German Blue Ram - Pair broken up?

[Borderlesscott]

I have a pair of GBR who have been fantastic together for months, but all sudden the male is being really aggressive and chasing her relentlessly, her colour goes and only returns when she finds a place to hide - happening for nearly 2 days. I have a Juwel Rio 240 tank, over filtered, 5 Sterbai Corys, 10 Cardinal Tetra's, 3 Clown Loach, a pair of Apistogramma Panduro, 2 dwarf oto's and 3 Amano shrimp. There is no other aggression in the tank, the levels are perfect 0 amm, 0 nit, 0.5 nitrate, I also have loads of bog wood, caves, Vallisneria so hiding spots are not a problem.

I have placed the male in my 35l tank temporarily to try and get the female a bit of rest.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[Samzter]

Before I start I love your stock list is it like aggressive chasing like attacking? Or not? If not then maybe he wants to breed but she not full of eggs . I don't have much experience in the cichlid department! But I'm just asking these questions cause I can look some stuff up !

 

[Borderlesscott]

Thanks, though I've changed the stocking slightly now - check out my 240l tank post. The Clown,s are now with my dad. Unfortunately the female died even after putting the male in a separate tank, she had sustained an injury to the side of her face which I think combined with stress finished her gutted she was my favourite, absolutely stunning Ram. Tried everything with her, meds and rest, but she stopped eating and went down hill pretty quickly. I now have a pair of young wild caught Rams, not as colourful but exhibit more of a natural behaviour. Still deciding what to do with the male, he is a stunner also, had a lot of young from that pair, going to be hard to replace.

 

[daveho]

sorry to hear about your loss, over the last week i have fallen for GBR's myself.
from what i have seen on the net GBRs seem to test each other abit prior to spawning to ensure each is a suitable mate. im not sure how much i belive that but some seem to think its true. may i ask how long where ur gbrs when they first paird of and spawned?

 

[Borderlesscott]

sorry to hear about your loss, over the last week i have fallen for GBR's myself.
from what i have seen on the net GBRs seem to test each other abit prior to spawning to ensure each is a suitable mate. im not sure how much i belive that but some seem to think its true. may i ask how long where ur gbrs when they first paird of and spawned?

My two started at about 5 months and just over an inch - however they where not successful until the 3rd time. Mine did a bit of chasing, but nothing to aggressive, they where usual inseparable. I suspect the female picked up an infection around its mouth prior to spawning and when the male started on her she just didn't have the strength to stand up to him, she could usually have kicked him all over the tank. Always try to get a bigger female, best advice I can give. The GBR are my favourite fish, but after losing this pair it will be a while before I get another GBR pairing, can't believe how upset I got over a fish, that's why I'm trying the wild caught ones instead, wife bought them to cheer me up.