Blue Ram Baby Blues

[johnny freedom]

I'm seeking some German Blue Ram breeding advice. Here's my situation:

I have a pair of blue rams who have spawned three times now, all three times resulting in free-swimming fry. The first time, in a 135-gal planted tank, I noticed the fry about 15 minutes before going out of town for the weekend. I ran to the fish store and bought some rotifers, dropped a couple of cubes in and hoped for the best. Needless to say, when i returned home, the fry was gone.

Less than two weeks later, a second spawning. I kept the parents and fry in the 135-gal tank, but they only lasted a week before other fish got them.

This last time, i set up a 10-gal tank with an undergravel filter, rock gravel, heater and air pump. I moved a piece of driftwood with the third batch of eggs from the 135-gal to the 10-gal, then moved the parents. Three days later, the fry was free-swimming. This was two weeks ago.

All seemed well, until i awoke tuesday morning to find my fry reduced in numbers from about 110 to 15. The activity of the remaining fry was markedly decreased, though they were still eating. Also, i could see dead baby fish trapped between the gravel and the glass. Parents seemed uninterested in the remaining fry.

This morning, i awoke to the parents chasing and eating the remaining babies. Fry is now completely gone.

Here is what i was feeding them: small amount of powder food in the morning, half a frozen rotifer cube at noon, another small powder in the early evening, and the remaining half of the rotifer cube at night.


Any advice on what could've gone wrong would be greatly appreciated. I suspect i will be dealing with another fry soon...

 

[tjd]

Welcome to the forum and it sounds like you have a great pair and are on the right path. Following are some suggestions for next time.

I suspect a build-up of ammonia could be the cause of the fry dying. You did not mention anything about the water quality in the 10G so try monitoring it. Reduced feedings, more frequent water exchanges, and my second suggestion will help address the water quality if it is an issue.

Try using a sponge filter instead of the UG filter and gravel. By using a sponge filter you can condition it in the main tank to help establish the 10G. By have a bare bottom, you will be able to see how much food is accumulating in order to adjust feedings. Also, the fry will be able to get to any excess or missed food between feedings and it makes cleaning the tank a whole lot easier.

After about a week or two I would move the parents back to the main tank. A 10G can be a little small for the parents to raise the fry much beyond this point.

Good luck, tom

 

[Apisto ranch]

I just have 2 quick question like TJC was asking
1. How long hd the 10g been up and running?
2. did it have time to cycle throw before you dded them to it?

I know sents you have the 100+ gal tank you know about how to set one up. I'm just asking this for my future refernces. I have a GBR pair trying to spawn now. I Know GBR have a super hard time adjusting to differnt water primes so I'm wondering if the fry didn't get fully adjusted to the new water primes before you added them. A lot of new fry are lost this way by just taking them out and moving them to a new tank without adjusting them frist mainly GBR's frys. As I was saying they don't like new water primes at all.

 

[nightowl1350]

Your pair sound like good parents but only up to a point. I think I would let them raise a brood in the 125g tank, but after a rew days pull the fry and put them in a 10g with a cycled sponge filter.

As for feeding I would skip the powdered food and get a micro worm culture. The rams can eat them till they are ready for bbs. If you have some real plants in the 10g there will be micro organisms for them to eat as well.

My pair eat their eggs so I have pulled a few spawns to hatch. They are very delicate as new free swimmers so make sure the bottom of the tank is kept clean Good luck with the next spawn.

 

[johnny freedom]

thanks for all the advice.

here's an update:

the 135-gallon leaked all over the apartment, so the rams had to live in the 10-gal until we got a new 135-gal up and running. probably 2-3 spawns occurred in this time frame, with minimal success, always resulting in free-swimming fry, but they would all be gone within a couple of days.

once the 135 was back up, the rams (and other tetras and corys, who were living in the 29-gal) moved back. the rams spawned again, fry became free-swimming, but after a couple of days, their numbers were greatly reduced, so i sucked out the survivors with a turkey baster. that proved kinda difficult, but i manage to get about 15-20 into the 10-gal. only one is still alive, seemingly thriving now as a three-week old.

and...

he/she has been joined by the next spawn. they hatched on a piece of driftwood in the 135, and were transferred (driftwood and fry) before they were free-swimming. that was on monday, and they seem to be doing well.

the 10-gal is now, per suggestions here, a smooth-bottom tank with a sponge filter. i'm going to add some java moss today. feeding them powder food, rotifers, and cyclops. going to add bbs soon.

hopefully, most of them will survive.

any suggestions on when i could move the three-week old fish back to the 135-gal.

thanks.

 

[fishgeek]

i would move him back soon , the size difference may mean he thinks siblings are tasty

andrew

 

[nightowl1350]

You may need a few 10g to grow them out. Ram fry grow fairly slow and unless there are lots and lots of hiding places and few other fish in the big tank they will get eaten. Feeding them will also be more of a problem. I keep mine on bbs or decaps till they are about 2 months old, then slowly give them crushed high quality flakes and other sinking pellets.

The larger fry will pick on the smaller siblings and kill them in the end. I tried to rasie a spawn of angels with slightly older ram fry...I only had 1 ram survive from that spawn.

My pair eat their eggs, so I only grow out the spawns I have room for. I'm still working on a huge spawn of over 100 fry that are just over 2 months old.

Good luck with them and Congrats on the parent raising rams You could be over fun with rams soon.