German Rams Breeding Options

[Blue Guppy]

I have some questions about the Rams that I have right. First of I have posted in another thread pictures of my Rams that bred but unfortunately, the couple ate the eggs when they were close to hatching for no apparent reason.

My first question is after the pair lays their eggs and are starting to guard their nest, and I remove the piece of rock or pot where the eggs were laid and put it in another tank to be hatched artificially, is the mortality rate higher as compared to having the parents rear them?

Second, with regards to my statement in the first paragraph, I am still puzzled as to why the pair ate the eggs wherein all the fishes in the tank were evacuated save the pair, the plants and hardscape and snails. Did the presence of the snails stressed out the pair complelling them to eat their eggs?

Right now, I added 2 females and a male to my existing pair of Rams. After 2 days, I noticed that the female of the original pair seemed to have lost interest with her original mate and began joining with the new male. Also one of the 2 new females that I introduced in the tank seem to also like the new male. We have some sort of a love triangle here. Now the original male that I have seem to be disturbed. He used to be flashy and swims around the tank often but now he usuallt sits in one corner probably heartbroken that he lost his mate to another. What can be done with dilema?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

[Incredulous_Ed]

I have some questions about the Rams that I have right. First of I have posted in another thread pictures of my Rams that bred but unfortunately, the couple ate the eggs when they were close to hatching for no apparent reason.

My first question is after the pair lays their eggs and are starting to guard their nest, and I remove the piece of rock or pot where the eggs were laid and put it in another tank to be hatched artificially, is the mortality rate higher as compared to having the parents rear them?

Second, with regards to my statement in the first paragraph, I am still puzzled as to why the pair ate the eggs wherein all the fishes in the tank were evacuated save the pair, the plants and hardscape and snails. Did the presence of the snails stressed out the pair complelling them to eat their eggs?

Right now, I added 2 females and a male to my existing pair of Rams. After 2 days, I noticed that the female of the original pair seemed to have lost interest with her original mate and began joining with the new male. Also one of the 2 new females that I introduced in the tank seem to also like the new male. We have some sort of a love triangle here. Now the original male that I have seem to be disturbed. He used to be flashy and swims around the tank often but now he usuallt sits in one corner probably heartbroken that he lost his mate to another. What can be done with dilema?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.
My rams bred once and the oher fish ate the fry right away. I would definetly expect mortality rates to be less when reared artifically, but only when done right.

Rams are bad, bad parents. They eat their fry and eggs for no reason ofen times. Supposedly, they will take better care of the fry in a competetive environment. The easiest thing is to ust take the fry out right away and hatch them in their own tank.

Im really not sure about the distressed male.

[LosC]

I introduced a new male to one of my male Rams not too long ago and he did the same thing yours did but I guess eventually he got used to not being king of the tank anymore and he submitted to the new male staying out of his way. It lasted over a week until he got used to the new male and became normal again.

[Blue Guppy]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll get some pictures of the new addition sometime this week and share with you guys and gals.

[Blue Guppy]

Here are the pictures of my new and old Rams:


http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd122/akimima/P4200201-1.jpg

Picture of the original male

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd122/akimima/P4200189-1.jpg

Picture of the original female. I thnk she is full of eggs again after laying her first brood a few days ago.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd122/akimima/P4200181.jpg

Picture of the new female addition. She is constantly being chased away by the original female but sometimes puts up a stand.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd122/akimima/P4200194-1.jpg

Picture of the new male. He is a bit camera shy as compared to the original who loves to come forward whenever I view the aquarium. Maybe given ample time he will be as flashy as the other one.

the original male by the way, has stopped sulking and guess what, his mate came to him and both are showing brilliant colors. I guess they are ready to breed once more.

[dustinpedley]

nice rams!

[Fishalicious]

Beautiful Rams!!! An nice on color as well :19: Thanks for sharing

[Arkie]

they are beautiful pics very good. now i want some too lol :18:

[Blue Guppy]

Thanks for the compliments. I was very uncertain to purchase them at first as I have not really had a ram in my life...0% experience except with literatures I read from this forum and other web sources. But I agree with all of you that this fish isn't only beautiful but they seem to have a character of their own...like my favorite fish the Oscar (which I cannot buy or keep due to tank and space limitation). Each of the fishes I bought seem to have a distinct personality of their own and that alone makes this fish very special..don't you think so?

I know this may have been tackled in other threads, but what type of food do these fish like to trigger them to spawn. When I first bought the pair, they took whatever I fed the other fishes in the tank which are dried flakes, NLS, and occassional tubifex worms. I guess it was beginners luck when they spawned a few days after I bought them but unfortunately they ate the eggs just a day before the scheduled hatching. After I bought the other 3, I also bought from LPS, some frozen blood worms, baby brine shrimps, discus frozen food and live adult brine shrimps. Amongst the food I mentioned, none really appeals them as they gobble them, briskly chewing it then spit them out.

[angelcakes]

nice rams..........pics too:19:

[dustinpedley]

i wish i could get some rams, but my water is far to hard. but thanks for sharing!

[Blue Guppy]

The first pair that I originally bought bred again about 7 days ago and this time I made a precaution of not committing the same mistake again. Just after the pair laid/fertilized the eggs, I waited a few more hours before transferring the driftwood (the item that the pair chose to lay their eggs) and placed it in a 2 gal plastic tank. I also placed a heater that auromatically sets it to 79 degrees and an airstone placed near the eggs to simulate the fanning motion of the parents. Last friday, the eggs hatched and there's about 30 to 40 wrigglesrs out of the possible 100 eggs laid. I have started making 2 cultures of infusoria and microworms and see which among the two the frys will take when they start free swimming. My question in does it take 3 or more days before the frys start swimming? This is my first time to raise rams and am a bit nervous and at the same time excited. I will try to take some picture of the frys tonight to share with you guys. Also, how much water change will I have to do and how often?

Thanks in advance to all.

[Algenco]

at that temp it will be 3 days, possibly 4 before they are free swimming. Don't feed until they are all up swimming.

Next time add a several drops of acriflavin to the container

[Blue Guppy]

Thanks to all for the advices. As promised here are some pictures of my newly free swimming frys. They are now in an infusoria diet (made from decayed vegetables submerged in water for about a week). How long will I feed them infusoria?

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd122/akimima/P5070197.jpg


http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd122/akimima/P5070206.jpg


http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd122/akimima/P5070212.jpg

I stand corrected. Instead of 30 to 40 that survived the hatching I now believe that they are close to 50 to 55 out of a possible 80 eggs laid. I am so elated about them now free swimming. Can't wait for them to reach about an inch in size.

[Incredulous_Ed]

Feed infusoria for about a week to 3 weeks. Keep nitrate slow, because they are very sensitive to them.

[AquaBANG]

nice pics. good luck