Is this a good idea?

[Eastside Game]

Hello,
So since its becoming obviously clear that my pair of bolivian rams won't pair off, do you think its a good idea if i order six half an inch unsexed bolivians and keep them in a cycled 10 gallon tank until they pair off and then transfer the pair to the main 20 gallon? Or would the 10 gallon be too small for them? The 10 gallon tank would be set up just for them. They won't be sharing it with anyone else. I will give the rest to my friend as soon as i get a pair because i know eventually 10 gallon would be way way too small.

Thank you

 

[SickBum]

If you are serious about it I'd put the new six alone in the 20 and let them do their thing. Once you have a pair mate you can move back other fish and get rid of any besides the pair you don't want. But it may take a while.

You could put them into the ten until you seem to see a pair form but it's safer to have them mate before assuming they have paired up because any time you move thema round they might get out of whack. If you're going to the trouble to get these guys I'd definitely just put them alone in the 20, though. Or even get a larger tank for them they are not all that expensive and they are actually easier to maintain.

 

[jetajockey]

It honestly sounds like a lot of work just to get a pair. What are your plans? Just casual breeding? I'd just get another adult or two to add to the two you have and see where it goes.

 

[Eastside Game]

jeta you might be right. i might just do that

 

[jetajockey]

If you want to set up a species tank and start breeding them out colony-style then the other way would work great, get a bunch of juvies and let them go at it. But if you are just trying to get a pair in a community tank to see some breeding, I wouldn't be patient enough to wait for some juveniles to grow out, or willing to pay for several that I'd just end up rehoming.

They really are beautiful fish, I've been considering getting bolivians. I'm getting tired of my ebr/gold rams :]

 

[Eastside Game]

i might just get another adult and see what happens. why you got tired of them?

 

[jetajockey]

Mostly because they are terrible at parenting lol. Don't get me wrong, they are beautiful fish, but they are definitely touchy to water conditions and tend to live very short lives. Bolivians are definitely much hardier.

 

[Eastside Game]

yea thats why i chose bolivians over gbr

 

[Jannika]

I did pretty much the same thing, Eastside. It seemed the easiest way to get a pair. The problem I had was in obtaining a female. The nearest "LFS" is 50 miles away (and not sure they even carry them), and from what I understand, 95% of imported Bolivians sold in the big chain stores are male. Even breeders won't guarantee the sex, so I've now got 3 adult males requiring 3 separate tanks who will probably never have a mate. On the plus side, Bolivians are super peaceful with most other community fish and fit in well.

 

[Eastside Game]

******UPDATE******
My friend gave me her male bolivian ram and i added him to my aquarium. The new fella got nipped over the first two days but i am glad to say hes fine and doing very well. My first submissive ram actually came out of the amazon sword and stopped hiding. They are all swimming in front of the aquarium together. There's an occasional chasing by my dominant ram (which i suspect might be a female but not totally sure). They all seem to be getting along pretty well and swimming together and not being as crazy territorial as before when i had only two . What do you think might be an explanation for this?