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Electric Blue Rams. Sexing, and behavior questions

Jayha24

New Member
Messages
19
Good morning,

So I recently came into a couple of Electric Blue Rams. I've only dealt with Apistos up until this point so Rams are a bit of an unknown quantity. I was looking for a pair, and although my lfs owner did her best we both were kind of taking a stab in the dark as to the gender of the two I got.
Both are doing very well, and although they had just been shipped in, they adjusted to their new home very quickly. Water params are 6.5 , 0 , 0 , 5-10 and about 84F. I just have the two of them in a 10g by themselves at the moment until some of my fry have grown out enough to be moved to the community grow out tank.
My first question is can any more experienced eyes help me sex them? I know what my opinion is, and what I've read online, but unfortunately my eyes aren't experienced enough with Rams to be sure of the differences I see.
Second, this morning they were showing some interesting behavior that I would like some insight into as well. The thinner of the two likes to follow the other. It usually has it's fins displayed, but not super stiff. Just kind of has them all open, but somewhat relaxed if that makes sense. Occasionally it will chase the other, and bump it, but I have yet to witness any damage whatsoever. (if things get nasty I can remove one) Sometimes the other will bump back, but like I said if they're nipping it's not to cause harm... at least not yet.
They also did this while circling each other nose to tail, every now and again turning to bump. While they did this both of their fins were strongly erect.
At the moment the thin one is still interested in the other, following and chasing and such, but the bigger one seems more interested in the front glass. I brought the lighting down just a little in case that might be causing discomfort.
So there's the situation. My opinion is that either I have two of one sex (2x Male or 2x Female) and this is the start of some easy going territorial behavior, or I do indeed have a pair forming. Please let me know if you can help me determine gender, and what their behavior indicates.
The bigger of the two is the picture on the bottom.


IMG_0503.JPG



IMG_0513.JPG
 

Jayha24

New Member
Messages
19
*Update*

I came in to see the two "fighting" just a few minutes ago. They were posturing to each other nose to tail. Their movements were really jerky as they circled one another, and they would bend in the middle then snap back. Kind of like an apisto tail swat, but much quicker, and more intense. One will then turn toward the other, and quickly nose bump (no nipping. I checked fins when they were done, and no signs of injury) then finally they would face off, lock lips for barely a second, and then start posturing some more. Only lasted about 5 minutes, and now back to business as usual with one swimming along, and the other following.

This is fascinating behavior to me, and kind of funny to watch. Nevertheless I do need a boy/girl combo, and this strikes me as a territorial thing between two of one sex.

Any information is greatly appreciated!!!
 

Jayha24

New Member
Messages
19
Yeah that's kind of what I figured. Any ideas about the behavior? I figure if I can't get a fix on whether I have a pair I might grab a male, and female GBR. That way I can put the male in with one, and the female in with one to see what I have. If it doesn't work I swap, and see what happens that way. A little more expensive, and time consuming, but at least then I'll know what I have.
 

Ganz

New Member
Messages
8
Location
USA
I have wondered the same thing about sexing EBs. I can't be of any assistance other than I have spent countless hours watching GBRs. The rapid head shake or twitching is almost
always initiated by the male, the female responds with a twitch back. But the male has an intensity about it. The pursuit that follows is also initiated by the male.
 

Ganz

New Member
Messages
8
Location
USA
In the GBRs if you have a pair that likes each other and you were to add a third fish to the scenario,the male would banish another male to a different area of the tank. If a female is added the bonded female may kill the newcomer.
I have to believe that EBs act the same. I think you have a pair. You'll know soon if they start obsessing on one particular spot and start cleaning it up.
 

Jayha24

New Member
Messages
19
So I got a couple GBR's to try one of each sex with the EBR's. So far I've noticed one of the EBR's is completely uninterested, while the other one just constantly wants to chase. In order to get used to what I'm looking for in pairing behavior I put the male and female GBR's together.

I see a lot of twitchy movements, flaring, and the female looks to be digging pits in the sand. This seems like pretty blatant pairing behavior so it's what I'm trying to replicate with the EBR's... All just to find out the sex of my EBR's lol
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,201
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
The best way to sex EBRs (or any fish for that matter) is to buy at least 6 specimens of varying size and let them decide. If I had been you, I would have bought more EBRs instead of GBRs.
 

Jayha24

New Member
Messages
19
Which is great when there's more than 3 available. Just so you know posting replies that say you can't help, and pointing out what you would do when it has nothing to do with my current question is not constructive at all.
I'm unsure of the sex so I'm trying to learn information about them. If you have insight into ram behavior so I can be on the look out for something great!
Telling me you don't know and saying what you would do doesn't really give me anything to work with, and doesn't help me understand my fish any better than before.
If I were you I would only reply to posts thank I can really contribute to.
 

Ganz

New Member
Messages
8
Location
USA
Wow. Go easy. Be patient and see what happens. But you probably don't want those GBRs cross breeding with the EBs. If I understand correctly you put them in the same 10g tank. Look-
In rams the male is probably the bigger fish with longer pelvic fins. He does the pursuing.
 

CBon

New Member
Messages
20
I was interested in this thread. RIGHT up to the point where you, Jayha24, the new member with 19 posts, starts to get rude to Mike, a Moderator on here, extremely experienced and helpful one at that, and with over 6000 posts !! Really ? I think you need to get a grip !! And maybe research your fish before you buy them too.
 

wethumbs

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
476
The pictures show two EBRs of the same sex (males) and both of them are still very young, probably less than 3 months of age. After raising thousands of EBR this past year, I can sex them with certainty starting at around 2 to 2.5 months old.
 

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