Agressive Male Blue Ram

[tintin]

Hi,

I have a 125 litre community tank, with amongst others, 4 Blue Rams. When I bought them, the LFS advised me that the best combination would be 1 male to 3 females and thats what I believe he netted.

For the first few weeks they all seemed to be getting on well and hanging around together but lately, the largest male Ram seems to have become quite the bully. I noticed yesterday that one of the females has a chunk missing from her tail fin and seeing as the male Ram spends so much time chasing her he is prime suspect. Another of the Rams spends all its time hiding behind the filter and rarely comes out, for again it gets chased as soon as it appears. The 4th one is currently suffering from Popeye which i'm treating with 'Myxazin'. I'm wondering if this was brought on by stress of being chased around (?)

So my question is, is this normal behaviour for a male Blue Ram towards its mates or is there the chance that the LFS netted males accidentally? The big male does occasionally chase some of the other smaller fish but nothing lie the other Rams.

Any help on this much appreciated cos its spoiling a nice community. =(

TT.

 

[Apache]

Hmm,

First, are you sure that you have just one male? Rams, will turn off their colors so to speak when they are the target of excessive aggression by another member (that they don't counter). Most cichlid species are like this. Point being, is that you may have more than one male. I have two matched pairs in a 75 gallon and I consider that amount of space to be the minimum for these guys to be at their best (coloration, behavior, etc.). But, as with most cichlid species there are no absolutes.

You can try to rearrange the decorations, plants, rocks, etc., in order to try forcing them to re-establish their territories.

One thing that I have noticed about Ramirezi is that until a pair matches up there is going to be alot of squabbling between the female and male. Once they pair up then they seem to collectively go at other pairs or single fishes. The two pair me and wife keep have almost exactly split the tank in half as far as territory are concerned.

G