Observations on Blue Ram Parental Behavior

["David A. Youngker" <nestor10@mindspring.com>]

I've been keeping _M. ramirezi_ for some time now, and like quite a few have
often been disappointed at the initial attempts to induce "proper" parental
behaviors in new breeding pairs. It's almost like trying to "deprogram" a
(insert religious sect of choice) convert at times. But in reading some of
the banter tossed back- and- forth concerning collecting trips, habitats,
population densities, etc., I seem to have stumbled on a technique that
works amazingly well on these intended breeders.

I crowd the (insert expletive of choice) out of the tank.

The tank I'm working with now is one of my "standard" 15 gal longs,
measuring 30*12*12 in. Current population: 6 _M. ramirezi_, 4 _M.
altispinosa_, 22 _P. axelrodi_, 1 _S. nigriventris_ and even a handful of
Glass Shrimp.

The results have been similar and easily repeatable for four differing
groups of Rams now under these conditions. Pair formations seem more
spontaneous, and breeding behaviors soon follow. From the very first nest,
the pair make honest attempts to protect the clutch, sharing in normal guard
and patrol behavior. Naturally at such densities losses are high, but this
leads merely to another clutch where the choice of location often improves
along with a better "sense" of the competetion. They seem to be more
successful at getting the eggs to the fry stage by then and at least one of
the pairs will end up with a small cloud of fry. But again, it's hard to
protect them against multi- directional "flash" attacks and you'll lose
those fry too. Yet the Rams do *try*, which seems all too rare with Rams
available today.

I'm assuming it's the crowded conditions that trigger the responses, but I
haven't collected enough information to be able to fix the cause. Two
readily- formulated SWAGs easily come to mind, though. Large numbers and
increased competetion may reinforce an innate territorality where team
efforts increase the ability to protect scarce resources, to which progeny
becomes an extension. Or it may boil down to a case of simple stress
reaction, where paired behavior increases the likelihood of survival for
your gene pool. Observation of the pairs seems to indicate more of the
former, as their health and other typical behavior patterns appear
unaffected.

But I do know this: A pair of new Rams, after making three attempts in a
full tank, can be transferred to their own breeder along with a few
Cardinals for dither/targets, and they become a joy to behold as parents
again. I'm hoping to continue this through a few clutches for each pair to
determine if the pattern "sticks". And on subsequent generations for
possible reinforcement.

But I was wondering if anyone else had noticed this pattern before? And if
the technique might be adaptable as a possibility with some of the more
difficult species (true aggression taken into consideration)?

Oh, I can provide detailed tank specs - they seem to really enjoy this
particular environment.

-Y-

David A. Youngker
http://www.mindspring.com/~nestor10
nestor10@mindspring.com



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