German blue rams

[hennaartist]

Stress!
I've been hoping my GBRs will pair.
About 10 days ago I got 3 GBRs, turned out they were all female. 5 days ago I then bought 3 male GBRs. They are all in my 55 gallon tank, and still seem stressed. They haven't paired yet. I'm pretty sure that the females want to because they often approach the males. The males just run everything off, and the females just keep running off the other females.
So, there is A LOT of bickering and stress in my tank right now.

I am thinking about moving one female and one male into my 20 gallon long, in hopes to reduce some stress and still give them a chance to pair. What are your thoughts on this?

(Please note that I do not plan to keep all 6 GBRs. I would like one (maybe two) pairs in my 55. I've already got a re-home plan for the 2 to 4 GBRs that don't pair.)
Also, I don't have a lot of personal experience with GBRs, but I have done a lot of research.
My water parameters are as follows:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 15
Gh 75
Kh 20
Ph 6.5
Temp 79f

 

[hennaartist]

Well, since yesterday I have slowly been raiding the temp of my 20 gallon long, we're almost there. I guess I'm going to try putting two in there along with a cave.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

I agree with your plan of action. Less stress, more time to themselves to get to know each other. I would do 3-4 caves, really let them get comfy. The 20g is cycled right?

 

[hennaartist]

Yes, the 20 gal is cycled and has 4 white skirt tetras (planning to get a couple more of those but putting that on hold because of the GBRs) I've researched and everything I've read said that white skirts and GBRs are fine together as long as it's not over stocked. Plus I don't plan on this being a permanent situation.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Sweet. Your doing the right thing. Make sure you test the water every other day or so to make sure the parameters stay stable thorugh the new addition. Keep us updated. I havent done any GBR mating but I think you have to adjust the temp to encourage mating.

 

[hennaartist]

Yes, from what I've heard you do have to adjust the temp, and IMO with GBRs you have to constantly test the water because they're very sensitive little guys.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

All you can do is wait, the pair in the 20 will most likely pair up after a while and you can rehome the others. I strongly recommend you only keep one pair in the 55. They can get extremely territorial if there are too many of their own species. Good Luck!

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Well once you know when the tank gets nitrite build up and what amount lowers them to 0, then you can just do your normal changes every week without worrying too much. Unless you see signs of stress or unhealthiness.

 

[hennaartist]

All you can do is wait, the pair in the 20 will most likely pair up after a while and you can rehome the others. I strongly recommend you only keep one pair in the 55. They can get extremely territorial if there are too many of their own species. Good Luck!

My long term goal is to have a pair in the 55 gallon. If the two in the 20 gallon pair first then I will rehome the 4 in the 55gal and move the pair to the 55.

 

[hennaartist]

Well once you know when the tank gets nitrite build up and what amount lowers them to 0, then you can just do your normal changes every week without worrying too much. Unless you see signs of stress or unhealthiness.

I'm already there, just after my weekly water change (25%) the nitrite is 5, a week later (when it's time for my next water change) the nitrite is 15. All very safe levels.
I've just heard so much about how difficult GBRs are to keep that I test almost daily.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

You could just up the changes to 50% or even more. You could change 90% if you want. As long as your filter is well built up with BB you will be fine. Better safe then sorry.

 

[Mebbid]

You could just up the changes to 50% or even more. You could change 90% if you want. As long as your filter is well built up with BB you will be fine. Better safe then sorry.

I wouldn't change more than 50% honestly. The larger the water change, the larger the resulting ph change will be.

It's likely that the stress of being around soo many other gbrs is causing issues with pairing up.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

As long as you arent using any crushed coral, or Ph up or down chemicals, and your keeping up on weekly water changes, your tap water should be the same as the pH. So the amount dosent matter. I do 75% changes quite often, never have any problems.

 

[Mebbid]

As long as you arent using any crushed coral, or Ph up or down chemicals, and your keeping up on weekly water changes, your tap water should be the same as the pH. So the amount dosent matter. I do 75% changes quite often, never have any problems.

Tap water almost always has a higher ph when it is fresh out of the tap. The water needs to degass before you will see the ph change. Fill a bucket of water with fresh tap water and check the ph. Then let it sit in the bucket for 24 hours and retest. There should be a sizable difference between the two. That is the main reason to limit water changes to 50%.

 

[hennaartist]

I'm just going to stick to my weekly 25% water changes, since that has been working for me for quite a long time.

UPDATE: I moved 1 female and 1 male into my 20 gallon tank yesterday. There seemed to be A LOT less stress all the way around. THEN 2 of the 4 GBRs in the 55 paired and started tag teaming chasing off the other 2, which seemed to have no other choice but to stay in corners of the tank. SOOOO as of a few minutes ago, I have rehomed the 4 unpaired GBRs and now I just have 1 pair in my 55 gallon. They seem happy enough and I know I'm a lot less stressed