Rams beating up on cories
- Thread starter blue_ram
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I had 2 male rams in a 20 with cories and tetras and they got along great. I put them in the 40 and they started fighting. I put 4 females in there with them to pair them off, they fought and the females fought, but they paired off and I ended up with 2 paired rams and 2 spinsters. I put a pair of rams in the 20 and left a pair in the 40 and moved the two free ladies into a 10 until I could decide what to do. The 2 ladies in the 10 have becoem good friends and get along great.
The male in the 40 got himself all tore up somehow and I put him in quarantine with his girlfriend, they got alogn great and he was gettig better until she tuirned on him and started trying to eat his bad eye. I think he is blind now and might not make it.
The rams in the 20 had two small cories and an oto to clean up after them. The rams spawned 3 times and on their thrid spawn, they bashed up the cories.
Anyway, if you want rams in your 55, either get 1 male or just a few females. You can tell the females by their rosy pink belly.
The male in the 40 got himself all tore up somehow and I put him in quarantine with his girlfriend, they got alogn great and he was gettig better until she tuirned on him and started trying to eat his bad eye. I think he is blind now and might not make it.
The rams in the 20 had two small cories and an oto to clean up after them. The rams spawned 3 times and on their thrid spawn, they bashed up the cories.
Anyway, if you want rams in your 55, either get 1 male or just a few females. You can tell the females by their rosy pink belly.
I had figured that there was extensive cover for the cories to hide fromt he rams during the spawn. The cories have a habit of going wherever they want and kept going to close to the nest.
I put the cories in the 40 and will leave the 20 for the pair of rams.
I am wondering if the random oto death last month in the 20 was because of the rams
I put the cories in the 40 and will leave the 20 for the pair of rams.
I am wondering if the random oto death last month in the 20 was because of the rams
Anything is possible when your dealing with spawning cichlids.
A standard 20 gal doesn't have a large enough footprint to provide enough territories for a spawning pair of rams and other bottom dwellers. It's possible to make it work but the amount of plants needed to break up the line of site would be more than you would think.
I wouldn't dare put 2 pairs of spawning rams in a 20 unless there was a divider.
A standard 20 gal doesn't have a large enough footprint to provide enough territories for a spawning pair of rams and other bottom dwellers. It's possible to make it work but the amount of plants needed to break up the line of site would be more than you would think.
I wouldn't dare put 2 pairs of spawning rams in a 20 unless there was a divider.
I have to disagree on the line of sight, I have seen the rams hunt down their opponant througtout a well planted tank with several caves. They do not forget.
I had the bunch of them in the 40 to pair off and had only one pair in the 20 and now the cories are out of the 20 so it will be just for the ram pair now.
I am thinking I might try heavily planting the 20 and give c02 a shot. Not much I can put in a 20 with a breeding pair of rams.
I had the bunch of them in the 40 to pair off and had only one pair in the 20 and now the cories are out of the 20 so it will be just for the ram pair now.
I am thinking I might try heavily planting the 20 and give c02 a shot. Not much I can put in a 20 with a breeding pair of rams.
What Pure was saying, is that spawning cichlids are very unreliable. You just don't know what they are going to do from one moment to the next. And this depends a lot on the individuals involved. Some are more laid back, while others are just relentless. I can't tell you how many people over the years I've spoken too who have had great success at having a spawning pair of kribs in a 20 gallon tank, but when my last pair spawned, the female went off the deep end and killed everything in the tank except the fry. She's still a bit 'off' to this day. :\
Breaking up the line of sight is always the first thing you should try to do when setting up territories for the smaller species. It doesn't always work, but a lot of the time it does. This often gives the male or female a place to hide from the other once the eggs hatch, or if there are multiple pairs, the pairs a place to get away. When this fails, the only other options is a divider, or remove a pair. Even the docile cichlids get really riled up when it comes to protecting eggs/fry. It's just the nature of the beast.
Breaking up the line of sight is always the first thing you should try to do when setting up territories for the smaller species. It doesn't always work, but a lot of the time it does. This often gives the male or female a place to hide from the other once the eggs hatch, or if there are multiple pairs, the pairs a place to get away. When this fails, the only other options is a divider, or remove a pair. Even the docile cichlids get really riled up when it comes to protecting eggs/fry. It's just the nature of the beast.
I have a spawning pair of rams in a 10 gal. They recently killed one cory and one otto. The tank needs a cleaning type fish. There are no other fish in the tank. They were ok with the otto for several months and then turned on it. They didn't like the cory from the beginning. I had a flying fox in there that managed well with them, but it got too big so had to move it to a larger tank. Any recommendations? What about a loach?
I think I may have misread what Pure was saying.
The 20 was setup with a lot of rocks and slate to create caves pretty much covering the entire bottom. For the most part, there is no line of sight in the first 6 inches of the tank which si why I had thought the cories woudl be fine. The rams spawned on the top piece of slate and would chase the cories away if they came on the the top piece of slate and the cories would run away and hide in the caves underneath. There was no contact though. This is why I was a bit shocked when I saw the cories all tore up. I had also wrongly thought that the rams woudl leave them alone because of the dorsal spike on the cory and that in general the cories would be too fast for them.
I am worried that even alone in the 20 that the pair will end up killing each other and I wont put the pair in the 40 bcause of all the other fish. I cannot do a 4ft tank because of space limitations, but I could possibly swing a 40 breeder which I have been looking into because it looks like a good footprint for a planted tank for my swords and ludwigia which is gettign bushy.
The 20 was setup with a lot of rocks and slate to create caves pretty much covering the entire bottom. For the most part, there is no line of sight in the first 6 inches of the tank which si why I had thought the cories woudl be fine. The rams spawned on the top piece of slate and would chase the cories away if they came on the the top piece of slate and the cories would run away and hide in the caves underneath. There was no contact though. This is why I was a bit shocked when I saw the cories all tore up. I had also wrongly thought that the rams woudl leave them alone because of the dorsal spike on the cory and that in general the cories would be too fast for them.
I am worried that even alone in the 20 that the pair will end up killing each other and I wont put the pair in the 40 bcause of all the other fish. I cannot do a 4ft tank because of space limitations, but I could possibly swing a 40 breeder which I have been looking into because it looks like a good footprint for a planted tank for my swords and ludwigia which is gettign bushy.
My female turned on the male in the other 10g after her egg tube came out and I turned off the lights. He had an injury above his eye what had mostly healed, she attacked his eye and it wasn't the little bopping or nudging that they normally do, she was out for the kill and was cornering him as he tried to get away. Oddly enough, when I turned the light on, she stopped and wagged up to the top of the tank to beg for food.
I have three paleatus cories along with my pair of rams in my 20gal, and they all get along really well. Even when my rams had their first spawn, they never bothered each other. There is a large amount of cave space, so that probably helps a good deal. The cories are rarely intrusive, unless it is feeding time.