Ram and discus

[plark]

So my male Ram (my last remaining Ram, has decided he wanted the middle of the tan and nobody is going to take it from him, not even the discus. It's getting to the point of him chasing and the discus freaking out and running into stuff.... What should I do???

[zamboniMan]

Get a female or group. Or move him to a separate tank. I like rams so I'd go with the first suggestion.

Hope that helped.


Josh

[bs6749]

Try rearranging the decorations. If that doesn't work either put in a divider with the ram on one side of the tank or put the ram into a 10g tank. Last option is to cull it. I wouldn't put any more rams into the tank as the male may not be accepting of a new female. I only see this option ending in more dead rams.

[mareshow]

i've seen adding more end out positive, just make sure when you add the new rams rearrange the tank substantially, i've done that with success... mind you my my discus like to torment them so i removed them anyways lol :D

[KEWX]

The first time I added 4 rams to my well planted discus tank (6 - 3" discus) I ended up with 1 dead male ram, 1 breeding pair and 1 lone female. I then added 2 more rams of unknown sex. I ended up with a second pair and 1 lone ram which I think is male who has stayed in non male colors. The first batch of fry became discus food. All but 8 fry from the second batch ended up as discus treats. The discus go down into the plants looking for a meal. The little rams are tough at trying to fend off the hungry discus. The 2 pairs of rams have about divided the 55 gal tank in half. They test each others borders on a regular basis and actual get into it once in awhile. The one lone ram stays out of the way, hides, and feeds with the whole group. All of this "ram action" takes place at the bottom level of the tank while the discus cruise above. They do interact when the discus come to the bottom to feed. The rams usually leave them alone unless they come close to the fry or spawning areas. Overall, the mix is great to watch and the discus have not damaged by the rams.

[RodneyL001]

The previous replys were pretty good. I also think it is a matter of degrees. Fish are always going to chase each other, and there is always going to be a king of the tank. Unless the Ram is actually destroying fins, I wouldn't worry too much. If those discus are young, they will eventually be 5 times the size of the ram, they will probably be able to hold there own in time. I have 3 young, small rams in with my discus, and they get along well. The rams seem to like the bottom portion of the tank, and the discus like more of the mid ground, so they don't compete for a niche in the tank. What size tank do you have?

[plark]

So the smallest discus is 3.5 in.... My Ram has no fear of anything, he doesn't like my hand, he doesn't like other Rams and just wants the whole middle of the 55 gal to himself. He isn't nipping fins he is going for body shots and he literally rams them and pushes them away and goes right back to mid tank and patrols all day. Did I mention he is HUGE for a ram.... I'll post some pics later tonight, I don't know if this is a territorial thing or a "I don't like anyone" thing.

[plark]

Oh I also have a 5 inch Gold nugget and a Peacock eel (6 inches) 3 Discus and 1 Ram. Had several other rams but he dominated them all to extinction including the female he mated with a couple of times......

[mareshow]

rams are weird, generations of inbreeding i guess, but i think as your discus grow they will change the pecking order so they are on top, thats what happened with me :)

[RodneyL001]

Wow, he is a dominant little fellow. I know you know, most of the literature out there says that rams are perfect tank mates for discus. So you must have a real alpha male on your hands. One other wrinkle on separating him from the discus is to put him into your quarantine tank for a period. Then add a group of rams, of equal size, to your main tank, and let them get comfortable, in the tank, before adding the trouble maker back. If it doesn't work leave the quarantine tank up and put the other rams into the smaller tank. If it works it could be well worth the effort, those rams are beautiful fish. I got mine on-line at a premium price because I wanted them in there so bad with my discus.

[exv152]

I had the same problem but I had a pair of rams that were chasing the discus out of the middle area of the tank. I tried moving things around, taking them out and putting them back in, and nothing helped. Eventually the pair ended up housing permenantly with a group of large angelfish and a school of danios, their personalities seem to work better together.

Just my two Canadian cents...