A few fish

[pjvtrash]

Here's a link to some pictures of my fish. Nothing like the fish or photography that shows up here sometimes, but I enjoyed it.

Comments, compliments, criticisms, and advice are all welcome. Thanks for looking.

http://gallery.mac.com/pete44#100019

 

[rich311k]

Nice looking fish. You have some very nice photos there.

 

[grumpy55]

Beautiful Rams.
What is the first fish, looks a bit like a baby Uaru.

 

[pjvtrash]

Beautiful Rams.
What is the first fish, looks a bit like a baby Uaru.

Thanks, the first is just a regular old convict. She was my first!

 

[vail94]

It appears that your rams are good parents how do i get some of that stock?

 

[pjvtrash]

Charles,

Yes, they WERE good parents. Unfortunately, I don't have that line any more. I took a year or so break from rams, and just recently got some new young adults. So far they have spawned twice, but have never gotten any fry to the free swimming stage.

With the old line, I found that they were good parents as long as they were alone (with the exception of some oto's), in at least a 20 gallon aquarium, and only then if they were not in the bottom row of tanks.

If they spawned in a tank with other rams, if they were in a smaller tank (like a pair in a 10 gallon), or if they were down on the lower level where legs, cat, chair legs, etc., could disturb them, they would eat the eggs/wigglers.

I'm certainly not an expert, but I found that providing comfortable, spacious, undisturbed habitat was about as important as matching water parameters for successful parent raised fry.

Has any one else had similar experiences? My new rams are currently relegated to 10 gallon tanks on the bottom row, and so the pattern continues. I'll be curious to see if they'll be more successful once I'm able to move them up to better quarters.

 

[vail94]

Thanks for the tips.

 

[pjvtrash]

One other observation that I'd be curious to know if others have experienced. . .

Everything I've read says that rams like to spawn on flat rocks or sometimes plant leaves, suction cups or glass. Without fail, though, the rams I've kept ALWAYS spawn on a piece of driftwood in small, slightly concave depressions. I've kept rams on three different occasions now, and they've spawned on lots of different pieces of driftwood, and this has been the case with all three lines (different sources).

I've even had a pair that had spawned before, with a gravid female, who didn't spawn for several days, and then did within a few hours of adding a piece of driftwood. As soon as the wigglers hatch, they move them somewhere else, of course, but the spawn itself has always been laid on driftwood. I've considered using some tools and sandpaper to modify other pieces of driftwood in hopes of creating an ideal spawning site. As soon as I do, however, they'd probably decide to lay somewhere else. Oh well. I have some wigglers now, so hopefully they'll make it.

 

[Mike Wise]

M. ramirezi comes from the Llanos of Venezuela & Colombia. This region is a broad plain where rocks are rare. Being substrate spawners, they will lay eggs on any firm surface; when lacking they lay in pits dug in the substrate. The most commonly available firm substrate where they usually live is sunken wood.

 

[pjvtrash]

Thanks for the insight, Mike.

As I don't think I've ever had wild fish, I'm a little surprised that the influence is still that strong. But it certainly makes sense.