German Rams not playing nice with wild caught

[Chad Attlesey <davinci@uswest.net>]

Since I see to be on a roll asking questions of the group already, here goes
another:

Has anyone ever noticed in Rams (or any other species for that matter) that
blood lines between wild and line bread (German) became so different that
the two would not interbreed?

I ask this because I have 3 wild females (Rams not Altos) in with 4 German
males and 6 German females.  The German males only court and breed with
German females.  I can get at least 100 - 200 eggs a week it seems from the
Germans (if I get them out in time most of them are viable).  I was hoping
to get the wild females together with the German males.  The wild females
are much larger, stockier, and, in my opinion, better proportioned than the
German females.  As far as coloration, I managed to get some very nicely
colored wild females, although they are no match for the stunning colors of
the German Rams.  I have read that the parenting instinct can be bread out
of fish.  I was hoping to mix the parenting instincts and fresh blood line
of the wild females with the bold (line bread) color of the Germans.  So
far, no luck.  The wilds and the Germans don't seem to like each other, far
beyond the territorialism and mock fighting normally seen in Rams.  I even
tried putting a wild - German pair in a tank by themselves to see what would
happen.  The wild female chased the normally prolific German male into a
corner and kept him at bay while he coward, dorsal down and drab colored.
It was like this for several days until I finally took pity on the male and
put him back into the main tank, where he promptly fertilized a clutch of
female German eggs (the same day).

Can anyone shed some light on this?  Recipes for love potions?  Anything...

Chad



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