Cichlid Question...

[Paradise3]

I unfortunately lost my male ram last night for unknown reasons. No signs of illness, water perfect(Amm - 0ppm, Nitrite - 0ppm, Nitrate - 5ppm, PH - 7) and was feeding well. Even ate yesterday morning and was happily showing off the the female ram. My question is, would the female accept another male as she had bred with this male and I was aiming for a pair of rams not just one(hence buying the pair and not just the male) and although I was expecting rams to be difficult, I've not had a problems with these till now. I've only had them 2 months though.
 
If not, what other dwarf cichlids could i have in my tank? I don't want Bolivian Rams as I've heard they are hard to sex and I ideally want a pair that I can sex from being young like the GBR's. Mine were the Gold Rams.

 

[fm1978]

Oh sorry Paradise, that's horrible! Even worse when you've no idea why!
 
I'm going to take a stab at an answer based simply on what I would think might happen in nature...
 
I'd guess your female would need some time to get used to a new mate but eventually she would accept him as a replacement. You'd have to imagine that in nature there would be casualties, for whatever reason, and both males and females would have to find replacement partners throughout their lifetimes.
 
Their natural tendency toward breeding and passing on their genetic material (as is the case with 99% of the animal kingdom - not counting pandas hehe) would surely be strong and therefore a change in mate may not be that difficult to overcome...eventually!
 
What about some Apistos, do you already have them? 

 

[Paradise3]

Oh sorry Paradise, that's horrible! Even worse when you've no idea why!
 
I'm going to take a stab at an answer based simply on what I would think might happen in nature...
 
I'd guess your female would need some time to get used to a new mate but eventually she would accept him as a replacement. You'd have to imagine that in nature there would be casualties, for whatever reason, and both males and females would have to find replacement partners throughout their lifetimes.
 
Their natural tendency toward breeding and passing on their genetic material (as is the case with 99% of the animal kingdom - not counting pandas hehe) would surely be strong and therefore a change in mate may not be that difficult to overcome...eventually!
 
What about some Apistos, do you already have them? 

 
Thanks, it's a shock.
I was actually looking at getting her another male to see how they'd do but I want to see how she does first because I know GBR's are known for dying for no reason at all. It's still a shock when they've been doing so well and breeding.
 
I like Apisto's but I've heard they can be fussy when first introduced like rams. I have also heard that once settled they are pretty hardy though.
 
I've been thinking about it and I do like Bolivian but they are hard to sex. Maybe if I was to get a small group of Bolivians, wait for two to pair up and then remove the others and keep the pair since Bolivians are apparently more hardy than GBR's. What do you think?

 

[fm1978]

Getting a group and letting nature take it's course seems like a sensible way to do it.
 
I'm afraid I just don't know very much about Rams at all except that they are that much more difficult, on paper, to keep well. I can't imagine that that would be an issue for you, though, you're obviously very experienced and have the correct setup(s).
 
Personally, my favourite of all the Rams is the Electric Blue...
 
On the face of it, Apistos are the ones to have if you want hardy and, theoretically fewer unsolved deaths, but that's kind of what you would say to a beginner, not you, an experienced fish keeper! Go for your group of Bolivians and just watch what unfolds...

 

[DerpPH]

nannacara sp. are also a good alternative to GBRs. Same requirements. 

 

[Paradise3]

nannacara sp. are also a good alternative to GBRs. Same requirements. 

 
I can't get Nannacara sp. round here. None of them. I think I'll go with Bolivians and get a group and wait for a pair to form then remove the rest.