[wetworks]

Hello planted tankers. I currently have two German Blue Rams in a planted community tank. One of my Rams has started to pick on my two Bronze Corys pretty badly. I have kept Rams for years and never have I seen this level of aggression from them. The peculiar thing is, they only pick on the Corys- they do not harass my school of Tetras or bother my Amano Shrimps. Does anyone have any idea of why they might be doing this, and how to get them to stop? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[devlyyn]

Do you have a female? I have found that if you have a pair they will stake out a spot as their nest and will spend a lot of time cleaning and protecting the area. Any corys that wander too close will get chased away. I think they must know instinctively the danger that bottom feeders pose to their eggs so they are especially sensitive to them coming close. Unless your tank is really small or you have a bunch of corys hopefully they should figure it out and stay away.

 

[wetworks]

Do you have a female? I have found that if you have a pair they will stake out a spot as their nest and will spend a lot of time cleaning and protecting the area. Any corys that wander too close will get chased away. I think they must know instinctively the danger that bottom feeders pose to their eggs so they are especially sensitive to them coming close. Unless your tank is really small or you have a bunch of corys hopefully they should figure it out and stay away.

I have one male and one female. The aggression is almost always from the male, though the female sometimes does it as well. Also, it happens most frequently when I feed shrimp pellets to the tank. Thanks for your reply!

 

[kamikazi]

I have one male and one female. The aggression is almost always from the male, though the female sometimes does it as well. Also, it happens most frequently when I feed shrimp pellets to the tank. Thanks for your reply!

My bolivian ram gets protecting of sinking food, mainly from the angelfish. He usually shares nicely with my cories.

 

[devlyyn]

Is the aggression throughout the tank or just in a certain spot? That would help determine if he is just protecting something or if it is something else.

 

[wetworks]

Is the aggression throughout the tank or just in a certain spot? That would help determine if he is just protecting something or if it is something else.

It goes across the whole front of my tank, which is 36 inches. That is the only open area, as there are plants in the rest of the tank.

 

[nalu86]

trow in couple of sinking pellets on different places.
My rams would attack the cories also if they don't go out of the way.
Get yourself some more cories (4-5more), the aggression of the ram will be spread over more than 2 and the damage will be less

 

[wetworks]

trow in couple of sinking pellets on different places.
My rams would attack the cories also if they don't go out of the way.
Get yourself some more cories (4-5more), the aggression of the ram will be spread over more than 2 and the damage will be less

I just got back from my LFS, but they did not have any Bronze Corys in stock. This is a great idea though; thanks for suggesting it.

 

[Bettacrazy]

my golden ram does the same exact thing when I feed shrimp pellets, exept to all fish in the tank. I just spread out the shrimp pellets so the other fish can get some ( my cories included) without being chased off by the ram.

 

[nalu86]

Its not important that they are bronze corys, they also school with green corys and even other corys like skunks and pandas.

 

[wetworks]

Its not important that they are bronze corys, they also school with green corys and even other corys like skunks and pandas.

My LFS only had a few tiny Albino Corys, and when I went to the local Petco they had no Corys at all. I think that Albino and Bronze Corys are different color phases of the same fish, but the ones in the store were only about 1/2" long and I did not want the size difference between the Corys and the Rams to be an issue since I figured the Rams would just pick on the smaller fish. I will head out to look for some new Corys tomorrow. (Any excuse to get new fish, especially if it will keep harmony in my tank.)

 

[Fahnell]

this is strange. i have 6 ramirezi. 3 males 3 females in a 54 liter aquarium with 10 sterbai and some tetras. the fish are from a friend. they share the food with the cory and they do not fight between them . the fish are mature

 

[nalu86]

this is strange. i have 6 ramirezi. 3 males 3 females in a 54 liter aquarium with 10 sterbai and some tetras. the fish are from a friend. they share the food with the cory and they do not fight between them . the fish are mature

Its because you have 10 sterbai corys and maybe your GBR's are more in balance, because they fight under each other.

and the one GBR is not the other one.

 

[wetworks]

The odd thing about this aggression is that it is very recent. This tank has been set up with the same fish for about a year, and they have never done this before. I started adding plants to the tank about four months ago, but it was still lightly planted until just about three weeks ago. I thought that it might be because of the drastically reduced area of bare substrate? Or because I have a male and a female that it might be a mating thing?

 

[nalu86]

GBRs have a lifespan for 2 years or so, maybe he became a grumpy old retired fish... lol

 

[wetworks]

GBRs have a lifespan for 2 years or so, maybe he became a grumpy old retired fish... lol

That explains why they are getting mail from AARP!!!

 

[TactusMortus]

Hah, about the grumpy old retired fish.

Also thought I should mention that I don't think mixing the corys is a good idea as I have albino, bronze, panda, and peppered and they stick to there species in my tank. However this could have more to do with when they were added. Just figured I would offer my two cents.

 

[plantbrain]

GBRs have a lifespan for 2 years or so, maybe he became a grumpy old retired fish... lol

Mine where meaner than snot.

I started with 12, ended up with 2 bullies...........one is starting to age fast and is not acting right.

Nice fish to everyone else though.

 

[lauraleellbp]

Sounds to me like the Rams are hitting sexual maturity.

Break up the lines of sight more in the tank (more hardscape for the cories to dart around)- rams won't chase something once it's out of sight.

And if Rich at Boardroom doesn't have any cories in stock he'll order you some.

 

[nalu86]

Sounds to me like the Rams are hitting sexual maturity.

Break up the lines of sight more in the tank (more hardscape for the cories to dart around)- rams won't chase something once it's out of sight.

And if Rich at Boardroom doesn't have any cories in stock he'll order you some.

My fry reached sexual maturity around 5-6 months, so if they reached sexual maturity after more than a year would be weird...

And +1 about breaking up the lines of sight.