Bolivian Ram Aggression

HI Everyone!!

My husband and I just love our Bolivian Ram (a female) and we decided to get another today, and picked up a male (as that is the only gender the lfs had). Unfortunately, the female was very aggressive with the male and started chasing and sparring him. The male, however, did nothing to counteract and just tried to stay out of the way. None of the other fish had any problem with the new male ram.

We put a divider up to separate the 2, and are hoping that the male will get a little more comfortable in the tank and the female will see the ram on the other side, but I wanted to ask...

Is there anything else to do and is this really common? Being that they seem to be so peaceful, we didn't think getting another would be a problem.

Thanks always for all your great input!

 

Rearrange tank decor so that it breaks line-of-sight better, or put them in a larger tank, such as a 55g.

good luck

 

Would breaking the line of sight eliminate the female's aggression, or would it just slow it down? She was trying to get to him through plants earlier and was pretty relentless about it, which is why we put the tank divider in.

 

Sadly it would just slow her down. Your best bet would be using a larger tank, but the divider is your cheapest bet.

As always, best of luck.

 

Unfortunately, we just purchased our 29 gallon tank, and as we are poor graduate students, there is no way to get a 55 gallon in our budget. Should we consider returning the fish to the store? If we do return one of the rams, should we keep the new, docile male or return the aggressive female?

 

Personally, I would remove the aggressive female.

 

Just for an update, we did take the aggressive female back to our lfs and exchanged her for a java fern!! We'll try getting some more Rams a little later on.

 

Yeah I agree, java fern is DEFINITELY less aggressive, LOL.

 

I got 2 Bolivian rams at the pet store a week ago. The only 2 in the tank. They're in a 135 gallon with no other cichlids only peaceful fish. Anyways, Ram A follows Ram B around and pesters it. I figured in a 135 surely they can just make their own territories if they're both male. (Idk)

Well not the case. This morning Ram B had been bullied so bad he hovered the bottom and stayed hidden. I watched for an hour. Ram A went looking for B. Finally found him and started biting him like crazy. B ran but was slow. I have only a 10 gallon betta tank. I do have a fry house one of the white net squares to hang on the side of the tank so ram B is there for now.

What to do?

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strange but not unusual .......it will kill him take it back to the shop ....or at least the aggressive one back ,,

 

Trying to choose which one to keep. I can rehome the other one probably if I post in the local fish hobby facebook page. Which one would you keep? Part of me wonders if B isn't sick so A is getting rid of it. I'm monitoring it for a few days to see if it's already too late before I find a new home or decide to rehome the aggressive one.

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I think I would keep the non aggressive one,,,,,,, get rid of the bully you can always try another one later to your tank

 

I would take the bully back. Hope B recovers, let us know.

 

Yep, got to stand up to them bullies and throw them back so to speak.

 

Took the Bully back and asked them to just find another home he was a bully with my fish. So they took him. Now I'll hopefully get ram B in good shape and maybe find a female.

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Took the Bully back and asked them to just find another home he was a bully with my fish. So they took him. Now I'll hopefully get ram B in good shape and maybe find a female.

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Bravo, pics?

Males have longer, pointer fins, females have more rounder and shorter in comparison to the male I think. I have a paired Dwarf Golden Rams and I love them. Mine are named Ramses and Nefertiti, Ramses bobs out of the water when I go to feed. He waits on the side until I give it direct to him, spoiled little bug. In fact, they only will eat frozen or live.

 

Ram B is out and about today. Seems very sweet and friendly comes to investigate me at the glass. His top fin looks like Ram A mustve gotten the best of it.



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Yeah the same thing happened with my rams... It eventually did kill the ram. I took out the bully fish and got a new set of rams, and theyre peaceful now!


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So my bolivian ram is getting more and more aggressive towards my 2 sunset thicklipped gouramis (both female). I'm not sure what sex the ram is but if I had to guess it would also be female. Originally they hung out together all the time. Then it turned into the occasional "get out of my bubble" thing where the BR would chase them for about a second to get them away. Now it's almost every time she sees one of them in his half of the tank. The other fish she leaves alone. She usually will flare at them and then peck/kiss them if they are facing her. If not she will chase them and sometimes peck at their tails. Now she doesn't seem to be doing any damage and the gouramis don't seem to be stressed but if it's going to continue to ramp up I feel like I need to do something now. I also will soon purchase a school of cory's. Aeneus to be exact. I know they will be down there with the ram even more than my gouramis so if she's already aggressive with them I'm not sure she will take to the cory's.

1) Is there a way to decrease the amount of aggression in the ram? There are plenty of things to break the line of site and hiding places for the gourami's to escape. Sometimes she just chases them out of her sight but sometimes she pursues as well. I've read online that getting them a mate will calm this down but this isn't an option for me. BR's are never kept in the areas around me. The one I bought was the only one i've seen in 3 months of looking. My LFS accidentally got her in with another shipment and I snatched her up. So if there is another way I'm all ears.

2)If I must rehome her (I want the gouramis more than the BR) are the other types of rams less aggressive? GBR/Golden Ram/Electric Blue? I know they are all the same fish just a different coloration but all of them are much more common in my area. I also know it's largely dependent on the type of fish. I could get another BR and they be much more peaceful but since another BR really isn't an option since they are so scarce here, do the other ram variations tend to be less aggressive or about the same?

2b) Does anyone else have any other ideas for another centerpiece -like fish? Perhaps another dwarf cichlid or something else I haven't considered? I have guppies, cherry barbs, 1 platy, albino aeneus cory's (soon),and thicklipped gouramis. It would need to be something that can be kept single or a pair that would take up about the same amount of space as the 1 ram

I'd prefer to keep her but not at the expense of my gouramis

 

You could try a Kribensis, they're very peaceful. I have two that just mind their own business or swim together but don't bother anybody. They're usually the ones being chased out from what I have seen.

 

I've considered them. I haven't ever actually seen one around here but then again I've never looked as well.

rehoming her is really the last resort. I'm hoping someone has a suggestion that can help me keep the aggression down but realize it's likely I'll have to get rid of her.

 

Well Anders is gone for a week so I don't know what to advise you in the meantime.

 

Well maybe someone else will. I may just be forced to rehome her anyways

You could try a Kribensis, they're very peaceful. I have two that just mind their own business or swim together but don't bother anybody. They're usually the ones being chased out from what I have seen.

Can Kribs be kept by themselves? What I mean is are they ok being the only krib in the tank or do they need to be kept in pairs?

 

They're ok with being by themselves or pairs, either way is fine.

 

That's good to know.

I'm starting to see how limited I am with fish selection around these parts. I have a petsmart (really bad fish tanks), a petco (nice fish tanks but small selection), and a really nice LFS with lots of selection but a lot of their stock is dedicated to large pleco's and extra large fish for 150 gallons plus.

I have yet to see a krib there but will see if they have any next time I go. They keep a good selection of rams but not bolivians.

It gets aggravating when you are looking for a specific fish.

 

Maybe you can get the LFS to special order for you? Most of the fish stores I have been to are good about this.

 

Yeah I may have to ask them if they do.

Well I think I am going to have to rehome her. She's getting more and more territorial to the point she isn't allowing the gourami's in the bottom half of the tank.

It's a shame because I really wanted a BR but this one doesn't seem to be acclimating to the community setting...at least not with the gouramis.

May just try a different type of ram or see if the LFS will order in a krib.

 

You did mention female so, Is there the slightest possibility that she is pregnant or laid eggs and is showing maternal aggression?

 

I don't think so. Nothing around my tank that resembles BR eggs. She's also been by herself for over a month and was not housed with any other BR's at the fish store. And I'm not sure she is a female. I'm just guessing because she doesn't seem to have any of the stereotypical male characteristics but BR's are notoriously hard to sex.

 

Ok then I'm ruling out the possibility of maternal aggression, it may just be her(?) personality then.

 

Yeah I've seen online where some people say the BR's tend to be more aggressive than the GBR's and their variants. So I may have to try a GBR if my LFS won't order in a krib for me.

I see someone has them on ebay for 22 bucks shipping and all but that's a lot of money for a single fish and to risk it in the mail.

 

Yea... that does seem a lot for a fish, the shipping is probably twice the cost of the fish itself because it has to be priority one-day shipping.

 

Oh yeah. 7 bucks for the fish. 15 for the shipping.

 

Well, if you decide to do it, always make sure they have a DoA (Dead on Arrival) guarantee to protect yourself.

 

THere is just something about buying a fish before you see it that bothers me. I'm sure plenty of people do it but I want to check the little bugger out first. Especially at 22 bucks a pop

 

I feel the same way, I don't really feel comfortable about buying fish online, no matter how rare it is.

 

So I'm looking around online and am seeing that at least with german rams, when they are kept alone they can become a little nippy but if you get them a mate not so much? Anyone have any experience with that?

 

It's a good thing you asked, this thread may help you out lol

 

Haha that is hilarious. I shot her a question we'll see what she says

I saw some people on some threads putting thicklipped gouramis with a pearl gourami. Does anyone think that could work? Maybe a male pearl with my 2 female thick lipped? Both species are very peaceful. Just a thought?

 

How big were their tanks though? In a 36 BF I think it would be pretty risky... Anders247 would probably know!