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I was thinking about possibly getting a pair of blue rams for my 55 gallon tank. Now, I had read in some places that these fish are semi-aggressive. I have loaches that tend to hang out at the bottom of the tank and I do not want them harmed by the blue rams. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with loaches and, if so, how aggressive do the blue rams tend to be, if at all?
TIA
Jen

What sort of loaches are they?

I shouldn't think the rams should be TOO aggressive, especially if you have something like yoyos.

Joe Potato

Thanks for the super fast reply!
Dojo and zebra loaches--my dojos are exactly the smartest fish in the tank and I really don't want anything to happen to them. If the blue rams "aren't TOO aggressive" I think I would rather just try my luck with a different species of fish all together--something not at all agressive.
Thanks

Blue rams are not aggressive at all mine were very peaceful in fact it didnt harm any of my tetras and other small fish. I will warn you though during breeding this is a different story and they are quite aggressive to anything that comes to close to where they are espablished

Can you describe how they are aggressive? I mean, do they just chase other fish away from their "territory" or do they rip their fins off? A little bit of chasing out of a small area I'm okay with, but fish losing eyes and fins is a different story.
Thanks for the help. And sorry for all the questions. I just don't want to make a choice I might regret later.
Jen

WHile breeding they will most likely kill/ try to kill anyfish that comes to close. WHile not breeding they imo can be considered peaceful fish.




fish1

Alrighty
Thanks for the help. I think I've decided to stay away from the blue rams, at least for the time being until I get a different tank. I couldn't handle it if something happened to my dojo loaches or any other fish for that matter.
Thanks for all the help!
Jen

Nah, I doubt that they would kill their tankmates, even if they were a breeding pair. German rams guard pretty small territories for cichlids, and have small mouths as well. This limits the amount of damage that they can do, especially in larger tanks. Rams are *somewhat* aggressive when breeding, but much less so than most other cichlids. They basically just chase other fish out of their territory, and give them a warning. If the fish persists, the ram pair might give the intruder something to think about, but they won't do anything serious. Rams are pretty much incapable of doing much damage to fish, unless they chase them all over the tank. Such behavior is rare in the normally-peaceful rams, so I wouldn't be worried about it. I think that a pair of rams would be fine in your tank.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

IME, breeding rams=dead fish. Dojo loaches are too large to be in any particular trouble, but young yoyos might.

Rams are generally very peaceful fish.

But breeding Rams can get a bit aggressive, and chase fish etc. But as Books said it's very unlikely that they'll kill any fish.
There still could be a chance that a Ram may kill another fish but if provided with enough space/Territory etc nothing bad should happen.

Rams aggression is over exaggerated, and is nothing when compared to other Cichlids.



Last edited by PJ at 20-Feb-2005 23:53

Thanks again for all the replies!
I've decided to hold off on the blue ram. There are way to many conflicting opinions to be sure that my other fish would be safe. I am not very good at sexing fish, but, just out of curiosity, if I were to find 2 males or 2 females, would they be okay in the 55 gallon since breeding would not become an issue?
Thanks again for all the help and the many replies!
Jen

in a 55g tank i dont think you would have ANY trouble with a breeding pair. 4ft tank is plenty of room for a pair to feel like they have enough space they need and only show other fish the door when they intrude. i also have a 4ft tank but its a 75g tank and i have a pair of bolivian rams, a close cousin of the blue, and they dont bother with the other fish. im also planning on a breeding pair of blues in my tank and this is a peacful community.

anyway IMO get the rams if you think you have the know how to keep them happy. dont go with out something you really want just because one out of 10 people say they may harm your other fish.odds are they will be more peacful and timid then the other fish in the tank.

my rams are always in the top 1/2 so i dont thing the loaches would be bothered too much

Two males and/or two females are a good match if you're not looking to breeding them. However, whence in breeding, I have hed ottos and tetras nipped at---the ottos are more unfortunate, as they continuously wander back to the nesting site. Thusly, I've lost at least two ottos/similar sized loricariids from my three pairs of rams.

I have a breeding pair of german rams. I do not think you will have ANY trouble out of them. They only pay attention to the other ram. I have ottos in with my rams and have experienced no deaths or nipping. I also have very peaceful glass catfish in with them, and they have not been bothered by the rams either.

Rams are the perfect cichlid to for the community type aquarium. By the way, my tank is 55 gallons with the rams in it.