Highly Aggressive Blue Ram

[oztun]

I have two male and two female blue rams in a 29 gallon. The largest male chases the rest around constantly. This causes all the others to chase each other as well. Sometimes he goes in a cave I built and the other three calm down and don't chase each other. Last night the smaller male had a lip locking with him and today they danced around slapping each other with their tails.

No one seems to be getting hurt, but I didn't think rams were this aggressive. I'm not sure how they can ever mate with this guy chasing everyone. That seems to be all he is interested in. I'm wondering if I should try to trade him in on another male or not? Is this normal?

 

[Faramir]

When it comes to the ladies, all cichlids are like this.

I'd suggest lots of plant thickets and hiding places. The more physical objects there are in the tank, the more the males can define a territory. I've seen male cichlids use a particular piece of rock or bogwood as a boundary.