Rams

[Gordon88]

Ok my rams layed eggs last thursday, but were all eaten by saturday as they were in a community tank. Obviously while the eggs were there they were quite aggressive guarding them. This carried on for a couple of days after the eggs had gone proberbly blaming fish for the egg disappearance, mainly the keyholes. After a couple of days the female stopped harassing the other fish but the male ram however still seems to pick on other fish anywhere in the tank when he sees them, especially the keyholes. I have moved some of the decor around to see if that helped but it didnt.
What can i do?
If i remove the two rams for a while in their own tank will this help?

It was never like this before, all my fish have always got on very well!

Anyhelp will be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Gordon88]

can anyone suggest anything because the male ram today still seem s to be bothering every fish that crosses his path even my little panda corys!!
It isnt really aggressive but none the less it is stressing the other fish out.

Help would really be appreciated!
Thanks

 

[nmonks]

It's normal for cichlids to be aggressive when spawning. Benthic fish, like catfish, bear the brunt of this because they are (rightly) seen as dangerous egg predators.

The best thing to do is move the rams to a breeding tank, and let them spawn there. Cichlids often eat their own eggs the first couple of times. It's as if they are practising, and recycle the eggs, so to speak. They will settle down and breed though, provided they aren't stressed by something.

Rams are tricky because they need soft/acid water to breed most easily. In hard/alkaline water the eggs often fail to hatch. But, watching cichlids look after their fry is amazing, and it is well worth accommodating their "bad habits" at this time for the privilege of seeing some of the most advanced behaviour in the entire fish world.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Gordon88]

thanks so you think i should move them to a breeding tank then?

 

[nmonks]

If it was me, yes. Put them in a 10 gallon. Sometimes a few "dither fish" are important to help a pair of cichlids settle in. Surface dwelling fish are ideal, danios for example. Rams are open spawners, meaning they prefer to lay their eggs either in a sandy pit or on a flat stone. Part of their bonding behaviour is cleaning the nesting site.

If you do set up a breeding tank, be sure and use a mature filter. You can take out half the media from an old filter and put it in a new one. After a few days, both will be at full strength. Just be careful not to overfeed during the meantime.

Cheers,

Neale

thanks so you think i should move them to a breeding tank then?