German blue ram Odd behavior
 

Hi peeps,

so i got hold of a pair of GBRs, and put them in a custom made 24 galllon tank(why the odd volume? Another story for another time :) along with the former residents of my 10 gal tank. Initially the GBRs weren't aggressive towards each other, but a while ago i caught the bigger male chasing the smaller female(still not sure about the sex of both). This went on for about an hour, but after that i saw the two side by side, looking for food in the sand.

I was a bit alarmed coz prior to this, the smaller female seemed to have been swimming aimlessly, up and down one side of the tank. She seems ok now though

So i must ask: what just happened ?!? Just a temporary spat? I'm guesssing the new environment could be messing with the GBRs as it is still quite bare woth no hiding places.
What do you guys think?

ive had Ram Cichlids myself. Although they are friendly, they are still Cichlids, As long as the female isnt losing her color ( turning pure grey) and staying in only 1 corner 24/7 i wouldnt worry too much.

Male... female... chase... walk through the park... romantic dinner... If she looks healthy do the math ;3

Could this be some sort of mating ritual?

My pair recently had eggs. The two cooperated for a while guarding the eggs, but soon after they lost the batch, the male was back to chasing off the female. Now they're friends again! Oh these crazy kids these days....

This is very similar behaviour to what my Bolivian Rams displayed. Eventually the male killed the female.

In both species of ram the male must select his own mate, and the pair normally bond for life. If a male and female are just introduced into a tank, the male may or may not bond with the female. They can spawn, sometimes several times, but at some stage it ends.

Byron.

i'm no GBR expert, but it seems the male stops just short of inflicting massive damage on the female. There were lots of times when it had the chance to get a nasty nip or two, but so far my female's fins are intact. Of course, "pyschological" damage is just as bad, but at least...

What's interesting is that the female is the "braver" among the two: e.g. just goes on her merry way picking at food while a hand is in the tank, stares you down waiting for a food drop, etc...while the male hides out under the filter :p

You are quite correct, the pyschological impact is the thing. My Bolivians rarely got physical, just clear signals to each other, and it went both ways during spawning. The first spawn, the female had the male cowering in the plants, I was quite surprised; she had no intention whatsoever of allowing him anywhere close. The second spawn, he defended the territory more. But in time, he clearly got tired of her, and with no physical interaction I witnessed but with clear threats, he had her cowering. And then she died, likely of stress. One must remember that fish secrete pheromones and allomones into the water, and other fish read these chemical signals which can be even more forceful than physical altercations.