GBRs changing colour! Help?

[Rose19]

Hi,

Have had my german blue rams for 4 days now. When I first got them, one was much larger than the other, and was quite faded (was shimmering blue, but black spots and line over eye wasn't very dark) thats how I could tell them apart. This morning I got up to feed them and they were both fighting! This went on for about 15 minutes.

The weird part is, the larger faded one was now way brighter and darker than the smaller one, and the smaller one was faded and grey!
What is going on? Its almost as if the one that is being dominated at the time fades while the other one gets darker.

But I have read that the faded colours mean they are sick?

And is it normal for them to fight so much? Worried I'm going to end up with a murdered fish!!

P.s, not sure on the sex. Can't see pink bellies on either. The small one had darker dorsal fin and black spot, but now its the other way around!!

Please help,
Thanks,
Rose

 

[Rose19]

P.S,


Just went to check on them and they are BOTH dark and colourful- and flaring their fins at each other!

 

[Tetra1990]

It sounds like you may have 2 males. What size tank are they in?

 

[Rose19]

130 litres, think thats about 34g. They are the only fish in there.

 

[calfishguy]

Is it planted, cycled water params?

 

[Rose19]

Yep, tank is cycled. Ammonia and nitrite both 0, nitrate less than 5.

Lots of live plants in tank, both have a cave each to hide in, one piece of driftwood and tank is at 82f.


PH sits around 7.5. The fish are from a local australian breeder where that PH is normal for the GBR. Tap water is 7.6, so if I were to lower the PH in the tank, it would change with water changes, and I'm worried that would stress the fish out more. Please let me know if you think otherwise.

Thanks

 

[calfishguy]

Yep, tank is cycled. Ammonia and nitrite both 0, nitrate less than 5.

Lots of live plants in tank, both have a cave each to hide in, one piece of driftwood and tank is at 82f.

PH sits around 7.5. The fish are from a local australian breeder where that PH is normal for the GBR. Tap water is 7.6, so if I were to lower the PH in the tank, it would change with water changes, and I'm worried that would stress the fish out more. Please let me know if you think otherwise.

Thanks

Considering they are fairly new to their new environment I would say they are just setting their territories.

 

[Rose19]

Thanks, I hope so.

Can anyone tell me whether their colours will go back to normal once they are settled in? Or will the dominated one always be faded?

Also, when I manage to work out the sex of them, is there any combination that wont work out to be peaceful? Eg, 2 males? If i have a male/female and they try to breed, will they get too aggressive to have other fish in the same tank? (I want to add some corys)

Thanks in advance.

 

[librarygirl]

If you can post pics maybe we can sex them for you. Two males is generally a bad idea and one will likely kill the other or stress it to death. If they are male and female, they could still pair up. If they don't pair up, one might kill the other. It might be too early to say.

 

[Rivercats]

I have 4 pairs of Rams in my 220g, 4 being males. When adding Rams to a tank, whether they are males, females, or a pair, they have to establish territories. During this time there is much bickering, chasing, flaring, and color changing. It's quite normal. Once this is all worked out even two males can co-exsist somewhat peacefully. But often times when the more dominant of the two males is in sight of the less dominant male, the less dominant male will fade his coloring out, making the other male less likely to become aggressive. Even if you have a pair, they won't always accept each other as mates and the same thing can occur. The only real problem comes if you have two very strong willed dominant males that refuse to back down. If this occurs then removal of one is usually required. Since you said your tank is heavily planted I would give them a few days to work things out, and during this time do not get alarmed if you see alot of coloring up and down. Only if you start to see actual physical damange on one of both of them do you need to take action and remove one.

As for aggression with other tank mates and spawning... a pair can get aggressive and will just chase other fish away from the spawning site while some pairs on occassion get very aggressive. Alot depends on the pairs disposition. I keep 25 cory's and 3 yo-yo loaches with my 4 pairs and don't have issues during spawning. But my tank is very heavily planted, more so than most. I don't have an issue with keeping cory's with ram pairs.

Something else to take into consideration is alot of rams won't spawn if the tanks Ph/Gh/Kh isn't to their liking. And in community tanks if they do spawn they often eat their own eggs or fry so the time span of the cycle is quite short. Hope this information helps.

 

[Rose19]

Thankyou so much for the info Rivercats.

Here are some pictures, would appreciate if someone could help me sex them. The dominant one (for the minute) is coloured up, the other one is faded. I did notice the bigger dominant one has no blue over his black spot, but the little one does. But only when the little one is faded. When both dark, they look the same.

 

[Cichlid Kid]

They both look like they're healthy. The little guys color will probably come and go depending on how frisky he's feeling. Color (especially in dwarf cichlids) is not always indicative of that fish's overall health.
The usual way i go about pairing gbr is by putting 8-10 juvenile in my one 29g and let them do it on their own. You'll know when they pair. They both will start spring cleaning the same piece of turf. When you have young gbr together there will be constant mock charges and all kinds of drama.
Gotta luv em tho!!

 

[Pipedreamer86]

They both look like they're healthy. The little guys color will probably come and go depending on how frisky he's feeling. Color (especially in dwarf cichlids) is not always indicative of that fish's overall health.
The usual way i go about pairing gbr is by putting 8-10 juvenile in my one 29g and let them do it on their own. You'll know when they pair. They both will start spring cleaning the same piece of turf. When you have young gbr together there will be constant mock charges and all kinds of drama.
Gotta luv em tho!!

Im just curious when you do this do you have tanks ready for each pair and the ones who dont pair off? Or do you take them back to the store? I am really interested in getting some rams but a little confused on this pairing process.

 

[Cichlid Kid]

When i want another pair for breeding I'll go through that process and keep the ones that catch my eye. The rest are taken to 2 lfs in my area in exchange for store credit. ( usually NLS or api co2 boost.

 

[Cichlid Kid]

I realize alot of people in the hobby can't house 8-10 juvies just to obtain a pair or 2. Some lfs will work with you though as far as getting a few and going through the motions with the agreement of your choosing on returns. In some instances this helps them by being able to sell other customers already paired up rams.
This is the way I finally obtained two pair after months and months of trying to acquire a couple by buying a fish here and a fish there.

 

[Rose19]

Just bumping the thread to see if anyone can tell me the sex of my GBR's?

Thanks in advance,
Rose

 

[phishfriend]

I'v been looking at the trying to figure that out. The first pic is one and the second and third are of the same guy.. Right? It's tough from the angle . I want to say female from the look of the anal fins but not sure. Could you get side shots?

 

[Rose19]

I'v been looking at the trying to figure that out. The first pic is one and the second and third are of the same guy.. Right? It's tough from the angle . I want to say female from the look of the anal fins but not sure. Could you get side shots?

Thanks so much, yeah the top is one, the bottom two are the other one. Just tried to take some side shots (was hard, they kept coming up to me and looking at me through the glass!! lol)

Will post them below.

 

[Rose19]

Heres another picture of each- please let me know if they aren't clear enough and I will try to take some more in the morning.

Thanks,
Rose