Blue and Gold Rams - Sexing & What to do...

[mattmathis]

I have 3 blue rams and 1 gold ram in a 70 gallon aquarium with assorted loaches and corys

and one red-tailed black shark.

2 of the blue rams are females, and one is a male. I have noticed that the male and one

particular female use one end of the tank and the other female stays on the other end by

herself and isn't getting as big and often doesnt have the good clolors of the others.
She also gets aggresive when I add new fish to the tank.

I'm not sure if the gold is a male or female. (help with that would be great!)

No what should I do? I hate to add a small male, which is the only thing I could get now. I know the others would probably kill him.

I was thinking I could raise him up in a 10 gallon tank and then introduce him into the 70 gallon.

So my question is, is the 70 gallon big enough for the 2 pair of blue rams? or would the

males constaly fight?

Thanks a lot!

 

[bs6749]

The gold ram looks like a male to me. A 70g is perfectly fine for at least 3 sexed pairs of rams. Isn't the other female hanging out with the gold at all?

The males won't necessarily fight. It's more of a territory thing and a pair will defend a spot when they decide to spawn. I've found that males tend to chase away other males and females tend to chase away other females but that doesn't mean that a female won't go after another male. I've rarely seen a male charge after another female when paired, usually it'll happen only when there are eggs/fry involved. Personally I wouldn't change anything by adding more rams.

 

[mattmathis]

Thanks!!! No the other female just stays on her end of the tank.

So if I got another blue male and a gold female and raised them up to a good size in another tank. I could add them into the 70 and have 2 pair of blue rams and one pair of gold.

And that would be ok in a 70 gallon?

Thanks Again!

 

[bs6749]

I've successfully kept 4 proven pairs in a 55g tank. My plan was to keep 3 but the guy sent me an extra pair. After having them in the tank for a couple of years and watching them closely I learned quite a bit from them. I wouldn't recommend more than 3 pairs in a 55g, 2 would be ideal. A 75 is no different than a 55 as far as length, however it has more depth from front to back. I still wouldn't put more than 2 pairs in there.