Female Ram Not Eating

[Cadevan]

I got two GBRs by accident while in college, one of the other girls in my dorm was moving to an appartment that didn't allow any pets, even fish, and was just going to flush the two young rams she had since she had already given most of the smaller fish she had away. I saved them. I have a pair in my tank at home, a lightly planted 40gal that's been running for around 8 years, but they've never given me any issues. The ones I just got are currently living in a 10 gallon with 4 guppies and 2 corries, over stocked, I know, but better than flushed. 

I got them four days ago and the male has coloured up and seems happy, he is eating flakes and exploring. The female still seems pale and has been sucking in food and blowing it back out, but has otherwise been acting normal, she seems to be thin though, is there anything I can do on to get her to eat? I have two types of flakes, tetramin tropical and Aqueon tropical flakes. 


The water is soft-ish, around 6ph and I put in a cichlid cave for them. It has one small real plant and several fake ones and has been cycling for about a year. The LPS is about 6 miles away and I don't have a car, so I can't really do live food. 

 

[attibones]

Can you get frozen foods? Blood worms are a favorite. She is likely stressed. The guppies may be too active for her in such a small space (they aren't ideal for your water anyway; they like harder water at a higher pH), or perhaps the two corys (which need to be in a group of at least six) are the problem. She may be stressed from overcrowding in the lower level. 
 
When you say the tank has been cycling for a year, what do you mean? What are your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings? Even for a fish-in cycle, the cycle should be complete after a few months. 
 
What temp is your tank?
 
If you can upgrade your tank, I feel like this would really help with some of your problems. 

 

[Cadevan]

Is there any way to keep Rams and guppies happy together? The water around here is super hard, mining towns are great for that, so I use a mix of dechlorinated tap and distilled. I can possibly or freeze dried depending on what the store has, I'll look into it. I can't really upgrade due to the policy on aquariums in the dorms, 10 is max and any bigger I really wouldn't have a place to put it, and I have no where to put fish until winter break where I could potentially leave some in my larger community tanks at home. But I wouldn't trust the rams there as my current pair can be territorial, the poor tetras in the tank with them never dare leave the top third of the tank. I would try to get rid of them to see if that would help her, but there is no where to really put them and I don't trust the local chain pet store to actually send them somewhere decent. I could possibly see if any of the labs here need some guppies, my project is working with fracking chemical's effects on fish reproduction, and I think we all know that's something that guppies are good at. 

I've had the tank running, fish-in for about a year, I was just noting that it shouldn't have the usual new-tank issues. Ammonia and nitrite and zero and one the test strip nitrates are in the "safe" zone, I do small water changes anytime these change.
 
Temperature is around 80. 

 

[Cadevan]

The Giant Eagle with in easy walking distance of me has algae discs and shrimp pellets, might these be found tasty by the rams?

 

[attibones]

Last time I kept rams, they were pigs. They picked at the algae wafers, but they are mostly carnivorous. Shrimp pellets may be a better option than flake, but freeze dried foods should not be offered to fish of any species, as they are notorious for bloating fish. If your pH is relatively stable, you might not have an issue with keeping them together, but the rams love soft water. 
 
Are you testing your ammonia and nitrite with test strips, by the way, or liquid kits? Strips are not accurate. I'm asking about ammonia and nitrite in particular because a lack of appetite could be due to poor water quality. However, if you've had the tank for a year and (I'm assuming) have not changed any media recently, then you shouldn't have a problem with water quality. 
 
Have you noticed any of the guppies picking at the female ram?

 

[Cadevan]

Okay I'll check for frozen when I go to the store then. And the pH stays about the same, so I guess it should be okay? 

Strips, I had liquid tests for a while at home but they were always a pain, should I switch back to them? And no, I haven't changed the media or anything, just threw in the rams. Could the fish I have over populated the tank to an oxygen deprivation? It seems like I have plenty of surface movement, or maybe overwhelmed the bacteria? I didn't think two fish would do that. 

No, the guppies tend to stick to the top half of the tank chasing each other, they seem to leave the others alone, and there aren't any nipped fins that I can see.