Widowed GBR!

[elliott_001]

About 9-10 months ago i bought my first pair of german blue rams. I managed to get a male/female pair, they settled in with no probs, and spawned a few times (never with any success though). It was about this time last year that i my cycle finished and started buying my first fish! So i was pretty pleased with the success of keeping these "sensitive" fish.
All was fine untill i read about most people keeping gbr's in threes (1 male and 2 females), and decided to stick a spanner in the works (i liked the idea of having three). My male would also sometimes get a little aggressive towards the female (i know its normal, but thought it would ease the stress if their were two).

So i added another female. Both the original male and female chased the new addition around a lot, she was very singled out, but just seemed to get on with it.

After about two weeks the new female died, so i was back to the original pair. Felt bad for bringing her into the tank, could it be that the original pair had already "formed", and would not seperate? She may have just died prematurely, like many rams around the world unfortunately do.

Then, all of a sudden the MALE died, i have no idea how, but when i found him, he was wedged into a crack in some driftwood (very wedged, removing him was not nice!). He didn't show any signs of ill health prior.

So now i have one, a single female. I havn't bought her a new male, because im unsure weather they will get on, weather she can ever take on a new man!?

For several weeks now, she has been fine on her own, very colourful, loving the plants, and just life really!

Here is a pic i took of her the other day:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/137/325305598_a7820bbc27.jpg

So, should i get another male???

Thanks in advance,
David.

 

[Zagz]

Wow she looks great! I'd get her another male, you can't be sure until they get together whether a bond will form but it is worth a try IMO.

 

[elliott_001]

Thanks Zagz, my first decent result with my new lens! So, what if they don't "bond"? They just wont breed? There wont be any probs with fighting etc?

I have room in my tank for more than just 2 GBR's, (partly why i tried adding another female in the first place) should i perhaps add 2? A male and a female? Or maybe 3 (2 females, one male?)
I don't want to upset my current female, as she is doing fine, seems really happy.

What are my options?

TIA

 

[Zagz]

If they don't bond they will probably just co-exsist. I have some GBR's that aren't a pair and they just hang out, kinda like just friends. LOL. Every fish is different, just keep an eye on the situation.

 

[elliott_001]

Ok, i'm sure it will be ok then. What is the recommended group number to have? Would they be happier as a 3? Or maybe 4?

 

[Michael]

How big is your tank? If big enough I would get 2 males and one more female giving you two pairs. Blue Rams are not harem spawners. Once they bond a pair they will stay together as long as they are alive but if you lose one the remaining Ram will bond with another. It is a very bad idea to have uneven numbers with Blue Rams.

 

[elliott_001]

Thanks for the help, my tank is a 30G. I have read before that keeping 2 females to every male will help spread the males aggression, and prevent over stressing. But then i have also read, and experienced a pair forming, and not breaking, untill one dies.