# Paired bolivian rams suddenly fighting?



## rebeccak2009 (Dec 6, 2016)

Hi,
I've had my tank for about a month now (35 gallon tank) and have bolivians rams, white tetras and 2 red platys. I started off with 3 bolivian rams, but 2 of them paired up and ended up beating on the other one so much I had to take him back. So for a couple of weeks all was well and the rams really colored up nicely and looked really healthy. No aggression other than chasing the platys during feeding time. Then suddenly yesterday and today the female ram has been relentlessly chasing and going after the male. The male has now lost all of his colors and looks super pale. I'm not sure why this would be? Any thoughts? They had been great up until now, swimming around together, chasing the platys together, eating together, doing everything together. I feed the fish a mix of flakes and bloodworms. 
I checked my water recently and had a ph of 8.4, slightly elevated ammonia (between .25-.50) and no nitrates or nitrite. The ammonia I'm putting to the fact its a new tank and probably still cycling.


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## Granamyr (Dec 16, 2015)

there are several reasons that they could be doing it.

1. The female could be ready to breed and the male is not and she will harass him until he is
2. The male is really another female and she is chasing it away trying to wait for a suitable male to show up
3. She is just a psycho ram and will not tolerate others around her
4. The ammonia could be causing issues for one or the other

How long have you had the tank set up and how long have you had the fish?


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## rebeccak2009 (Dec 6, 2016)

Granamyr said:


> there are several reasons that they could be doing it.
> 
> 1. The female could be ready to breed and the male is not and she will harass him until he is
> 2. The male is really another female and she is chasing it away trying to wait for a suitable male to show up
> ...


Sorry for the delay in my response. I've had the tank running for about 6 weeks and have had the fish for about 4. I've noticed since yesterday evening the male has started "fighting" back and they are lllip locking. Male seems to be chasing the female now. Or its more eeven if anything. My ammonia has not gone down after 2 25% water changes. My ph is 8.2.


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## rebeccak2009 (Dec 6, 2016)

Granamyr said:


> there are several reasons that they could be doing it.
> 
> 1. The female could be ready to breed and the male is not and she will harass him until he is
> 2. The male is really another female and she is chasing it away trying to wait for a suitable male to show up
> ...


Definitely seems to be a territorial fight. I have a large coliseum decoration that from what I can tell is what they are fighting over. It's just so weird to me since they were definitely a pair before. Reasons i think this is they would clear a hole in the gravel together which from my view seemed like they were wanting to mate. Also never fought and always together. I'm certain one is male and one is female due to the difference in vent (is that the right term?) And dorsal fin is also extended on male.


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## jamntoast3 (May 15, 2015)

Sometimes pairs break up. They might get back together, might not. It's not an exact science. You really need to get your ammonia down though, I would do daily water changes of at least 50% until it's under control, maybe grab one of those probiotic products like seachem stability or something. I think they work well enough to get you back on track. Hopefully that will get your pair back in condition


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## rebeccak2009 (Dec 6, 2016)

Thanks! I actually noticed this morning the pair has better colors- still poking at each other but suddenly look better and not as pale. The ammonia is still at .50 but I'm continuing to do water changes. I actually just noticed last night that my whisper power filter 60 seem to be overflowing in the center part? Maybe this is why the ammonia is high? I'm guessing this means I need to change the filter or something.


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## jamntoast3 (May 15, 2015)

My hob overflows a little by the tube also, I don't think that would do it. If the tank isn't new it maybe you had a mini cycle or something. I've had it happen if I'm feeding too much. You might want to see if you filter needs cleaning but I don't think you'd have to replace it unless it's like a flash flood bypassing all the bio media.


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