Courtship/Aggression - how to tell?

noodles62

noodles62

Just Noods......
Apr 17, 2008
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Dawn
I just got a male Bolivian ram and put him in the tank with my existing female. At the very first, they were hanging out together at the bottom of the tank for the first few hours...now she is a total "witch" and chases him and head butts him - they have locked lips a time or two. I realize it is still very early and he is still stressed but how will I recognize courtship behavior? How will I know when to make the decision that it will not work and need to separate? This is my first time trying to play matchmaker and I do not want any injured/dead or "stressed into sickness" fish....
At lights out, he came up beside her and she pushed/whipped him with her tail until he moved!!! :help:
 
Anybody???
 
It could be pecking order. However, if they are lip locking, that is a good sign. With mine, whichever female is "ready" my male lip locks and head butts. She whacks him with her tail. They start "cleaning" a spot within a couple of days of this starting. They then lay eggs and both take care of them with the female fanning most of the time and the male chasing off all comers. He will give her a bit of a break and fan the eggs so she can eat or "stretch" her fins. Then it is back to the same. Once the eggs are gone, he starts with the next girl.

At any rate, if it she that is the aggressor, I don't think you will have a problem. Usually it is the male that drives the female crazy with "do ya wanna...huh, huh, huh, do ya wanna!"
 
Ah, sweet love... or maybe not. After we figure out how to tell the difference between courtship and aggression in fishes, maybe we could do the same for people.

I don't know anything about rams, Noodles... but I did just get a new (to me) schooling fish. Just browsing around, I managed to find a video someone made that shows the way they swim around in circles a certain way that means they are matching up for breeding. You might do a search like that on YouTube - see if breeders of these fish have uploaded any videos. That made a big difference in my case.
 
Thanks for the tips. I was watching them this morning (w/ just very dim room lighting) and they were apart but watching eachother and her movements were that which I have never seen her do before....I am going home for lunch to check on them. LOL
He was so stressed yesterday so I am hoping that once he gets used to his new "digs" magic will happen. :grinyes:
He is very beautiful with coloring that would rival a GBR; he has double tail filaments as well as double spots on his sides. He is quite a looker and if she knows what is good for her she will calm down!
 
I'm going through this right now with my Dovii.. my male Dovii is so aggressive that I have a hard time distinguishing courtship vs aggression. From what I have gathered lip locking and tail slapping are contributed to courtship. The other way I can tell is my female is still alive :D However she is fairly beat up. She is the first fish he's allowed to live with him so that has to count for something.

Good luck with your spawn!
 
Thanks! Good luck to you too!
Well, I went home for lunch and both are still alive. I guess that counts for something...he is calming down a little bit as his stress colors are starting to tone down. They are not buddies yet - if he gets too close she chases him away. She is a little pistol! Hopefully he can man up! LOL
 
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