german rams agressive when mating?

[mr funktastic]

as i have mentioned i just got 2 german blue rams and i cant sex them. i have noticed that the one ram is with the very dark black spot on its side (i am assuming male) is chasing the other and nipping at its bottom. i was wondering if this is a mating thing or maybe just territorial? i dont think it is territorial because the one is chasing the other one relentlysly around the whole tank. and advice would be great thanks

[cinciboy]

Originally Posted by mr funktastic

as i have mentioned i just got 2 german blue rams and i cant sex them. i have noticed that the one ram is with the very dark black spot on its side (i am assuming male) is chasing the other and nipping at its bottom. i was wondering if this is a mating thing or maybe just territorial? i dont think it is territorial because the one is chasing the other one relentlysly around the whole tank. and advice would be great thanks

I had the same problem with my Bolivian Rams.. chasing all day resulting in death of the weaker one.. So watch out..

[mr funktastic]

really? that kinda sucks is there anything u can do to prevent the chasing?

[Meredith]

If you can get your hands on what you know are some females, that might help.

[severum mama]

If it gets bad and you think one of them is really stressed, I would put in a tank divider until you can come up with a more permanent solution. They seem to stress easily so keep an eye on things.

[mumrah]

My two breeding rams have never nipped at each other. They'll nudge and chase one another, but i've never seen fin nipping.

What size tank is this in? If it's a 10g, then i believe they will be very territorial. Even with lots of plants and caves, when i had 2 pairs in my 10g, no one got along - one of the females died.

If it's at least 20g, there should be plenty of room for 2 males. You'll just need to provide them with good hiding spots on opposite sides of the tank.

[mr funktastic]

it is a 20 gallon and i dont think that they are actually nipping at the fins. it looks as though the one is going and nudging up on the bottom of the other one. if u look at the pic i have the one has a very dark spot on its side and the other doesnt really seem to have a spot, it has a kinda bluey silver spot but it is really hard to see. do they have stress lines like other fish? i mean do the lines get darker or go down there side?

[mr funktastic]

the top one i believe to be the female, and the bottom one i am positive is a male. the bottom one chases the top one

[koffee]

Originally Posted by mr funktastic

i dont think it is territorial because the one is chasing the other one relentlysly around the whole tank.

Depending on the size of your tank, it can be easy for a fish to want to claim the whole tank as his territory. Even if you have a 500gal tank, keep in mind that many aquarium fish evolved in a much bigger "tank".

You may also want to look into dither fish. In this case, they might just help the abuse to be spread out. I don't have any recommendations about what dither fish work well with rams, though.

Are there plenty of spots to hide and get awya from each other? That could be another consideration.

In the end, though, even if you have a male and female, they may never get along. Fish have unique personalities, and anyone that talks about fish compatabilty is, IMHO, just saying what works in most cases.

[Jchillin]

One of the benefits of having pics in your photo gallery is that it allows recommendations based on what is present at the moment. You have a largeempty space on the left side of the tank. Since I know you are in the process of planting the tank, a few fake plants on that side will provide more hiding space and slow the aggression down tremendously.

The bottom pic is definitely a male. I'm not too sure about the top one...looks too close to call.

[talloulou]

do they ever kiss........mine often do this after bumping/chasing each other. They also have staring show downs sometimes.

[mr funktastic]

what larger empty space? the left side is lined with plants. there are pots to hide in and a cave on the right side (i got rid of the boat) and what are dither fish? i have never heard of them before. what could i add to my tank to make it better to hide in?

[Jchillin]

I meant the right side...sorry about that. Tall bushy plants are much better. Dither fish would be something like tetras.

[mr funktastic]

tetras are evil i had 2 glowlight tetras and they were soo agressive. whenever they ate they would like attack the top of the water it was brutal. i have some fake plants i can use for now but i will be puting in alot of amazon swords soon so that will help. thaks for the tips

[severum mama]

Basically, dither fish would be used to make your rams feel more comfortable, and to cut down on aggression. My glowlights are extremely peaceful. You may have better luck if you keep at least 5 or 6, as they like to be in schools. Pristellas (mine are the gold variety) are also very peaceful and would look great with rams.

[Jchillin]

Sorry you feel that way about tetras. I've never encountered any and have found some varieties are a little more "playful" than others.

I have 6 Serpae tetras in my 75 gal tank. They share space with 4 lamp eyed tetras, 4 GBR's, a sailfin pleco and 4 corydoras Julii. Like Severum says, if they are in a decent sized school, they tend to ignore the other fish and concentrate on themselves.

[mr funktastic]

ok but dont forget i only have a 20 gallon. i have an angel 3 guppies and the 2 german blue rams. i think adding 6 tetras, unless there is a species that stays really small, would over stock my tank. i think you are right though that adding them would cut agression down. thanks for the help

[Jchillin]

That's exactly what happens when you post a pic of a beautiful tank. The size is easily forgotten

Totally forgot about the guppies and the angel, though now that you mention it, you did post recently about your pregnant guppy

[mr funktastic]

lol ya thankyou for the nice comment i just added a bunch of plants to the tank to help with the hiding spots i will put yet another pic for u to see. if u have any more suggestions i am more than open to them.and i am still greiving about my poor guppy fry. i have 1 though so i am happy. i also have 5 guppy that are almost 2 months old now so they will be going in by themselves soon, they are in a birthing thing right now. i will let them grow a bit more and then give them to my pet store for a credit. i will post the pic tonight around 10 or so because i only take pics of my tank at night i find they look better.

[mr funktastic]

what kind of snail is gary jchillin? it looks like a gold apple snail