# German blue rams-males only?



## ramsay22 (Nov 29, 2011)

I have finished cycling a 20 gal tank that I want to use for rams. I already have a school of dither fish and want to add some German blue and/or golden rams. Would it work to have just males?If so, how many could I keep with good filtration, water quality and rock work for hiding places?


----------



## Guest (Dec 24, 2011)

I would think females would better; not as territorial as the males or just do a pair.


----------



## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

Having a pair is probably the best choice; even if you force a pair, the behaviour you'll see from the pair is far most interesting than the behaviour you'll see from two males. If you're wondering about a male only tank because you don't want eggs/fry, don't worry about it. In a tank with dithers the odds of any fry surviving are less than 1%, especially if you have cories, or the deeper bodied tetras. If you really want an all male tank though, I say start with two. I'm assuming this is a 20H, which would mean 24" by 12"; that may or may not be enough for 2 males to stake their territories; having a LOT of decor (driftwood, rocks) certainly will help, although if one male takes particular exception to the other, all the decor in the world won't help. Of course, rams aren't anywhere near aggressive as their larger relatives, but the lesser male would be bullied and probably confined to one small area of the tank.


----------



## ramsay22 (Nov 29, 2011)

Would a male German Blue view a male Gold ram as a competitor? Would a pair of each work in the same tank?


----------



## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

They're all the same fish, just different strains of M. ramirezi, so yes, they would view each other as competition. As for multiple pairs, if a 20H, no; if a 20L, maybe, with enough decor and line of sight breaks, altho it's still iffy at best.


----------

