALL for 30 dollars!

The water seems to be staying steady and the nitrite aren't super high so i think the tank can naturally cycle since i havent seen any spikes. I am debating wether if i should try to pair the ram since it kinda looks lonely. OR get some oto or some cool cory catfish


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

rams are sensitive to nitrogenous wastes in general. I would seed it a bit more to get it over with; it wont hurt and doesn't cost a ton. In a 10 gallon I wouldn't get a pair, unless you want to breed them. I'd get some pygmy cories, they're small enough that you can still add a school of 6 and not heavily impact your bioload.


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

sorry but i just have to say the fish are called rummy nose not runny and how red their noses get is a good water quality indicator. they r great little fish.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

haha my bad, but the *rummy* nose are doing great, not as shy and their noses are nice red in color. as for the blue ram hes still really shy and hides majority of the time. I placed one of my guppy to ease the stress as they see him swimming so freely around with no worries. Im hoping my blue ram will eventually be comfortable and show his amazing colors.

Im also finding the rummy and ram to be very sensitive to light as they are discourage to swim around. so right now i have a led light which they are more comfortable with but i do have riccia which needs alot of light but i know its still the beginning stages.


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## Luke78 (Apr 24, 2010)

Rummy nose tetras are like "canaries in the mine" as i was told by Gary the other day in a post.Very true as they will let you know when the water goes bad or something else comes up.They are sensitive to even the slighest changes in ammonia-nitrite-nitrate.As for the lights being on, i would try shorter periods(maybe get a timer),provide a few more plants(stem/floating) to give them some shade and security.Maybe even toss some almond leaves if you can or like,i see my tetras and bottow dwellers hide under neath these all the time.I couldnt see why you couldnt add another ram to the mix(female) if you keep up with your water changes/maintaince and maybe more bio media in the filter.


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

Not really enough room IMO, since he already has 6 rummys as well. There's no guarentee that the male will accept the female, and if he does, they'll probably breed, which would be hell for the rummys. It could work, but it's not guarenteed.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

what are the chances of them breeding if they pair up


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## Luke78 (Apr 24, 2010)

Not really enough room? So what are you basing this off? Aquarium size?Stock? or Filter capacity? You do realize he has more than enough filtration/bio media(AC50) to handle his stock.His plants also help out as well.This will work out(breeding) if has his layout done right.He can adjust it by adding caves,stones or rock work,even a piece of extra driftwood.Doing his water changes and other maintaince and he's golden.



BelieveInBlue said:


> Not really enough room IMO, since he already has 6 rummys as well. There's no guarentee that the male will accept the female, and if he does, they'll probably breed, which would be hell for the rummys. It could work, but it's not guarenteed.


That depends on the individual fish(male or female).A few things you could do to get them going possibly is by feeding them high quality foods, maybe even live stuff.Adjusting water perimeters is another,but should be done with caution.They are know in the wild to breed between a PH of 4.5-6.5 with GH being below 2.Temperatures kept on the warm side help as well 26C and up.Just a few things i remember off the top of my head, ask more and i can try to help you out.



harrow said:


> what are the chances of them breeding if they pair up


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

I'm basing it on the footprint of the tank (20x10), that's less than 2 square feet; it'll be fine if the male accepts the female, but if he doesn't, well there's really nowhere to run, even with rocks, drift wood, etc to break the line of sight. My rams (when I still had a pair) did fine in water with a pH of 7.8 and temperature of 80F, but when I cranked it up to 86F, they immediately started to court and breed. If you're keeping tank raised/farmed rams, then don't worry too much about water chemistry, and just keep them happy and healthy. Try adding a female if you really want, but be prepared to remove her and rehouse her if the male doesn't like her.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

what will happen if i put a female balloon ram in there or is that just a terrible idea


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

Well a balloon ram is basically a mutated blue ram, so I don't know, lots of things could happen. As I've said before, if you really want, you could give it a try, just be prepared to rehouse the female if the male doesn't like her.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

hmm yeah i dont think putting a female is the best idea, I do like your idea of putting a school of pygmy cory but im wondering if they are gonna be timid as if i put a pepper cory or emerald i know they will not be as scared and more relaxed. 

I want something that will help give confidence to my rams and runny nose that im not a giant scary monster waiting to eat them.


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

Try feeding them frozens, and stand in front of the tank as they eat. Eventually, they'll associate you with food, and will come up to the glass and beg for food.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

yeah there not so bright that food sits on top of the surface, so i just leave the filter on letting it push it lower towards them.


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

When i get in new fish that wont come to the surface to feed, I take a bit of frozen bloodworm and thaw it in a clean cup, then use a spoon to scoop out little bits at a time and put it into the water. That way, it sinks very rapidly and they usually go right for it.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

thanks for the tips just gotta get some blood worms. thanks a lot believeinblue for giving me some great advice and of course others that have posted. I am also wonder if it would be a good idea to add a school of H rasbora as they are really nice schooling fish, but then again i still have the feeling that there also going to be a very shy fish, that will not help promote comfort and security.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

My rummy nose keeps on freaking out every time i turn on the lights. It seems like they have to adjust all over again, as they are always afraid but my blue ram is getting more and more confidant but still waiting for his color to appear.


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

What's the temperature at? I found that my rams displayed the best colours at about 84F. Also you could try feeding them live/frozen stuff to bring out their colour. Careful though cuz that stuff fouls up the water if it's not all eaten.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

the morning it usually drops to around 78 maybe even 75 since its getting cold in my apartment but during the day its steady at 80, Ill probably raise the temperature up, and i seem to have a lot of brown diatoms or something similar as my java ferns and java moss has a lot of brown little things attached to it. I still havent had time to get frozen goodies, because of school. Oh and my tank is also fully cycled as theres no ammonia, nitrite but there is a bit of nitrate which i will do a water change soon. 

one more quick question early in the morning around 7:30 - 8 while i turn on my lights majority of the rummy nose seem to appear dead and almost floating but after a while tehy seem to awaken or something and start there schooling again. Iv been so assured there about to dye that i start nudging them without them moving what so ever. but later on in the day their all active with bright red noses


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

I think that's just how they sleep, not certain on that though. The diatoms are normal; they'll usually disappear, and if not, there are lots of fish that'll eat it. Your heater should be able to keep the temperature at a constant, or at least to within 1F of what you set it as. If it doesn't, it may be time to get a new heater. I'd say set the temp to 82-84F once things are a bit more settled (couple weeks to a month). I wouldn't worry about the nitrates too much either, just keep it under 20ppm and you'll be ok.


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## teija (Sep 30, 2010)

I always found my rummynose tetras to be "chickens" - at least in my 14 gallon. In the 25 gallon tank they were happier and less scared, because they had more space (and possibly happier with a larger school). They do appreciate hiding spaces and aren't as "outgoing" as some other fish. I wouldn't worry about it too much - you'll get used to them and they'll get used to you as time goes on. 

Also, IMO I wouldn't recommend getting ottos. I have never had luck with them, and in a tank as "small" as a 10 gallon, it is hard to keep the levels stable enough for them to be happy.


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

I do have a single oto in my other 10 gallon and its been about a month or two and he seems very fat and happy. He also doesnt seem to be shy at all, but that community tank has alot of "chiller" fish guppys, a betta, balloon molly, some neon tetra, cory, and a hill stream loach


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## harrow (Aug 23, 2011)

okay well, this thread will be really boring if I didnt put pictures up so here they are.
Not much change to the tank but, I did found a nice piece a driftwood just waiting for it to soak.


















and the new addition to the tank 








haha jk saw this a while ago at exotic pets i believe, really cool looking fish

anyways, i have put some thought about thinking of adding other fish to this tank and this is what i came up with.
Tell me whatcha think
(these can be like combinations)
ex. 4 cherry shrimps and 4 panda corys
List
couple of amano shrimp or cherry shrimp
H rasbora(6)
some type of cory (4)
pygmy cory(6)
1 or 2 otos


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## Ebonbolt (Aug 12, 2011)

Stick with 1 species of schooling fish... It's 10 gallons, not 100, there isnt enough room for enough fish to make 2 schools. I say some pygme cories and a few more rummy nose and you'll be done, maybe a nerite or two if you start getting algae.

I would say your final stocking list should be something like
1 blue ram
6-8 rummy nose tetras
5-6 pigmy cories
1 zebra nerite

I used this site btw: AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor
and ofc i assumed that u have proper filtration.

As a final note, when stocking a tank, any tank, I try as much as possible NOT to over complicate things. For example, in a 180, a gigantic school of 100+ cardinals would look so much better than say 4 different schools of tetras, each consisting of 25 fish.


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