# Bolivian Ram Behaviour



## Ethan2213 (Feb 29, 2016)

Hey everyone,

I have a 38 gallon heavily planted tank with driftwood, the whole shabang. It’s been running for several years and about a month ago I got some Bolivian rams. I got a male and female (I checked their vent’s before buying them). The male chases the female around the tank. The chasing does not seem overly aggressive, but I noticed her tail is getting nipped at by him. She doesn’t seemed super stressed and they both eat pretty close to each other, but maybe she is getting tired from being chased. Is this behavior normal and okay? I was thinking of getting another female increasing the male’s chance of pairing and lowering the stress of my current female? Any opinions or thoughts? 

Thanks for any advice I appreciate it!


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## Raith (Jun 27, 2014)

Do you have plants in the tank?


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## Ethan2213 (Feb 29, 2016)

Yeah its heavily planted


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Typical cichlid behavior. Try 2 more females.


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## jr125 (Mar 5, 2015)

I have a male and female in a 125, lots of plants and other cover. They spend most of the time on their own but occasionally kind of dart at each other for short distances, never really a chase of any kind. They also will spend time together calmly in the same area. I think they just like to have their own area to retreat to when they want to. Maybe the larger tank makes enough of a difference. I've never had more than the pair so I can't comment on what effect adding others might have. If you have the space and it's not just being new in the tank behavior it might be worth a try. I do really like the fish.


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## Ethan2213 (Feb 29, 2016)

Yeah and I've read that sometimes the male chases the female to maybe initiate breeding, but as far as I can tell these two have not paired off yet and the chasing is just a small type of harassment, I might make a terracotta pot cave so the female could get away. Are there any ways to induce breeding or pairing off?


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## Ethan2213 (Feb 29, 2016)

Now I just saw them looking at each other and they locked lips for a little bit? Should I be concerned? I've read it is either pre mating flirting stuff or a dominance issue? Any thoughts?


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## Valo (Nov 19, 2015)

Get more females and you should be fine. My male Ram killed his fist mate from stress (he would not leave her alone, unless she laid eggs..which she did twice before dying). I got 2 more females and I haven't had an issue since, except for the other fish eating their eggs...


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## Ethan2213 (Feb 29, 2016)

Even if my male and female are staring to show signs of pairing? They both go and look head to head and he kind of twitches and shakes his head


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## BrynnaCC (Jan 5, 2014)

If they're showing signs of pairing it might be worth a bit of a wait, although the two rams in my 50 gallon paired off, were happily together for a year, eggs/wigglers and all, and then they had a really long, bad breakup where now the female is a total bully to the male. Rescaping to change their territories didn't help. They're at such a bad point (she corners him next to the internal filter and doesn't let him leave) that I'm moving the male to my 40 gallon. They're a complicated fish.


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## Ethan2213 (Feb 29, 2016)

Yeah they are well they only behavior I have seen is the male chasing the female (not constantly) which has been going on since I got them which has been about a month, now today for the first time I saw them lock lips and then the male twitches his body and shakes his head, so I dont know if you call that pairing behavior or not, these fish are hard to read. Should I wait a little longer before adding another female?

I posted two pics. The first one is what I believe is my female, and the second one is my male, based off their sexual organs. Did I get it right? So this behavior might be pairing behavior?


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## sohankpatel (Jul 10, 2015)

They are a bit young to be certain right now, but I think you are right. My pair HATES each other, they dart at each other whenever they are near. I have noticed no fin damage, and neither is submissive to the other. The locking lips is generally a dominance thing i believe. My 55g has a male and female. Lots of cover as well as an open area in the middle. The twitching and tilting/shaking of the head is something that I have noticed in the year I have had my rams.


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## mbkemp (Dec 15, 2016)

I think you did a great job of venting them. They are young....... I started with three and have about 20 now. They are fruitful once they like one another. I think yours are flirting although the nipped fins are a concern. How warm is your water?


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## Ethan2213 (Feb 29, 2016)

I have it at 80 degrees right now. And thanks! I am pretty sure they are a male and a female. But based off other pictures of Bolivian Rams mine seem pretty small. My male has nipped my females back fin, but nothing super serious. Recently she has been "facing off" with him and they look at each other and she puffs her gills and he does the same, doing the locking lips then he kind of swims away, but sometimes he also chases her after they stare each other down. It's just so funny how Rams act and their behavior is almost unpredictable.


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## Ethan2213 (Feb 29, 2016)

Anybody have any other advice? Should I get another one or just see how these two play out?


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## mbkemp (Dec 15, 2016)

Ethan2213 said:


> Anybody have any other advice? Should I get another one or just see how these two play out?




They will cool down a little at about 78 degrees. 


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## sohankpatel (Jul 10, 2015)

Ethan2213 said:


> Anybody have any other advice? Should I get another one or just see how these two play out?


Even if the male pairs with the new ram, the old female will likely get beat up by both the others. I would see how it plays out, and if they don't pair (Like mine) they can still coexist, you just won't get fry.


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## Ethan2213 (Feb 29, 2016)

Okay I will wait and see what happens! Thanks for everyone's help Ill keep updates!


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## Ethan2213 (Feb 29, 2016)

*Upate*

So my female ram kept getting harassed and was getting more timid with the male so I moved her to my 20 gallon tank. Would it be okay if I fattened her up and then put her back in the tank with the male? Any tips to fatten rams up? She eats blood worms and stuff, but spits them back out and doesn't eat them again. My female ram has been nipping at an algae wafer the last day or so! Any other ideas?


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## sohankpatel (Jul 10, 2015)

Ethan2213 said:


> So my female ram kept getting harassed and was getting more timid with the male so I moved her to my 20 gallon tank. Would it be okay if I fattened her up and then put her back in the tank with the male? Any tips to fatten rams up? She eats blood worms and stuff, but spits them back out and doesn't eat them again. My female ram has been nipping at an algae wafer the last day or so! Any other ideas?


Try different things. Is she eating at all? She may have some kind of parasite or illness if she is not eating. 3 out of my 5 rams have died in the first month or two because they just stop eating and waste away, I never found out what the cause was.


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## mbkemp (Dec 15, 2016)

Ethan2213 said:


> So my female ram kept getting harassed and was getting more timid with the male so I moved her to my 20 gallon tank. Would it be okay if I fattened her up and then put her back in the tank with the male? Any tips to fatten rams up? She eats blood worms and stuff, but spits them back out and doesn't eat them again. My female ram has been nipping at an algae wafer the last day or so! Any other ideas?




Mine love algae wafers. I also feed earth worm sticks and repashy. I add some garlic and freeze dried bloodworms to it and they love it


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## ichy (Apr 6, 2015)

I have four in a 20 quarantine right now. They chase, but with larger numbers the aggression is spread out. Get a couple more to spread the aggression.


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## Ethan2213 (Feb 29, 2016)

Yeah I've fed her different things in my 20 gallon. She's in there with a couple guppies and some neon tetras so hopefully she can fatten up in there and then maybe she'll be ready to mate with my male!


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