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I've just bought a pair of bolivian rams... ive read a few posts on here about them breeding etc ive noticed this nudging behaviour which i understand to be them telling each other who's boss! does this mean they will be pairing up soon? I've read that they will only breed when they are fully mature? is this correct?

I've got a piece of slate in the tank, under cover from live plants, and i use sand so they can dig a pit. i'm feeding them flakes, blood worm and brine shrimp. water is neutral and on the hard side. Is it jst a case of patients and hoping they pair up?

thanks for any help, im still kinda new at this!

does ur bolivians show red tummies. if so make sue you get a male ... no red stomach... and place him in their.if bother dont have red get some femals

well i think ive got one male and one female, the male is brighter coloured, strong yellow towards 'his' front and bright red fin tips... the 'female' is paler a little bit smaller and not as colourful, 'she' has red fin tips but not much colour anywhere else. I don't think theyre ready to breed, yet, but im wondering if they will pair up? or should i get another female as i would like them to breed.

does that make sense? i'll try and get some pics later so we're sure ive got a male and female!!

Generally, the males will be bigger, more colourful and will have longer fins.
You may want to soften the water a little bit, and do regular water changes. This will get them to spawn.
Good luck.

well im sure ive got a male & female, is there a safe way to soften the water? I've got pictus catfish & bristlenose catfish along with some redeye tetra's.

ive taken some pics and will send the link later on, thanks for the help

Bolivians don't need softer water to spawn. If your male isn't showning tail fin extensions yet, I'd go with them being a little too young right now. They don't have to be full sized to breed, but mine showed no interest until the male was strongly sexually dimorphic.

As for the red stomach advice, that doesn't hold with bolivian rams, size, brighter colors and tail fin extensions mark a male.

The slate you have, is it flat on the ground? Bolivians prefer a flat space on the ground to breed. Mine spawned on top of a fake log that had a flatish top.

Eric

ah right, i think the link should work im at work and the moment stupid firewall is stopping me check it! http://uk.f2.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/bh_hffk/lst?.dir=/My+Fish&.view=l

if i do indeed have a pair, its just a case of patients and keeping them in good water? yes, i have two pieces of flat slate on the sand bed.

Looking at your pictures, it looks likely you have a male and a female, but the male is too young to be truly sure...

I had a female I would have sworn was a male (I thought she was) until one day another fish developed the fin extensions (I did think this other fish was male all along, too).

Do the two of them seem to hang out together? My experience is the two females don't do this, but pairs seem to frequently be swimming together, exploring the tank together, etc. If they're not hanging out together, it could be they are too young or it could be two females.

I think time is all you need. You'll know for sure it's a male if they either spawn or it develops extensions that flow off the top and bottom of the tail fin.

I think your set-up sounds fine for your fish...so just hang out and see what happens. Bolivian rams seem to take longer to mature than your average dwarf cichlid.

Eric

well they kinda chase each other round the tank, one day the "male" was chasing the "female" so much all she could do was hide behind the filter... he wouldnt let her out but yesterday "she" seemed to be holding her own, and today theyre almost hanging around each other, only almost tho they still give each other the nudge and a bit of lip locking... think i'm going to have to wait till they mature and if i havent got a pair take one back?

thanks for all your help eric

I agree you'll just have to wait and see. My pair do nudge each other and do lip lock from time to time, and long ago before they paired up there was some chasing...so only time will tell.

They're just fun little fish though, aren't they? They've got all the personality of a big cichlid but require so much less space.

Eric

Oh yea! I love them, theyre great fun to watch and have so much character. This is my first tank so i've never had any cichlids before but I think i might be needing a bigger tank soon!