Ram Cichlid's Fighing

[conley58]

i have a 30 gallon well planted tank, i have 5 julli corys, 5 Albino corys/ 10 green tiger barbs and 4 Ram Cichlids. i bought the 4 rams the about 12 days ago and all they seem to do is keep out the way seperatly in their own corners at the bottom of the tank or at the bank of my tank hidden and the only time i see them is when they feed, which is when the problem starts. when they get close and see each other they start fighting not intensly but one will atack one and he will run of then it will come back and chase the other one away. is this normal behaviou because if read that these fish can be kept in groups but they dont interact at all they just seperate usualy just swimming within their little hideaway.


thanks in advance

 

[Dave1]

i guess the general rule is 10 gallons per pair of rams (male and female) and they r territorial fish, so thats the problem, i have 3 rams in my 29 gal tank and the 2 females fight, and chase eachother, but its not that bad, ur fish should be fine.

 

[ox5477]

Rams are cichlids and are very territorial. Though they are one of the more peaceful cichlids, and considered a "community fish" in most cases, they will still quarrel. I would suggest removing two of the rams as this will give the other two more room to claim territory. This should help stem some of the aggression and help the rest of your fish not get caught in the cross fire.

Too.... tiger barbs can be a little on the aggressive side and might threaten the rams a bit making them a little more on edge then normal. I think they will be ok if the barbs and rams mind their own business, but you may see a group of ten barbs picking on one ram one day if they start to see one as a threat so just watch for that. As you can prob guess, I don't think a single ram would have much chance against 10 tiger barbs.