German Blue Ram sexing

[Ste88GermanRam]

Hello everyone. Story is I got myself a male & female pair last week. Was told to either keep a pair or 1m & 3f. Unfortunately I didn’t go with the 1&3 option straight away. So went back today to get 2 more females. Shop didn’t have many left and they struggled to pick out 2 females. Was assured these two are females and the last they had. My male has pestered the life out of them since I put them in, are they females? And will they be accepted by him as he’s quite dominant. Any help is great and I appreciate your time. I’ve added the best pics I can as they are both timid and dart away to cover, only chance I get is when the male drives them out.

 

[Aquaticloch]

Welcome to the site, Are the photos of the fish you bought today? if the aggression continues you could re-arrange the decor and re-introduce every fish at the same time, it helps to reestablish territories. also it looks like at least one of of your supposed "females" is a "balloon morph" which is a spinal defect (i believe) Just making sure you are aware.

 

[MacZ]

If I see that right almost all are tankbred strains (I see a balloon and at least one longfin, aswell as one which is probably a hybrid with the gold variant), which makes sexing a lot harder.

Usually if the second ray of the dorsal is significantly longer it's a male and if the belly is reddish it's a female. Many domestic strains are either lacking both signs often or females develop longer fin rays. So unless one has wild type fish the sexing is always a gamble.

 

[anewbie]

I could be mistaken but generally speaking rams are M:F. Having extra females might give the male more options but the other two females will have to be removed else there will be violence.

 

[Aquaticloch]

might i add that we do not know your tanksize that would help.

 

[Ste88GermanRam]

Thanks all for replying. My tank is a juwel vision 180. It’s quite well planted. Tanks only 3 months old. I was always told it was 1 male and 3 female to keep it calm. My mistake was I added two females a week later. Also is the balloon morph bad? Are they ok? I am finding the way fish are bred is shocking. See photo of my male and female from a week ago. And of my tank setup. Thanks everyone.

 

[MacZ]

The tank is ok for one pair of rams, for more it's too small and neither sufficiently planted nor structured. Just as a sidenote: I see gourami, those need far more plants, especially such that grow to or even above the surface. I see the roots of some floating plants, but that's not remotely sufficient. A well structured gourami tank should be planted so densely that from top to bottom one cannot see the back wall of the tank.

Rams are generally problematic thanks to generations of mass production, but the domestic strains are often of especially bad health due to excessive inbreeding, also further health problems from the changed physiology lead to shortened lifespans. I would return all fish besides the original pair, which looks quite healthy.

 

[Ste88GermanRam]

The tank is ok for one pair of rams, for more it's too small and neither sufficiently planted nor structured. Just as a sidenote: I see gourami, those need far more plants, especially such that grow to or even above the surface. I see the roots of some floating plants, but that's not remotely sufficient. A well structured gourami tank should be planted so densely that from top to bottom one cannot see the back wall of the tank.

Rams are generally problematic thanks to generations of mass production, but the domestic strains are often of especially bad health due to excessive inbreeding, also further health problems from the changed physiology lead to shortened lifespans. I would return all fish besides the original pair, which looks quite healthy.

Thanks for this. I am now looking on either returning or rehoming them. Tanks only a couple of months old. I was made aware of the need for plants for the gourami so have since planted more tall growing plants, just a matter of waiting for them to grow, all what’s in there have grown from a few inches to that in 10-12 weeks so hoping not too long.