Adding German Blue Rams with Corydoras

Hey guys,

I was thinking about adding 2 German Blue Rams (1 male, 1 female) to my 30 gallon tank with my 5 Reticulated Corycats. The only concern that I have is that will my Corycats become the victims of the German Rams aggression. I am also going to get some more plants for the tank also so everyone can hide. I'd like to hear what you guys/ladies think.

Thanks!

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Comment by Harrison Kotre on December 19, 2012 at 11:52pm: I recently (like a month ago) did the EXACT same thing that your thinking of doing. My tank is 46 gallons but I have 10 corys and I wanted a pair of German blues. Well i went ahead with it and it worked out completely fine! The only advice i would have is to buy smaller sized German Blue rams because 1. They wont be as aggressive yet and they will be pretty similar in size to the corys which will hopefully cause the German blue rams to not see them as another fish to pick on... and 2. The German Blue Ram lifespan is at most 3 years. Thats if you have downright perfect water almost all the time, so the younger you buy the rams, the longer you will get to keep them! They really are beautiful fish, I will be adding some pics of mine very soon so feel free to check out my channel. I hoped i helped in some way! :)

Comment by Harrison Kotre on December 20, 2012 at 12:03am: Truthfully German blue Rams aren't aggressive AT ALL in my tank. I am not sure if they get worse as they mature but I think you should be fine

Comment by bill on December 20, 2012 at 9:23am: Good Morning Wayne,

I would also add this. Keep Rams successfully involves pristine tank conditions, lots of PWC’s and the most important thing heat, a lot of it. If you ever tried Discus,you know what I mean. Their tanks conditions are quite similar.

However, this being the case, that heat that we just mentioned now takes or stretches the Cory cat parameters to its upper limits. I would keep an eye on the Corys at these temps. Also, as mentioned, if you get the Rams young and raise them with the Corys, chances are that they won’t brother the Corys at all. The Corys also, at the Rams spawning time, will respect their space and give them room.

Good Luck,

bill in pa

Comment by Robert Jango on December 20, 2012 at 11:41am: It would be better if you had a larger tank, but I think you're OK.

Corys are "armored" fish. They have something very close to an exoskeleton on their back and a sharp spine on their dorsal fin; so even big fish like Oscars bypass them for lunch. Your GBRs will leave them alone unless they decide to breed. In this case they will attack the Corys if they swim too close to the eggs. I doubt they would hurt the Corys though. Their strikes are designed more to ward off intruders, not kill them. Bill (above) says the Corys will respect the Ram's breeding space. This makes sense since most other species show the same deference. Ram eggs are usually laid on a flat surface close to the substrate but with all those Corys around they might decide to place them in the upper reaches of the tank.

Rams love soft water. Bill's other comments about water quality (above) are also correct. I know a guy who makes frequent trips to South America and he told me he's never seen Ram fry in water below 86 degrees! As long as the water is clean though, they should be fine. I keep all my tanks, with one exception, free of substrate so I can keep them clean. My plants are kept in small flowerpots filled with dirt.