German Blue Rams

[Suzi]

i bought 3 german blue rams from my lfs today and i was advised the males like to live with 2 females which i thought made sense as i know a lot of fish like to live with this ratio. ive read up a bit on them since bringing them home and im getting mixed opinions. some people say they like to live in groups of what i have yet some people say they like to live in pairs.
watching their behaviour in my tank the male and 1 of the females are sticking together while the other female is at the otherside of the tank hiding at the back.
im worrying that the other female is being pushed out and will get lonely.
what does everyone think? did i make a mistake buying 3?

 

[Lexie3787]

i bought 3 german blue rams from my lfs today and i was advised the males like to live with 2 females which i thought made sense as i know a lot of fish like to live with this ratio. ive read up a bit on them since bringing them home and im getting mixed opinions. some people say they like to live in groups of what i have yet some people say they like to live in pairs.
watching their behaviour in my tank the male and 1 of the females are sticking together while the other female is at the otherside of the tank hiding at the back.
im worrying that the other female is being pushed out and will get lonely.
what does everyone think? did i make a mistake buying 3?

They like to live in pairs. Almost always they remain faithful to eachother, and also most likely any 3rd wheel ram may be harrassed. You should see if you can return the other female that isnt interactng with the male. IMO, but I guess wait to see if anyone else answers?

 

[Suzi]

i really need some help because i dont know what to do... they're still staying away from each other. the male went to the other female yesterday and he was sort of pecking at her mouth.

 

[Suzi]

would it be possible for me to get another male to keep with this female? would 2 males live happily together?

 

[Notsofab]

would it be possible for me to get another male to keep with this female? would 2 males live happily together?

I believe that you could add another male if you are talking about the 96l tank in your signature. Be aware though that in may not pair up with the lone female. Also, I don't know if you know but Rams are terratorial. So you need to make sure there will enough space for both pairs. They will become more aggressive if they start to spawn. Having ornaments dividing your tank space or caves for each pair will help them workout their terratories. Providing areas of cover and interruptions to their line of sight will also help to reduce chasing.

Congratulations on choosing Rams. I have to say that I think they are the most fascinating of my fish to watch.

 

[Suzi]

thanks for replying! they seem to have their own areas already... both in well planted parts of the aquarium! the tank is divided by a piece of bogwood and most of the time they are out of each others eyeline... just spoken to my lfs where i got them and they said i could leave her as she is or buy another male. so obviously im going with the latter!
i'd never seen rams before and they were a complete impulse buy because i completely fell in love with them!!!

 

[Notsofab]

thanks for replying! they seem to have their own areas already... both in well planted parts of the aquarium! the tank is divided by a piece of bogwood and most of the time they are out of each others eyeline... just spoken to my lfs where i got them and they said i could leave her as she is or buy another male. so obviously im going with the latter!
i'd never seen rams before and they were a complete impulse buy because i completely fell in love with them!!!

Good luck with the new Ram then, when you get him. Be prepared to see a little more aggrssion once you add him to the tank especially between the males. I have found with mine that the female golden, kind of antagonises the males, but they don't really hit back - just let her get away with it. However, the males will go toe to toe if they stray into each others space. You'll see, they kind of rear up and then just charge and butt each other. It really is something to watch.

Another pearl of wisdom if your interested. Our female had paired off with one of the males. We decided once when cleaning the tank to take all the 'furniture' out and re-arranged things. This seemed to throw the Rams out and break the established terrotories. When the furniture went back, new areas were established and the female doesn't seem interested in any of the males any more.

These are just my experiences by the way - before I get ripped to shreads about what I've said here.

 

[Suzi]

the males wont hurt each other will they?
i understand they will be a bit aggressive but i dont want to hurt the fish

 

[Notsofab]

the males wont hurt each other will they?
i understand they will be a bit aggressive but i dont want to hurt the fish

Again I can only speak with regards to my own experiences. My males haven't shown any physical signs of damage. I can't tell if they hurt each other or not. But although it is aggressive behaviour I would only class it as mildly aggressive. It never goes on too long and it seems like it's something that male Rams just do. Their's no blood and guts or ripped fins or anything like that. They don't nip either. It's more chasing away obut when it's another male Ram who doesn't want to go, then you get the butting stand off.

In fact I have seen a male Molly harassing a female Molly much more aggressively than my Rams behave.

Don't be put off - get male number 2. You'll see what I mean.

 

[Suzi]

ok thanks a lot for all you're help! i'll post an update after i get him this afternoon

 

[Katchan]

I agree with notsofab, most or all of its right. With any cichlid removing plants ornaments etc and rearranging them is like moving them to a new territory, they have to resstablish themselves.

In regards to territory size and blue rams minimum of 1 square foot per pair, which in a 96 liter tank you should have enough.

I would try to get a good sized male for your new fish as a smaller one will find it a bit harder against the one you already have

Andrew

 

[Suzi]

ok will pick a decent sized one i wont move anything in the tank as i know they've already marked out their territories!!

 

[badis56]

i have a planted 20g and i was wonderin if i could get a pair of them(german blue rams). Are they hard, i read on one site and it said they were hard to take care of.

 

[Notsofab]

i have a planted 20g and i was wonderin if i could get a pair of them(german blue rams). Are they hard, i read on one site and it said they were hard to take care of.

Again my experience would say that as long as your water parameters are good, your tank is established and stable, keep them at a suitable temperature, you have enough space for the number you buy and you aclimitise them properly when you add them to your tank then I think they are fairly straight forward.

They seem to try/eat most foods that go into my tank ( flake, pellets, cat fish pellets, muscle, blood worm, tubiflex ) and don't have any special requirements that I am aware of.

 

[Suzi]

he's home just floating the bag to match the temps at the mo! the lonely female seems to have taken an interest all ready so looks like i did the right thing!!