fellowfishfanatic523
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I have owned a definate male/female pair of German blue rams since Sunday 27th November in a 15 gallon aquarium with a shoal of 6 rummy nose tetra.
When I first got them they were paired (had been in the shop) and the female was full of eggs. They adapted really well really quickly and were wonderfully peaceful to eachother and the rummys, even sometimes trying to shoal with them for short periods. To the confusion of the tetras! Within ??? days they had mated in my tank and layed atleast 200 tiny eggs. This had been my first experience with egg layer breeding let alone cichlid breeding so I did bundles of research. All the eggs were fertillised and the parents were doing their job beautifully. Beating the eggs, cleaning them and protecting them 24/7. This meant that even though I had given them a special corner spot to breed in that was somewhat secluded from the rest of the tank, the rummy were getting told off a lot. In the end I decided to remove the eggs and parents because of this into a small tank I had stand by but unfortunatly as soon as I did the parents forgot their duty and they forgot and completely ignored them. It was when the male started eating them that I removed them both and put them back in the 15 gallon.
Sadly none of the eggs hatched in the end I suspect down to ph. But up until a week ago everything has been fine. The rams have been looking stunning and are as peaceful and playful as ever. Were ....
About a week ago my male suddenly flipped out at feed time he was nipping and attacking anyone who went near him or any food for that matter the female who was beside him at the time (as usual they never leave eachothers sight!) got the brunt of the attack and lost several chunks out of her tail. It was so sudden she didn't have time to swim away, it was like she didn't even get what had happened. Over that day she and my other fish mostly hid in plants. Every hour or so she would slowly edge her way over to him only to be chased and nipped at until he got tired.
Since then he has got even worse. When you switch the light on in the room in the morning he wakes up first and goes looking for the female (he has stopped harrassing all thw other fish now only her) as soon as he finds her he starts to tear her fins apart while shaking his head.
She wakes up and tries to swim away and then an endless fight ensues across the day. Food or no food he swims about the middle of the tank with the rummys but if he spots her for even a second he sets on chase.
She looks a right mess at the moment with barely and tail fin left but amazingly she still manages to swim. She is very pale and spends moat of her time at the very top of the tank next to the filter, to get away from him.
On Tuesday (27th) the males personality flipped again. He was back to loving caring protecting and being her pair mate like before so I hoped it would stay that way.
But yesterday (Wednesday 28th) it was back to the same but worse and he is now starting to get alittle stroppy with the rummys. But nothing compared to how he is with her.
I really don't know what to do or what has caused this. The only thing that has happened is that 3 of the only 4 plants I had melted a couple of days before he changed. So maybe its to do with cover?
Over the last 18 hours I have added numerous old plastic plants I had to see if it would make a difference but so far its made it worse!
What should I do?
Should I take them both back to the store or just him or just her?
I have grown so attached to them both but the female especially. I don't want to have to send any of them back but right now it seems the only way.
Please help!
P.s. sorry for such a long post
Wanted to get everything in!
Regardless to this topic, what nano fish are ok with RAM Cichlids? e.g. would Celestial pearl danios or pygmy corys be ok tankmates? I am asking for a friend.
Please help me with all this ASAP. If I do have to send back then I will need to know opinions soon in order to do so.
Thankyou x
When I first got them they were paired (had been in the shop) and the female was full of eggs. They adapted really well really quickly and were wonderfully peaceful to eachother and the rummys, even sometimes trying to shoal with them for short periods. To the confusion of the tetras! Within ??? days they had mated in my tank and layed atleast 200 tiny eggs. This had been my first experience with egg layer breeding let alone cichlid breeding so I did bundles of research. All the eggs were fertillised and the parents were doing their job beautifully. Beating the eggs, cleaning them and protecting them 24/7. This meant that even though I had given them a special corner spot to breed in that was somewhat secluded from the rest of the tank, the rummy were getting told off a lot. In the end I decided to remove the eggs and parents because of this into a small tank I had stand by but unfortunatly as soon as I did the parents forgot their duty and they forgot and completely ignored them. It was when the male started eating them that I removed them both and put them back in the 15 gallon.
Sadly none of the eggs hatched in the end I suspect down to ph. But up until a week ago everything has been fine. The rams have been looking stunning and are as peaceful and playful as ever. Were ....
About a week ago my male suddenly flipped out at feed time he was nipping and attacking anyone who went near him or any food for that matter the female who was beside him at the time (as usual they never leave eachothers sight!) got the brunt of the attack and lost several chunks out of her tail. It was so sudden she didn't have time to swim away, it was like she didn't even get what had happened. Over that day she and my other fish mostly hid in plants. Every hour or so she would slowly edge her way over to him only to be chased and nipped at until he got tired.
Since then he has got even worse. When you switch the light on in the room in the morning he wakes up first and goes looking for the female (he has stopped harrassing all thw other fish now only her) as soon as he finds her he starts to tear her fins apart while shaking his head.
She wakes up and tries to swim away and then an endless fight ensues across the day. Food or no food he swims about the middle of the tank with the rummys but if he spots her for even a second he sets on chase.
She looks a right mess at the moment with barely and tail fin left but amazingly she still manages to swim. She is very pale and spends moat of her time at the very top of the tank next to the filter, to get away from him.
On Tuesday (27th) the males personality flipped again. He was back to loving caring protecting and being her pair mate like before so I hoped it would stay that way.
But yesterday (Wednesday 28th) it was back to the same but worse and he is now starting to get alittle stroppy with the rummys. But nothing compared to how he is with her.
I really don't know what to do or what has caused this. The only thing that has happened is that 3 of the only 4 plants I had melted a couple of days before he changed. So maybe its to do with cover?
Over the last 18 hours I have added numerous old plastic plants I had to see if it would make a difference but so far its made it worse!
What should I do?
Should I take them both back to the store or just him or just her?
I have grown so attached to them both but the female especially. I don't want to have to send any of them back but right now it seems the only way.
Please help!
P.s. sorry for such a long post
Wanted to get everything in!
Regardless to this topic, what nano fish are ok with RAM Cichlids? e.g. would Celestial pearl danios or pygmy corys be ok tankmates? I am asking for a friend.
Please help me with all this ASAP. If I do have to send back then I will need to know opinions soon in order to do so.
Thankyou x
autocorrect strikes again 
