Stocking A 240l

Your local water hardness converts to almost 16 dH,which fits in with your tank parameters being over 7. It's a lot over 7.
But your KH is low, unusual though not impossible with high GH, and your pH is a lot lower than the local water level.

Are you doing anything to your tap water such as mixing it with RO?



We need to know exactly how hard the tank water is before suggesting fish, over 7 could be anything between 7 and the 16 dH given by your water company.

But I would not risk rams in a hardness of over 7.

I would be very interested to know how that soil powder can reduce hardness. As far as I'm aware the only way to do that is by removing calcium and magnesium from the water or diluting them with pure water 


The rams you already have may well have had tank bred ancestors for generations. It is wild caught rams and those tank bred rams with recent wild caught ancestors that suffer in anything other than very soft water. Tank-bred-for-generations rams can also cope with 'normal' temperatures while wild caught need water at around 28 deg C.


Small shoaling fish are easy - anything for the Amazon region will go with rams. Larger fish are more difficult if you don't want angels or discus (which do need higher temps).
The larger gouramis - pearl, three spot colour varieties, snakeskin etc - would fit the bill size-wise but I am not sure about mixing their temperaments.
if you don't mind a larger shoaling fish, some of the tetras and barbs could work.

Do you intend having the 240 litre tank at 28 C as well? That will reduce the options quite a lot as there are few fish that can cope with that temp long term. In fact the only large fish I can think of that likes that temp is discus. And there are only a few species of smaller shoaling fish that are happy at that temp 

I'll have to see what I can come up with.

Anyone else got any suggestions?

There's quite a few fish in the profiles on here that look to be ok at 27°C... am I missing something?

Yes I am thinking of larger fish, there are several smaller fish.

But just because a fish has 27 deg right at the top end of its range does not mean it should be kept at that temp. We should aim to keep fish in the middle of its range.




The reason I'm having problems with larger tankmates is because of the comments on Seriously Fish saying that particularly recommended tankmates are "open water-dwelling characids or similar" (tetras and such like that swim higher up in the tank) and to avoid "territorial and aggressive fish such as most other cichlids".

From Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine - rams need peaceful, docile, slow moving, tranquil tank mates.

PFK says rams (and other dwarf south American cichlids) are best as a single pair in a tank of non-cichlids.





You can why I'm having trouble with ideas 

Shoaling fish I've seen recommended for rams (though most will be too small):
Bleeding heart tetra
Cardinal tetra
Rummy nose tetra

You might get away with dwarf rainbowfish (Melanotaenia praecox) if you don't mind mixing continents.

Most fish in shops are pale and washed out because they are stressed. Dwarf rainbowfish have lovely pale blue metallic bodies with coloured fins. And the same applies to diamond and congo tetras, they will look a lot prettier once they settle into a tank.

I've never kept diamond or congo tetras, but Seriously Fish comments that it is diamond tetras that can be nippy and that congo tetras should not be kept with nippy fish as their tails can get nipped.
But SF also says that congo tetras might scare timid fish fish with their fast swimming, and so many sites recommend tranquil (ie slow swimming) tank mates for rams.


It took me about three months to decide what to restock my 180 litre tank with last year......

I would leave gouramis and angelfish off the list because of compatibility. But I had not considered boeseman rainbows because I know they are harder water fish. Checking on SF I see that they are OK down to 10 German deg. Their lower end is right at the top of rams hardness range so they don't really overlap. Boesemanis also need a 48 inch long tank - I know your tank is big, but is it long or tall?