Ram Breathing Erratically!

[djl08]

Bought a pair of rams today, not certain what kind they are, will try to get a picture tomorrow. The thing is, i think i have two males, and one seems to be chasing the other one whenever he comes near. Then the one thats being chased swims to one spot and stays there and breaths really quickly. Is this because he is being chased or is there something else wrong?

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

He is breathing more heavily due to being chased. How big is the tank? Cichlids can get aggressive with each other but you may need to separate them if things get bad.

 

[djl08]

Its 100 x 40 x 50, im not sure the guy at the lfs meant to sell me 2 males. As i bought them as a 'pair'.

 

[lordofthesea]

at can sometimes be difficult to tell. take the chased one back to the LFS and they should give you a female.

 

[djl08]

I took your advice and returned the chased one back to the shop. He Replaced it with one that was more likely a female as the RAMs i bought are apparently the long finned ones. He said that they can be difficult to sex until they grow bigger. Is this correct?

btw, the new pairing seem ery happy together.

 

[Glassman]

I took your advice and returned the chased one back to the shop. He Replaced it with one that was more likely a female as the RAMs i bought are apparently the long finned ones. He said that they can be difficult to sex until they grow bigger. Is this correct?

btw, the new pairing seem ery happy together.

My first pair turned out to be male and they did the same thing that yours are doing. I also took one back to the lfs and traded it in for a female. We got lucky at that time they had just received a new shipment in and there were some females that had bright pink bellies. They told me that she was ready to lay eggs. About a week after bringing her home she covered a piece of driftwood with eggs. Unfortunately they did not survive because the male ate them. They say it is really hard to sex the Rams when they are young. Just look for the pink belly.

 

[djl08]

Since my last post, the female that i added seems to have become ill. She isnt eating, she has a red patch just past her pectoral fin and seems to have trouble swimming. My male also seems to have contracted whitespot" ### i wish i had a quarantine tank.

Any ideas on the female?