What fish should I add to my tank?

[Dekz]

Originally Posted by bs6749

GBR's are much more colorful than Bolivians and the demand for them is greater than Bolivians as well. Bolivians aren't "better" than GBR's but it's very common to see poor quality GBR's as they are mass produced in Asia where they are subjected to growth and coloring hormones that weakens the fish and shortens their lifespan. This has caused the common misconception that GBR's are more fragile than Bolivians which isn't the case at all. Good GBR's obtained from a breeder will be just as healthy as Bolivians, which often are wild caught specimens.

I meant that I heard that they were more lively and active, that's all.

[Dekz]

Well the more I read about sexing these things, the more confused I become about what I have. I took a bunch more pics, hope this isn't starting to annoy you guys, lol. After staring at them for hours and taking hundreds of pics, I can now tell the difference between the 2 fish at a glance.

While in the first set of pics it appeared only one of them had black dorsal fins, they both do. However the one I suspect of being male proudly displays his quite often, the "female" tends to have the dorsal slicked back most of the time. Whether this is an indication of sex or just a dominance thing, I don't know.

MALE (I think):



FEMALE (I think):




BOTH ("male" right, "female" left):


BOTH ("male" left, "female" right):


Bonus full tank shot ("female" left, "male" right):


I want to thank everyone on the forum for their help so far, if nothing else, please enjoy the pics!

[motherspice]

Originally Posted by thominil

try angel fish or some kind of molly orandas and black moores are cool 2

thominil
just a quick question..do you have all those fish in your siggy in your tank?

[motherspice]

Dekz, I am no help but just wanted to tell you that you have a beautiful tank, and love ur fish!

[bs6749]

Originally Posted by Dekz

I meant that I heard that they were more lively and active, that's all.

Microgeophagus ramirezi (GBR's) and Microgeophagus altispinosa (Bolivian rams) are closely related. GBR's are more colorful, stay smaller, and are more "active" in an aquarium. They will quarrel more amongst members of their species more often than Bolivians, which are considered to be more shy than the GBR.

You may have a pair of Bolivians but they are more difficult to sex. Usually the male will have obvious cadual fin ray extensions that make it easier to tell him apart from the female. There is also a different shape to the head in both sexes.

[Dekz]

The more I watch them the more I fear that I have 2 males. I took some vids in the hopes that their behaviour would give you guys a clue. The aggresion is always one sided. The other one never fights back or instigates anything. I'm taking that as a good sign.

Sorry they aren't that great, just used my digicam.

YouTube - Bolivian Rams #1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJFIWkcxpqk

YouTube - Bolivian Rams #3