Bolivian Ram fighting

[Sursion]

Well, I asked for a male and female, but the guy at the petstore gave me 2 males. I'm not sure I can blame him though. In the tank, there were no visible gender signs at all. It wasn't until I put them in the tank that I could finally tell I got two males.


Anyways, they were fine for a while. They swam together and were generally nice. But now they've set up territories and one keeps chasing and biting the other. It's not really nipping, because he isn't touching the fins. It looks just like he's biting him (in the side). But he leaves the tetra's and loaches alone. Is this going to be a problem? The other ram was left with the cave, while the dominant one get's the decoration/open area.

[rich311k]

Sounds like it could be a problem. Maybe add another cave so they both have a place to hang their hats. Keep an eye on them, if the less dominant fish shows scars or stops eating you will want to remove it.

[Sursion]

It's odd though. Last night he wouldn't let the other one get close to his territory, but this morning I woke up and they were both sitting there happy as can be. And I've never seen a fish actually bite another one. Would he actually physically kill the other one?

[rich311k]

More like batter and not let the other fish eat. Which would eventually leads to the others death. I am glad they are behaving now.

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

Sounds like they are comfortable enough that they are dueling for dominance. Make sure you have breaks in site lines between the 2 rams areas in the tank. This allows them privacy from each other and areas to hide away if being chased. I think I read somewhere that Bolivians are actually very social fish despite being territorial. Once in a while mine group together and chill in one of the corners but other times the males will chase anyone coming into their areas. Makes it very interesting to watch them!

[Lab_Rat]

Agree they're likely vying for dominance. I have a male and a female, but the male does the same thing to the female at times. Sometimes she'll get into a lip locking battle with him, other times she swims away. If it escalates you may need to do something, but from what you're describing I wouldn't take any action (though adding more hiding spots is always good) but keep an eye on them.

[Sursion]

My tank layout is; there's plants in the back, a big rock (with a cave inside) on the front left. Then there's a decoration surrounded with open swimming space on the front right. The dominant one has taken control of this area. He won't leave it. He chases the other Bolivian ram away and the other one is left with the cave.

Today though, they've behaved. I've seen them chase and lip lock once or twice, but for the most part they're just hanging out at the front of the tank together.



And I agree that they're social creatures. They are absolutely fascinated by my Kuhli Loaches. :shappy: