Bolivain Rams Are Being Aggressive

[richmar]

I recently got a pair of bolivian rams for my heavily planted 40 gallon breeder tank . they seemed to be a pair as they were sticking with each other constantly for the first week or so.

i think on is a male and one is a female judging by their coloration and shape.

recently the larger one (male) has become aggressive on and off towards the smaller. nipping away a good portion of its tale..

but then 10 mintues later they are back on their corner of the tank.

this goes back and forth all day.




any ideas whats up . ? and how to fix this problem.

 

[ox5477]

what is the other stocking of the tank? If the tank is heavily stocked, then the fish will feel crowded and lash out at eachother.

and do mean it's nipping at the tail or has it completly bitten a piece of it off? If you see them lip locking and swimming around squaring off, it may be just that they are courting eachother as this is typical for new worlds mating rituals.

 

[richmar]

the tail is definitely bitten off .

they are not lip locking

however my tank could be on the high side stocking levels . but it s only cory's hatchets and cardinal tetras and a very small red tail shark. the rams are the largest thing in the tank.

 

[ox5477]

well the rtbs could be the culprit along with the stocking. As said, cichlids can be very territorial and if one of the fish feels very constrained and threatened, it will lash out at another fish that it sees as someone who could steal his territory. The rtbs could be an issue as well as there have been some horror stories on TFF about them. I have never personally owned one but I have heard they can be quite aggressive towards other territorial fish. If the one ram is feeling pressure from both the rtbs and the other ram, it could be acting out the only way it knows how. Try to watch the tank behaviors as much as possible and see if the rtbs pesters the one ram, even if this means swimming near it or encroaching on it's space.