Husbands or no?

[Eenyo1]

I am wondering if I should get male partners for my female german ram and my dwarf powder blue gourami.
But just a bit worried that it might upset the calmness of my community tank. I have 10 cardinal tetras, 8 endlers, 5 zebra danios, 6 corydora, 1 female dwarf gourami, 1 female german ram, 1 female betta. I was given these by a neighbor who was moving home 3 months ago. I was a bit worried about the last 3, perhaps eating the tetra or fighting each other, but they are gentle ladies. For the 3 months I have never seen any aggression or fin nipping, just an active but calm tank. The german ram thinks she is a cory. I have seen her resting or sleeping with the corys, feeding with them with her head in the gravel, so I thought she might like someone of her own breed as a partner. I know a male betta would be a mistake. But Are the males of these other two species more likely to change the calm nature of this tank?

 

[seangee]

I wouldn't. Many cichlids need to choose their mate, so introducing one of the opposite sex is no guarantee they will get on and could result in fighting - even if they do breed. All cichlids are territorial and aggressive when breeding. If things are peaceful and calm don't mess with it.

 

[Byron]

I agree. Adding a gourami or another ram is almost guaranteed to cause serious trouble.

There are some other problems here, which is another reason for not adding more. Rams (the common or blue ram in any of its varieties) needs warm water, warmer than some of the other fish can manage long-term. Minimum 80F/27C for the ram. But the zebra danios and the corydoras catfish will not be happy in water this warm, they need it in the 75-77F/24-25C range.

I realize these fish as a unit were acquired from someone who obviously no longer wanted them, and these issues were not by your design. But now you need to do what's best. If you can re-home any of them, that's one option. The other is to go with the temperature that will benefit the majority, which here is a range of 75-77F/24-25C as all of the fish except for the ram will be fine with this.

 

[Waterstrider]

Also it’s not necessarily males that are any more aggressive. Cichlids regardless of sex tend to get more aggressive if they’re courting or breeding

 

[Byron]

The german ram thinks she is a cory. I have seen her resting or sleeping with the corys, feeding with them with her head in the gravel, so I thought she might like someone of her own breed as a partner.

I had intended responding to this previously but forgot, sorry. Dwarf cichlids are substrate feeders, so they will eat the same sinking foods as cories. I have had Blue Rams and Bolivian Rams, and |I do not recall ever seeing them eat fro the surface, always from the sinking foods for the cories.

 

[Retired Viking]

I had 8 young rescue African cichlids that I put in a 55 gallon community tank years ago and they took over. They paired off and became very aggressive. I had to remove all the other fish except a pleco that they left alone.

 

[Eenyo1]

I agree. Adding a gourami or another ram is almost guaranteed to cause serious trouble.

There are some other problems here, which is another reason for not adding more. Rams (the common or blue ram in any of its varieties) needs warm water, warmer than some of the other fish can manage long-term. Minimum 80F/27C for the ram. But the zebra danios and the corydoras catfish will not be happy in water this warm, they need it in the 75-77F/24-25C range.

I realize these fish as a unit were acquired from someone who obviously no longer wanted them, and these issues were not by your design. But now you need to do what's best. If you can re-home any of them, that's one option. The other is to go with the temperature that will benefit the majority, which here is a range of 75-77F/24-25C as all of the fish except for the ram will be fine with this.

Yes When I got the fish I checked and found that the recommended temp for her was a couple degrees above my constant 25c. No way to pass her on, I actually considered to humanely euthanize her, but after a few days, as I saw how she was settling into the tank so well, getting on with the corys, active and feeding well for 3 months, showing no signs of distress, I could not bring myself to do it.
thanks for your advice to not get any partners for these two fish, Ill take it. I'd like to keep this tank peaceful.