German blue rams courting

[Danny D]

So my rams started shaking and cleaning off spots this afternoon. They are in a community tank. The male ram is the biggest fish in the tank. Think I can let them spawn in there? Any tips on how to successfully pull this off?

 

[MacZ]

In a community tank... almost impossible, though still depending on the tankmates. Either they will eat eggs/fry or they will stress the parents until they give up. In turn they may get really aggressive.

Question to consider is: Do you really want to breed them? Success as a fishkeeper is not measured in fry raised in my opinion.

 

[Danny D]

No, breeding them wasnt the plan. I wasn't sure on the sex of the female when I purchased them. Looked male at the store. Once I got them home and observed how they interacted, I realized it was female. I have only had them for a week. Gave them blackworms and an early morning water change and that got them going.

Would love to breed them but I dont have the room in my apartment. Just set up an apisto tank with plans to breed. I will see if the local store would like them

So my rams started shaking and cleaning off spots this afternoon. They are in a community tank. The male ram is the biggest fish in the tank. Think I can let them spawn in there? Any tips on how to successfully pull this off?

 

[MacZ]

No, breeding them wasnt the plan. I wasn't sure on the sex of the female when I purchased them. Looked male at the store. Once I got them home and observed how they interacted, I realized it was female. I have only had them for a week. Gave them blackworms and an early morning water change and that got them going.

Would love to breed them but I dont have the room in my apartment. Just set up an apisto tank with plans to breed. I will see if the local store would like them

So then let the rams do their thing, chances fry survive are low. What are the tankmates?

Got a second tank for the apistos to seperate in case it's needed?

 

[Danny D]

The apistos are already in their own tank. I just bought them yesterday. Seem pretty happy and calm. It's my first time keeping them. Well planted tank, hiding spots, floating plant for shade. My tap water is soft with a ph of 7 but I filter it anyway.

Tankmates are: 3 dwarf Gourami, 2 west african butterfly cichlid (both female) 1 small cory, small algae eater, and 3 yellow panchax.

 

[Danny D]

Oh, 40 gallon tank

 

[MacZ]

The apistos are already in their own tank. I just bought them yesterday. Seem pretty happy and calm. It's my first time keeping them. Well planted tank, hiding spots, floating plant for shade. My tap water is soft with a ph of 7 but I filter it anyway.

Tankmates are: 3 dwarf Gourami, 2 west african butterfly cichlid (both female) 1 small cory, small algae eater, and 3 yellow panchax.

Apistotank sounds good. If anything goes wrong you can move one of the Apistos to the other tank, easily.

And with such tankmates I highly doubt any fry of the rams will survive.

Just a hint to the stocking: You got mainly surface fish and bottomdwellers. Longterm I'd probably want to clean the situation up. If the algae eater is a siamese or a chinese one, you should rehome it. Chinese ones grow big and aggressive and siamese ones need a lot more space than your tank offers. And the single cory needs some company of other cories. Though with dwarf cichlids, it might be better to rehome him, too. Just my two cents from my experience.

 

[Danny D]

I'm hoping they lay on the rock I have in there. If they do, I will isolate it and try to raise them. I have little experience with this but I am reading up on it now

 

[Danny D]

I moved the rams to a nicely planted 10 gallon. They were not overly fond of the new digs. They hid a lot and were not active. I was using a very small hob filter and there was very little water movement. My human brain concluded that was the problem and this time it was right. Switched to a filter with some more output and their attitudes changed right away. They are out all day doing fish things and rush up front when they see me. Their appetite is back and they forage around the tank as they should.

I made the change a few days ago. No breeding just yet but hopeful

 

[arquero0125]

Hey Danny,
I am currently breeding 3 pairs GBR in a 75 gallon. If you need any help, just hit me up. Typically, if you give them a small clay pot saucer, they will spawn on that.

not a super clear shot, the saucer is upside down, and the whitish specks are the eggs the male is guarding.