Indian_villager

Hey there so I am back for more help. My tank as been running great for over a month now with the two angelfish and two zebra danios. So I finally went to get my favorite fish. The German Blue Rams. The first day or two they were just hiding in the back of the tank like most new fish do. But today one of the fish is swimming around freely and kinda bullying the other one. The other fish kinda gets chased and is forced into a corner where it stays. It is unfortunate because the one being bullied is easily the prettier of the two. The fish are fairly large they are 2.5"+. My water conditions are good. No ammonia, No nitrite, and like 20ppm of nitrate, also the water is sitting at about 80F. Is there anything I can do to help or is this something that will go away on its own.

From reading other threads I have gathered that this could be a bad thing but is there anything I can do to improve the situation? I have a few tall plastic plants in my tank and plenty of shorter ones. Along with a small cave like structure.

I will provide pictures tomorrow if it helps.

Edit: one thing I forgot to mention. Both fish are holding color great. From the other threads telling horror stories along these lines they all noticed loss of color in the one being bullied. Also my fish that is being bullied is breathing relatively fast.

harpua2002

How large is the tank? Have you been able to sex them?

Indian_villager

30 gal and i think they are males

harpua2002

2 males may just continue to fight. Can your return one of them and try to get a female?

Indian_villager

The LFS wont let me swap.

capekate

As above, the two males will fight and the dominate one will bully the other. There is not much you can do other than have plenty of hiding places for them in the way of a lot of bushes and plants. It wont stop the aggression, but it may help if the aggressor is not able to 'see' the other fish too often. It is during the times that the view is blocked that the one that is getting bullied may get some relief for however long or short a period, but at least get some relief..
Best of luck with them, they are gorgeous fish! Photos would be great..

Indian_villager

Here are the piccies

The one being bullied and his reflection in the glass.


Both




The bully



See I told you the one being bullied is prettier!

capekate

they are both gorgeous! I would try and give them more hiding places.. really fill it up and see how it goes.

Indian_villager

Do you have any recommendations as far as hiding places go? Are we talking cave structures or plants.....And I'd like to do it on the cheap if possible.

capekate

Anything that is going to break the line of vision. You can get away with the small artificial plants that are only like 4 inches tall and those are pretty inexpensive, even the silk material ones are not expensive. But it would help to bunch them up around the bottom so that the ram can hide among the plants. You did mention you had a cave structure so that is good. You can also try some very small terra cotta pots and maybe the ram can use one of those for a hiding place as well.

Indian_villager

This is bad the bullied one is just kinda laying on the bottom. Its late. I cant go out and buy any structures any ideas? I have a small 1.5gal tank but it is empty....if I set it up quick do you think it will be ok?

dking271

Unfortunately, GBR's though mostly peaceful are still cichlids. Two males in a 30G will almost always have the same results that you are experiencing. Your best bet is to bring one back to the store, or you will most likely see the picked on fish die. If it were me, I would not place the bullied fish in the 1.5G. I would probably get the lights turned off and try to settle the tank down for the night. Rams are funny, because you can get aggressive bullies, laid back easy going guys, or stressed out litlle nervous wrecks. With an aggressive bully like yours, I would suggest either keeping him alone or adding two females. I have had some GBR's that just wouldn't tolerate another GBR in their tank...male or female.

I have two breeding pairs at the moment, one pair of Jumbo GBR's like yours that will spawn by some time tomorrow, and one pair of regular GBR's from previous breeders that have since died. I also still have a male with an abnormal dorsal fin from a previous spawn from one of my previous pairs.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Indian_villager

Well too late for anything now. I found Bloolegard dead. RIP fishy!

I left for 30 minutes for shower + checking the thread....and he passed.


What is absolutely sad is that I personally witnessed the killing blow as I just rounded the corner to the tank to check on it.

bolivianbaby

I'm sorry you lost one of your GBR's. They are beautiful fish!

capekate

oooo I am so sorry to hear the little guy didnt make it. I have seen aggression between my GBRs but never to the point of death. Im wondering if your little guy may have not already been weakened or sick before you brought him home. You can leave your lone GBR alone with no other of its species, it will be fine in the tank and you wont have to worry about going through this again.

dking271

Sorry for the loss of your fish. Unfortunately, I have first hand experience with fatal aggression in GBR's. I would really consider leaving this guy alone in your tank. If you try to add females, I would have a back up plan to relocate them to another tank.

Indian_villager

I feel so bad. They were beautiful fish. Would GBR's show aggression against Bolivians?

harpua2002

Probably not. With dwarf cichlids (unless they are spawning), aggression is mostly limited to conspecifics. Every now and then, you'll run across an extra aggressive fish, but it isn't common. My husband used to have a ram we called the "killer ram." He killed a female and terrorized an angelfish in a 29 gallon tank. He was so aggressive that he ended up with an entire 29 gallon to himself. What size is your tank? I wouldn't add a Bolivian with a GBR in anything less than 29 gallons. Each fish needs room to claim a territory.