Bolivian Rams

[Aderynglas]

Hi All,
A couple of days ago I bought a pair of Bolivian Rams, They are a good size (5cms) and were colourful in the shop, compared to the pictures in Baensch. Consequently they were easy to sex - males colourful, females not so much, males trailing edges to caudal fins, females no trailing edges. So far so good :)
They settled well when I got them home and all went well at first but now the 'female' is harrassing the 'male' He does fight back a little but she's into jaw locking :eek:

I've tried putting a mirror at the side of the tank and then its a different story - the 'male' then attacks the image in the mirror while the 'female' runs away. After the mirror thing they both become contented and the 'female' settles down but every day when the lights go on, its the same story. The colour difference is still noticeable.

Is female agression normal in the Bolivian Ram?? I've tried to find info on them - on here and on the web but nothing relates to the aggression problem or sexing them. :confused:

Thanks in advance
Polly

[optix]

its definatly different to hear of rams acting that way:confused:. I've never had experience with them or heard to much of them being like this. I'd say just give them some time to settle in and see what happens. I doubt rams are going to do any damage really, so just wait it out for a little while. If it continues and its a stressful situation for you, maybe you should take them back and try something else, or a different pair.

[dbcb314]

are you sure there rams...

[Tim Bo]

i have also had similar experiences with mirrors in some tanks, just not with Bolivians (by chance, I have never housed them in mirrored tanks). What are the size differnces of the two? Do they look like those in the link below? Aggression will present itself from both genders IME and will dissipate from time to time, even reverse itself.

http://www.stormpages.com/aquarium/mesphotoscam.html
Go down to Les Archives and click the first Bolivian Rams link

Also here:
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/galtisp.html

[Aderynglas]

Thanks for your replies :D

LOL Tim Bo - I don't use mirrored tanks, I use a large hand mirror :D

It seems to be working as she is much calmer now and he's colouring up and looking less stressed.
I also fed them when I turned on the tank lights - its hard to fight when your eating :D :D

they are M. Altispinosa :) I also have M.Ramerezi in a smaller tank :)

they look like the ones in the link ( I hope there's a link!!) but they arent fully grown and coloured up yet (only had them a week)


Regards
Polly

[Aderynglas]

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGHHHHHHHHH

the link didn't work :( :eek:

here's the addy

http://cichlidae.com/gallery/Microgeophagus/default/html

they have fab photos :D:D:):):D:D

[Aderynglas]

sorry I'm having a blonde moment :D

try again :confused:

http://cichlidae.com/gallery/Microgeophagus/default/html

[Aderynglas]

ok that isn't going to work either:( :(

for some reason the correct addy isn't coming up tho I type it in right!!!

it should read Microgeophagus not Microg...us !

can anyone out there do links???

i've just looked in the mirror and I'm definately not blonde - maybe its old age :(

[peifc]

It isn't the link problem. It is because the picture doesn't exist in that site.

[Aderynglas]

Then I must be having hallucinations because when I click on the page its there. Which is wierd to say the least. If you follow the link you too will see the pictures

[Aderynglas]

I've just checked again and the photo is attributed to Lee Newman :)

[peifc]

Strange...now it works. Before that...it said there are no such site. Yeah...totally weird.