Terry

Well, I’ve had 3 Bolivian Rams for about a week now, and they confuse the heck out of me. Still trying to figure out what sex they are, and their behavior. They have been doing the liplock thing, and originally I was thinking that the 2 doing the lip locking were a pair, but I’ve now seen liplocks between all of them. I think I have one male, based on everything I’ve read and researched. It seems like there are a hundred different opinons on sexing Bolivian rams. The one I’m fairly sure is a male, shows no sign of an ovipositor, has the brightest colors of the 3, the longest tail extensions, and a pointed anal fin. None of these are probably guarantees in themselves, but maybe the combination of all of these together may be a good indication that it’s a male?

Another thing that has me confused though is that one of the 2 that I think are females, is very dominant over the other 2 (male & female if I’m right), and constantly bosses them both around and generally harasses them both. Is it common that a female would behave like this in a situation with 2 females & one male? What I think is the male is actually behaving the least dominant of the 3. I’d like to end up with a pair, and transfer the oddball to another tank, but I don’t know which one to move – the subdominant female, or the dominant female? If I’m right on the sexes, maybe removing the dominant female would allow the other 2 to get along better? Or would it be better to keep the dominant female and maybe she'll behave better if the "other woman" isn't around any more?

Cute little fish and very interesting to watch, but figuring out this situation is driving me crazy! Thanks.