Bolivian Ram question

[Tukie2kie]

I just got a bolivian ram from my friend who has had it for about a year, i think he said he had a few of them. Now he is in my tank with 3 peppered corys and 8 glowlite tetras.
will he do fine "by himself" or do i need to try to get another one of his own kind.

hes only been in my tank for a day, but i was kindof just randomly given this fish. He seems really peaceful but does look kindof tense or alerted, and I didn't see him eat anything

 

[bs6749]

Bolivian Rams tend to be on the timid/docile side. How big of a tank is he in? I am guessing a 10 gallon since you have 11 fish in there, not including the Bolivian. If it is a 10 I would not add another Bolivian Ram as they will be to big, in my opinion, for the tank. You will want at least a 15 gallon tank (ideally a 20 gallon) for the 2 of them. The will get about 4 inches or so if I remember right. I would say add another one if you can.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

The Bolivian will do ok by himself, but if the tank is big enough, then adding another will allow you to watch some of their other behaviours you wouldn't see with a single fish.

 

[JDogg]

if you have the room i would add a second (preferably of the opposit sex to the one you have) you will get more activity and behavior out of it...IMO

if you do not know how to sex rams, post a pic if you can and we will tell you if it is a boy or girl

 

[Tukie2kie]

I have a 20gal tank actualy so I have the room than. How can i tell weatheer its male or female so I can try to get one of the opposite sex. Its pretty bland in color with red ouline on its fins, other than that its pretty much "natural" grey/brown/greenish in color

heres a pic

sorry its so big, my photo programs are gone after a recent hardrive problem If i can get a better one ill upload it too but I think u can see it... if u set back a foot from your screen.

heres a better pic.... after taking several bad ones...it decided to move up front to pose

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Need a little better pic, one with all the fins and tail, like a nice side shot. also, if you want to send me an original pic from the camera via email, unedited, let me know and I can enhance it and see if I can tell. Bolivians are tough to sex, near impossible for most people. But since I have 2 males and a female, I may be able to help. Let me know... Just needs to be a fairly good, clear side shot.

If I had to guess on that 2nd pic, I'd say female, but not going to say for sure.

 

[Tukie2kie]

Here are some more pics unedited. So which is it... male or female?

 

[bs6749]

I am guessing female. That was my initial thought from the first pics but they were not very clear. Since the pelvic fins do not seem to reach the anal fin, I would assume that the Bolivian pictured is a female. She is very nice looking as well.

 

[Tukie2kie]

So if thats a female then what would a male look like... if i were to go to a petstore (hopefully someone there knows but like tonight the guys that worked there had no idea which phantom black tetras were male or female)

Ive tried looking up pics on google to see the difference but there are only brieft descriptions and only one picture, not saying if its male or female.

Any one have any pics of a male or anyone else who can confirm the sex of this fish?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Here's my male and female. Male is on the left, he's more round, and almost looks like he has a hump on top of his head. The female on the right is more oval in shape. And do you see the extentions on the back of the dorsal fin, as well as the upper and lower tail? That's male. The female might have extentions, but are usually very short or non-existant.

Also, see the pelvic fins under the fish? The males goes well past the start of the anal fin. The females does not even come close to the anal fin.

My female protecting her fry... The male is protecting the back side.

 

[bs6749]

WOW! I didn't even notice the fry until you said something LOL. Those guys are really small!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yes, they are very small.

 

[Tukie2kie]

OH MY! yea i didnt even notice them untill 3 min after gazing at the pic. Thats amazing. Yea I am fairly sure that my fish is a female then, because of the fin thing, hers dont even come close to touching the anal fins, and also just looking at the two pics mine looks ALOT more like your female than the male.

So what are the chances that if I get a male that they will pair off? If they dont pair off will they atleast interact and remaine peaceful?

 

[bs6749]

How old is the female? Your friend has had it for a year, but is it much older than that? Try adding a male... you never know what will happen.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Chances are good they will pair off. And even if they don't, they will live in peace. Maybe an occasional chase, but the thing with Bolivians, any aggression is more of bluffing than anything, nobody gets hurt. As an example, he may charge at her or she at him, but will never touch. Just bluffing, lol.

 

[bs6749]

LWB - Do your male GBR's ever "face off" and actually fight/"touch"? Mine do and I took some video of it with my digital camera. They go at one another head on and "mouth wrestle". They also "bluff" like you describe a lot of the time but it seems around spawning time my males just go nuts. I have also noticed females attacking males and males attacking females. I assume the males going after the females means that they want to spawn or they are telling the females to "get out of my territory" but I can't explain the females going after the males. They do it when eggs have not been laid and are not protecting a nesting site, so that makes me wonder...

 

[Lonewolfblue]

The do get aggressive, yes. But it's more bluffing than anything. Nobody's ever got hurt, or any fins damaged or anything. My red tail shark does damage though, lol. But for the Bolivians, most of the time it's peaceful co-existance, with an occasional bluffing or short chases.

 

[Tukie2kie]

I actualy see mine charge at some of the other fish but I havent seen her nip or anything. But today one of my Phantom Black Tetras is missing his tail fin, like its completely gone. Do you think the ram did it or is it possible that my other tetras (black phantom or glowlite) did it? none of the other fish have any bites off any of their fins and they are all very peaceful/docile fish.

3 cories
8 glowlites
8phantom blacks
1 bolivian ram

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I doubt it was the Bolivians. Tetras can be very nippy, and if they are chasing each other around alot, could be them.

 

[bs6749]

I just noticed in the past few days that some of my GBR's are going after OTHER fish now. Nothing big, just chasing out of their territory and no eggs have been laid, so I know they are not trying to protect their young.