A little help with bolivian rams

Hi, this is my first post and i'm just really after a little advice. I've had my community tank up and running for about 4 to 5 months now. I recently bought some Bolivian rams, a male and a female, they are great fish with bags of character. I just have a few questions about their behavior. The female over the last few days the female has been going through some quite extreme mood changes. For instance this morning she was sitting in the middle of the tank going after anything that went near her, especially the male ram. Then after a few hours it was like she couldn't bare to be away from him following him round the tank endlessly(not in an aggressive way). Now she's back in the middle snapping at everything again. I was just wondering if this is some weird sign of pairing/mating or some sign of stress?

I've tried to find some information online but I thought it would be best to ask advice from people who own and see these great fishes moods every day.



My tank 33g


My rams (obviously while she's in her loved up mood)

 

Welcome!

I do believe that this is a type of mating behaivior. Are there any sign of eggs near the space that she occupies in the middle? How many males and females do you have? What are you perameters?

 

Welcome to Fishlore.

I have 4 differant types of RAMS, and that does sound like mating behaviour to me as well.:;hurryb

 

I have just the 2 rams one female one male. Parameters are GH 30ppm KH 40ppm pH 6.5 NO2 0ppm NO3 0ppm. No signs of any eggs however their behavior has changed over the last couple of days. The female is much less aggressive and the two are spending a lot more time together. I have also noticed that they are starting to go round cleaning a few spots in the tank however this doesn't seem to be that urgent. Also I have noticed some strange behavior which again I'm guessing is something to do with pairing up or breading. Firstly to two get alongside each other and really wiggle there whole bodies (they seem to be doing this over the spots where they have been cleaning) secondly I have noticed that when the two face up to each other instead of lip locking like they usually do the female is just dipping her head so that when the male comes forward it looks like he is lip locking/kissing her on the forehead?

 

If your tank is cycled, there should be some nitrates unless it's very heavily planted, which doesn't seem to be the case. Can you test the ammonia?

 

The bottom range of my test kit is hard to read as there is very little variance in colour. I think 0-20 is probably the better answer. As for ammonia I do have a test that sticks the the side of my tank which is sayings its in the safe range but I must admit the thing is pretty much covered in algae

 

RAMS are sensitive.

Whether or not it is a courtship between the two of them or something else, you really need to go get a test kit that really tests the levels accurately. I too bought one of those things that hangs on the side of the aquarium for ammonia, but it does not really work. I used to use those test strips; not only are they hard to read, they are not accurate. When I got a real test kit, I was shocked at how high some of my values were. Rams are very senstive to ammonia, nitrite and EVEN nitrate. They really can not tolerate anything above 10 in the nitrate department. So, I do not know how you maintain your water in terms of water changes and such, but I do a water change every other day in the tank with my Rams.

 

Are you testing with paper strips or a liquid kit? Paper strips rarely test for ammonia; and are often inaccurate.

What is stocked in your tank? What live plants are in your tank? Very low bioload and heavy feeder plants could explain no nitrates. But looking at your pictures this doesn't seem to be the case.

 

Yea it's probably something I'll have to get i've not been that impressed with those test strips. I do a 30% water change once a week.

 

One other question one of the main spots where my rams are cleaning/spending a lot of time is over a rock that is right next to my filter intake. If they were to bread and they did use this spot would it end with them just getting sucked up and if so is there something I can do to prevent this?

 

I would up the water changes until you get a kit a find out what your true reading are.... just to be on the safe rather than sorry side.

 

One other question one of the main spots where my rams are cleaning/spending a lot of time is over a rock that is right next to my filter intake. If they were to bread and they did use this spot would it end with them just getting sucked up and if so is there something I can do to prevent this?

Cover the filter intake with a sponge. Cut a slit in the middle and insert the intake tube. Works great in fry tanks!