GBRs are dying...

[jagsandrams]

Try lowering your Ph gbrs Ph 5.5 to 6.5 Bolivians can tolerate higher.. my Ph is around 6.1

[pjaldave]

Great explanation, but not in my case. As i've already said, they've already paired up, so no fighting over one female anymore, they already spawned and have set-up their territory in my tank. But then, worth a shot for another try.

Aggression with females is very very low? I've seen my females chase each other more than my males does. Again, it depends on the fish, right?

as for lowering pH, as far as i am concerned, stable pH is better than trying to make it perfect.

[jagsandrams]

Yes a stable Ph is good but your blue rams are dying because of your Ph levals being to high. They need soft water your is leaning towards slightly acidic

[MLBfan]

...but your blue rams are dying because of your Ph levals being to high.

I disagree, if the fish paired up, they fine the water levels good, also 7.6 isn't that high, if it was 8.0 or above it could be a problem, but 7.6 is close to neutral.

[Wild Turkey]

+1 In most cases the ph being stable is much more important than it being within a fishes "preferred range". Especially considering most fish in the hobby are tank bred, rams certainly included.

"soft" water is acidic.

[jagsandrams]

Mm well I've only been told by a few good sources to keep the Ph low or it will cause stress. I've always believed myself a good water quality and most fish will live someone I know keeps African cichlids in soft water. Thanks for the info though ill have to keep that in mind.. know anything about the eggs? I just got my first batch

[escamosa]

Great explanation, but not in my case. As i've already said, they've already paired up, so no fighting over one female anymore, they already spawned and have set-up their territory in my tank. But then, worth a shot for another try.

Aggression with females is very very low? I've seen my females chase each other more than my males does. Again, it depends on the fish, right?

as for lowering pH, as far as i am concerned, stable pH is better than trying to make it perfect.

The way I've explained it to you is definitely the way you should go, if you try again. And quite bluntly, paired or not paired, you were going to have trouble from the get go. Just because you think that they've paired up, doesn't mean that the aggression is going to stop right there and then. The other fish in the tank don't just disappear.

You had eggs - that doesn't mean that there was a true pairing, and even if there was, the three males in that tank had a more than 80% chance of destroying them. Once the males start eating the eggs, the females will sometimes follow thier lead. Once a true pairing happens, if they're good parents, they will defend those eggs to the best of thier ability, and regardless as to whether you feel that your females are more aggressive than your males - which in my experience I have never seen (a quick chase here and there is different than relentless pestering) - it's much easier for a pair to defend thier eggs against the less aggressive females, than multiple territorial males, that get a little to a lot more aggressive when spawning is happening - plus the other females who want to join in after they have lost thier own eggs. Males will more times than not stand up to eachother, neither backing down until one psychs the other out, which in turn ends up in physical aggression. Why would you want to even tempt that to happen? A male and a female together will often make an attacking female swim away in a flash. And don't forget the other fish you have in that tank too!

You need to give one pair the best chance possible to spawn successfully. Don't make it harder on them by thinking that an even amount of males and females are going to bring you even amounts of pairs and heaps of babies. Why do they all have to be breeding at once? It just makes no sense doing it that way, and there's hundreds, maybe thousands of fish forums and fish keepers out there, that have posted/said hundreds of times, probably thousands of times, that at least a 1 male to 3 female ratio is the way to go. And that ratio is not just for Rams, it's for a lot of species.

It's up to you on how you go about it, I hope that I have given you enough reasons to change the way you approach trying to breed them, but if not, good luck and good luck to the poor Rams.

[pjaldave]

I'm sorry ecsamosa if my replies have a little bit of "stubbornness" on them, I'm just basing my answers to what I observed from my rams.

Apparently, they were never aggressive to the other tankmates they have, just on each other (rams to rams).

To pH being low: if you can make it stable, then go ahead, but if you can't then just let your pH be and don't mess with it.

[escamosa]

I'm sorry ecsamosa if my replies have a little bit of "stubbornness" on them, I'm just basing my answers to what I observed from my rams.

Apparently, they were never aggressive to the other tankmates they have, just on each other (rams to rams).

To pH being low: if you can make it stable, then go ahead, but if you can't then just let your pH be and don't mess with it.

No problems, pjaldave. It's all about learning. We're all still learning something around here! I just hope that I've helped you out, and created a new direction for you to take, if or when you decide to try again!