Fish Pairing Off?

[BitterCowgal]

I have Green Severums, Angelfish and German Blue Rams. Not in the same tank of course....lol. I know they all are supposed to 'pair off' but how does one know that a pair bond has been formed? I haven't been able to find any information on how to actually tell if a group is 'pairing off'.

For example.. I have 3 Female GBRs and 1 Male. One of the Female GBRs tends to hang out relatively near the male and proceeds to chase any of the other females if they dare get close. Is that an example of a pair? The male doesn't seem to have much preference in which female he's near at present. They're about 1".

I guess what I really need is for someone to explain the signs of 'pairing'.

 

[starrynightxxi]

breeding is a good sign

i don't have much experience with fish that pair, but in the experience that i do have, and what i have read, and been told, a pair will tend to become more territorial. You may find that your spare GBRs begin to look a bit tattered and harrassed. That's a good sign that a pair has formed and has begun to prepare for breeding (ie: establishing a territory).

Also they will swim together fairly often. My GBR pair are almost always near one another.


I would venture a guess that it will be the most dominant female that will pair off with a male in any situation of one male and several females.

 

[BitterCowgal]

So would I be relatively safe to assume that the 'Dominant' Female will be the one who he'll likely end up pairing with? She's the one who spends the most time near the male and won't let any of the other girls near 'her' area near the fella.

Would I be safe to remove the remaining two girls then? The smallest female is getting picked on horribly by the 'Dominant' female. She seems to be the prime target for getting chased away first. I use a feeding ring to feed and had to begin feeding at each side of the tank as the smallest female wasn't being allowed over to the ring to feed. The third female can somtimes sneak closer to the feeding ring for a bite before the dominant gal chases her off. She doesn't chase her off near as nastily though. I'm still seeing that the male is non-chalant about all of them.

I'm intending on trading one of the two remaining girls for another male. That second pair would be going in with my Angelfish in their heavy planted(fake plants) tank. Will the second male pair up with the one remaining female or would I need to provide him with a group of girls?

 

[starrynightxxi]

yes, i would say that if the male and dominant female appear to be getting along, but the other girls are faring poorly you could probably remove them without incident. You occasionally run into fish that are picky about their mates, but seems for the most part, what's there is there and they will make due. Especially if the male is not overly aggressive with the aggressive female or vice versa.

My pair paired up almost immediately. The female laid eggs the first night she was in the tank and her and the male looked after them (thoguh they weren't fertilized, it's a young pair yet ). I would venture a guess that given the situation of one male and one female, they would find another and likely bond.

That has been my experience. Other folk may have had other experiences, but in general rams don't seem to be very stubborn about pairing.