My dad and I are moving, and he just gave me the thumbs up to set up the 55 gallon I have had in storage. Here's my intended setup:

Magnum 350 canister filter
2 Rena Cal heaters - 200 Watt and 300 Watt, opposite corners.
AquaClear powerhead (at the same end as the canister filter outlet for more current
T5HO or PC light, 100-300 Watts (higher end for PC bulbs)
Mineralized topsoil bottom layer, Eco-Complete side and top layer.
Pressurized CO2 with bubble counter, 4dKH drop checker, 2 Red Sea Max reactors.
Jungle vals, green camboba, amazon sword, Brazilian milfoil, and some driftwood
1 pair GBR's, 1 pair Bolivian rams, bushynose pleco(s), Apple snails

It is intended to be a South American Ram biotope, meaning all the same critters and plants from the same area (in this case, the rivers of the South American continent as a whole).

Questions:
1. What snails should I have? I'm thinking MTS for the substrate, etc.
2. What other fish would be good tank mates for German Blue's and Bolivians? Good smaller schooling fish maybe? Or am I maxed out with 4 rams? (says they need 30 gallons for a pair).
3. Should I do a sump with a refugium for the plants? I don't want to gas out my CO2, but I've heard cichlids will tear up plants.
4. What's a good variety of driftwood for a South American river biotope? Do they sell Amazonian driftwood?

Any other opinions would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

I heard Rams actually love planted tanks, and that's where they do best. I don't think they'd destroy your scaping either. They get very territorial when breeding, and will kick out all other fish from their site, so a big tank is good. They're supposed to be fairly nice, and not hyper aggressive like some other cichilds. There's a lot of YouTube videos of Rams in community tanks, maybe look at some of those for ideas?

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Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

I'll check out the YouTube videos when I get home tonight (at work right now). I've heard rams are more docile and I'm excited, but I've heard they like a good dither fish, which is why I think a pair of GBR's and Bolivians might complement each other, maybe with a school of tetras or something.

FYI, dither fish are listed as brave, non-aggressive and not very energetic fish.

Glad to hear the scaping won't be messed up too badly.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

I'm doing something similar with a 20 gallon long. South American plants and fish. I'm planning on either a pair of BR's or GBR's'. I've already got 6 lemon tetras and 3 oto's. Planning on 5 panda corys, 2 more lemons and 3 more otos. Thinking about some kind of snail or shrimp. It's heavily planted.

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20 gallon long:Amazon Swords, Ruffle Swords, Red Flame Swords, Fanwort, Wisteria,8 Lemon tetras,
6 otos, 11 Amano shrimp, 3 mystery snails, 3 Bolivian Rams, 3 black skirt tetra and 2-3 lemon tetra fry
10 gallon: 30 lemon tetra fry, give or take...1 gallon Anubias, Fish: 1 betta

Rams are a soft water species and do best in water 6.5 to 7.1. Neons make a good dither fish as they swim higher in the tank and like the same water conditions.

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

Looks like I might be buying Ben's RO unit after all

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

If u want a Ram do the Bolivian rams.. there cool

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I have been keeping fish for 10 year's

I was thinking 1 pair Bolivians, 1 pair GBR's

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!