Ram spawning..

[gkai]

Hi guys. my ram cichlid has spawned now and there something i don't understand. well you see i had 3 rams. 1 male and 2 female. now i don't know which are the pair because all of them are guarding the eggs and i don't witness the courtship neither the spawning. just see the eggs. is this natural? and tips for successful raising them. thanks :biggrin:

 

[sasikan]

are they alone in your aquarium? do you have live plants, mircoworms, infursoria ? you almost have to keep the rams in a tank by them self. after they become free swimming (about 6-7 days at 82f) i squese a sponge filter on top of the fry if you have infursoria or any small food (smaller then brine shrimp) microworms are ok i feed them this for 3 to 4 days, 3 times a day. make water changes, keep the water clean. after this feed them brine shrimps. ps if you have many live plants this can help, the fry will find food in your plants. i dont know why you have 3 rams guarding the eggs it is usually the male that guards the eggs, sometimes the female will be aloud to help,good luck dont be discourage if they eat the first couple of spawns.

 

[gkai]

are they alone in your aquarium? do you have live plants, mircoworms, infursoria ? you almost have to keep the rams in a tank by them self. after they become free swimming (about 6-7 days at 82f) i squese a sponge filter on top of the fry if you have infursoria or any small food (smaller then brine shrimp) microworms are ok i feed them this for 3 to 4 days, 3 times a day. make water changes, keep the water clean. after this feed them brine shrimps. ps if you have many live plants this can help, the fry will find food in your plants. i dont know why you have 3 rams guarding the eggs it is usually the male that guards the eggs, sometimes the female will be aloud to help,good luck dont be discourage if they eat the first couple of spawns.

yes only rams are there in my aquarium, i have sprite,java moss,willow moss. i don't have any kind of food for the fry but i will run an errand later to my lfs to buy some. i had read some that mosses tend to house infusoria but i will give other food for their survival. well i don't expect to much so i just give my best for this. its so unusual that they all guard the eggs and they they make shifts of guarding while others are eating.

 

[gkai]

here's a video of my ram cichlids and the spawned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGds1Fsw-Jw&context=C39cd753ADOEgsToPDskIXZXa9qXha1SVrN6v16CNv

 

[sasikan]

wow that is funny 3 rams taking care of the eggs (i have never seen this before) well your aquarium look good ,there are no other fish in there, this might work just try and find smaller then brine shrimps food for the first 3 or 4 days after they become free swimming ,squeezing the sponge will help great video!

 

[gkai]

the first spawn didn't make it and then yesterday they had spawn again and these time i saw them spawning. well another unusual happen. three of them are spawning. first they guarding all together and now 2 female and 1 male spawning at same time.

here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlnXzsAM3yE&feature=youtu.be

and then there more. i notice today that there digging on the substrates, some of my hair grass had been remove and i notice there are some white shape balls on the substrate. have they move there eggs?? or it another new batch??. i hope this time will be a success. thanks for the comments. i appreciate it and i learn more.

 

[gkai]

The spawn had been hatch and the parents transfer the fry in other spot by swallowing and spitting in the substrate that they have dug. now they are free swimming. i still haven't food for them. i don't know what to feed. i google some and i found out that they will feed on infusoria that live in plants specially moss. is this true? i have many moss in my tank.

 

[gerald]

Yes but the infusoria in the moss won't last long -- the ram fry will eat all the "good" bugs and then many of them will starve unless you have other food available, like cultured rotifers, microworms (or walter- or banana-worms), or fresh-hatched brine shrimp. Are all 3 parents still working together to care for them?

 

[gkai]

yes they still working together. they snatch 1 by 1 the free swimming fry that wandering and they put them back to the site where they hatch. is this natural?

 

[gerald]

Yes, many kinds of cichlids retrieve their fry that wander off; that's normal. I hope you're getting some more video of your unusual polygamous ram family. I can understand the male being willing to cooperate with two wives at once -- it may be strange for rams, but is common for Apistos and some other cichlids -- but I'm really surprised that the 2 females cooperate with each other. Are there usually two "clouds" of fry, one around each mother, or just one big cloud of fry that both mothers guard? Or, do the mothers take turns, one guarding the fry while the other goes off to eat or shopping or whatever?

yes they still working together. they snatch 1 by 1 the free swimming fry that wandering and they put them back to the site where they hatch. is this natural?