you can isolate it, put it alone in a pail with airstone running, do water change every other day, or you can add some cave or more plants
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Hi folks,
I have a 8litre tank with the following:
4 cardinal
3 German Ram like fish (not sure which one as forgot to ask shop)
1 pleco
1 longkang
I know that I have overcrowded my tank and I am contemplating getting a 20 gallon tank instead. But my CO is cautioning me and anyway, a 2 ft tank will take a few weeks to do a fishless cycle.
I noticed that one of my German Ram seems to be getting really territorial and is chasing my other fishes around. The other 2 ram seems to be loosing a little of the orange forehead already.
What should I do?
Isolate the aggressive Ram?
Increase the amount of fake plants i have in to tank?
Upgrade immediately to a 2ft or larger tank, after fishless cycle is completed of course.
you can isolate it, put it alone in a pail with airstone running, do water change every other day, or you can add some cave or more plants
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Yup, adding more plants to break their line of sight will definitely help. If your plants cover all or most levels of the tank it will definitely help even more. They are electric blue rams by the way.
Wouldnt adding plants to cover all or most level of the tank lead to overcrowding?
Thought they will need some open space to swim
As in not fill the entire tank with plants, but perhaps a few tall ones that can reach the middle part of the tank would be good in my experience. Otherwise for example if you just fill the tank with short plants like glosso, in the end they would still see each other.
I see. Off to the fish shop tomorrow
The taller plant (fake ones though) seems to be working.
Now all 3 Rams are kind of extending their fins, colors are coming back even though there is some small degree of chasing going on.
The more aggressive fish is a male defending it's territory, which happens to be the fake plastic plant. You need to add in hide outs etc for the other fish to find cover. This is normal behavior from Rams, and those in the video are Balloon-type Electric Blue Rams.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
I have the same problem. Adding more hiding places (plants and structures) would generally help.
I have finally upsized my tank from the small one in the video to a 2 ft tank.
The set up is as such:
2 ft tank
Ehiem 2032
Ehiem Skim 350
I have 3 balloon electric rams, 1 platy and 2 panda cory
Any recommendations for peaceful fishes to add?
Generally, alot will tell you to go with Cardinal, Tetras, etc. For me, I will go around looking at nice fishes and when I find one, I google to find out if that fish is mild or agressive in nature before buying them for my tank. Everyone will have a different preferrence for fishes, I believe you do too.
Cheers
eRic
German Ram is territorial by natural. Too me, even 2 male in a 2FT heavily planted tank is only just nice.
In my opinion, you have too many Ram in a too small tank.
QUICK STATS for RAMsource: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...84&pcatid=1084
Minimum Tank Size: 20 gallons Care Level: Difficult Temperament: Peaceful Water Conditions: 72-79° F, KH 5-12, pH 5.0-7.0 Max. Size: 3" Color Form: Blue, Orange, Red, Yellow Diet: Omnivore Origin: Farm Raised, Thailand Family: Cichlidae overview
The Ram is prized for its winning personality despite its fierce appearance. With its spiked dorsal fin, low-slung pectoral fins, Papiliochromis ramirezi appears to be an aquarium bulldog. However, this member of the Cichlidae family is actually one of the more social and peaceful freshwater fish. In fact, most Rams will actively swim with equally non-aggressive members of your community aquarium and are known to faithfully pair with just one other mate. The German Blue Ram is known for its mottled deep blue splotches of color. The German Gold Rams have a gold body with hints of pink, orange, and red and the Electric Blue Rams are just that, electric blue in coloration.
For the best care, the Ram should be kept in an aquarium of at least 20 gallons with several dense plant groups scattered around plenty of open swimming space. The Ram also needs a few caves in which to hide and, if breeding, flat stones on which the female can lay her eggs. Though the Ram is very peaceful, both females and males can become aggressive towards other fish when hiding places are lacking or when tending to their eggs.
Impeccable water quality is also a must. The Rams breed in soft to medium hard water with a neutral pH and slightly raised water temperatures between 77° and 82°F. Peat should be added to the water. Both the male and female share the rearing of the fry, and it has been reported that the Ram will take fry into their mouths to protect them like a mouth brooder. Care should be taken so that the fry are not sucked into the filter.
Approximate Purchase Size: 1" to 1-1/2"
I have 2 Electric Blue and 3 Balloon Gold Rams in my heavily planted 2 ft tank. Overall, they are peaceful. From my observation, they tend to chase their own kind around but not the other fishes. Give them plenty of hiding places with both plants and hardscape, they should do fine. But from your video that you posted, I believe the reason why it turned aggressive is because mainly your tank is too small for 3 of them and there is no hiding place for them. Since you have upgraded to a 2ft tank, focus on more plants for your tank and provide sufficient hiding space for them. Subsequently, they will roam around the tank making it a pleassure to look at them.
Cheers
eRic
for rams they will be even more aggressive when they pair up and ready to breed as i hav been breeding them offen
they can actually live without air pump i hav tried before
There are errors in that entry quoted from liveaquaria. Some entries are done by people who do not actually spend time researching the background of the fish. In some guide books, fish are erroneously identified and labeled as something else, and some info are inaccurate.
Rams these days are not exactly super aggressive, since the majority of fry are removed from their parents once they are free-swimming. These fry go on and do not "learn the ropes" of parental care from their parents and become lousy at caring for their own fry. I've had males eat the eggs, females eating the fry and both not even bothering to defend the fry in their own "territory", as well as 2 female Rams deciding that they would spawn together but not with the resident male.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
I had been monitoring my 2 electric blue rams and 3 ballon gold rams in my 2ft, rather heavily planted tank. 1 of my electric blue ram is rather agressive only towards the other rams, this particular ram had grown to a substantial size recently since I purchased him, he has nice black "antenna" that grows longer day by day. When I mentioned agressive, he is just chasing the other rams around once in awhile and also sort of like "hard kissing" the other rams while feeding. I was particularly paying attention to their fins and tails for any torn or damages. Till date, everything looks fine.
From my observation, it seems like 1 or 2 (not all) ram(s) has their preferred territory in the tank. They only start chasing their own kind when the other rams cross their boundary. The rest of the time, they are just plain playful.
I have yet to have any female rams in the tank yet. I heard from LFS that they only mate if they are pairred, any seniors can comment on this? Therefore, I had yet to see their agressiveness towards protecting their fry(s).
Other Co-inhabitants:
48 Cardinals
4 pea puffers
5 amano shrimps
Cheers
eRic
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