kaz
Aquarium Advice Addict
Meredith said:
what is a mail gbrs?
btw my two br just died
German Blue Ram Discussion
- Thread starter Jchillin
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
what is a mail gbrs?
btw my two br just died
Meredith
Aquarium Advice Addict
kaz said:Meredith said:
what is a mail gbrs?
btw my two bar just died
LOL! I had a squirmy baby on my lap. sorry
Rocket2001
Aquarium Advice Freak
So far so good....
i got my Blue Rams about a week ago...it seems that i have two males and so far they are doing well. they have found different ends of my 55gal and for the most part keep to themselves. they don't bother each other or any of their other tankmates. and as of right now they seem rather healthy. if interested theres a pic in my gallery
i got my Blue Rams about a week ago...it seems that i have two males and so far they are doing well. they have found different ends of my 55gal and for the most part keep to themselves. they don't bother each other or any of their other tankmates. and as of right now they seem rather healthy. if interested theres a pic in my gallery
I had some GBR's in my tanks at various times. I always tried to make sure there was at least one female for every male or more females then males at a time.
I first bought one male at a bigal's then got a female from another lfs to prevent any inbreeding if they decided to breed. I then added another male and a couple of females. At fist everything was great and everyone was healthy. It was really cool watching how these fish interacted with each other with the original male quickly establishing himself as the alpha male, and pairing with the brightest colored female. Sadly they never did have any fry. They laid lot eggs and watching them defend them from my panda cories was fun but they ended up being either the pandas snack or the GBR's.
One day I guess the other male had enough and tried to overtake the alpha male and kept invading his territory. Finally the two met in the middle of my take and just went at it. The alpha male ended up really hurting the other male and he died a couple of days later. After a few weeks one of the females got sick(to this day I don't know from what), and died and the rest soon followed.
They're awsome but delicate fish. Lot's of personality and fun to watch. I'm really debating though on wether to get them again or not.
I first bought one male at a bigal's then got a female from another lfs to prevent any inbreeding if they decided to breed. I then added another male and a couple of females. At fist everything was great and everyone was healthy. It was really cool watching how these fish interacted with each other with the original male quickly establishing himself as the alpha male, and pairing with the brightest colored female. Sadly they never did have any fry. They laid lot eggs and watching them defend them from my panda cories was fun but they ended up being either the pandas snack or the GBR's.
One day I guess the other male had enough and tried to overtake the alpha male and kept invading his territory. Finally the two met in the middle of my take and just went at it. The alpha male ended up really hurting the other male and he died a couple of days later. After a few weeks one of the females got sick(to this day I don't know from what), and died and the rest soon followed.
They're awsome but delicate fish. Lot's of personality and fun to watch. I'm really debating though on wether to get them again or not.
workfortheman
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Well it's been a couple weeks, and my 2nd attempt at keeping rams is going very well. They are no longer hiding out in the plants, and are usually swimming around (looking for food!). I managed to snap a slightly better picture HERE (I lost my camera that had a macro function >_<).
Unfortunately I'm starting to think I have 3 males!!!!! So dissappointing, and the LFS sold the rest of their stock so no trade backs for now. None of the GBRs have the white speckle(s) inside the black dot, although all of them have pink bellies. So I don't know. 3 Male German Blues are likely to stress each other to death in a 29 gallon tank, IME.
But for now they are all nice in color, and eating frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms "with gusto".
Unfortunately I'm starting to think I have 3 males!!!!! So dissappointing, and the LFS sold the rest of their stock so no trade backs for now. None of the GBRs have the white speckle(s) inside the black dot, although all of them have pink bellies. So I don't know. 3 Male German Blues are likely to stress each other to death in a 29 gallon tank, IME.
But for now they are all nice in color, and eating frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms "with gusto".
OP
OP
Jchillin
Aquarium Advice Addict
Sounds good WFTM...I like the pic...rams swimming amongst the flora is quite fetching.
Sexing can be a chore...with/without specs in black spot, pink bellies or no, tall rays on dorsal fins or no, long anal fins or no. Sometimes no black spot at all. So long as you don't find that you have two males and one female, you should be okay.
In looking over mine recently, I really believe I have four males. Not exactly comforting but I still think one is female...but she looks male...ACKKKK!
Sexing can be a chore...with/without specs in black spot, pink bellies or no, tall rays on dorsal fins or no, long anal fins or no. Sometimes no black spot at all. So long as you don't find that you have two males and one female, you should be okay.
In looking over mine recently, I really believe I have four males. Not exactly comforting but I still think one is female...but she looks male...ACKKKK!
maxwell1295
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I know what you mean...Rams may be the hardest I think I have 2 males and 2 females, but there's no telling with these fish. I'm pretty sure I have at least one female...Jchillin said:Sounds good WFTM...I like the pic...rams swimming amongst the flora is quite fetching.
Sexing can be a chore...with/without specs in black spot, pink bellies or no, tall rays on dorsal fins or no, long anal fins or no. Sometimes no black spot at all. So long as you don't find that you have two males and one female, you should be okay.
In looking over mine recently, I really believe I have four males. Not exactly comforting but I still think one is female...but she looks male...ACKKKK!
I hope these are males:
workfortheman
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Nice picture, maxwell! Of course, those are males, anyone can see. . . . . ahahhaaha I don't think you ever will know unless you catch a pair in "the act", and even then you gotta find out who's the jack and who's the jill!
I'm pretty sure this is what happened last time. The female died first, then the weaker male. But honestly, I still hope ONE of them is a lady, so my chances of a breeding couple are better
Yea, I need to check on these two: males have taller rays on dorsal fins, and females have long anal fins?
maxwell1295
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I thought the way to identify them was:
For males:
- Longer dorsal fin, the first 3 spines in particular
- no blue spots on the big black spot
- anal fin extends to tailfin
For females:
- orange/pink belly when ready to spawn
- blue spots on the big black spot
- dorsal fin spine pretty much the same length
- anal fin stops at beginning of tailfin
I look more for a combination of those criteria because I'm not sure any of them is 100% accurate. For example, I think the two fish I added yesterday are males, but one of them has some orange in his belly region. The color is faint, but it's there. I like your idea better.....whoever lays eggs is a female. lol
For males:
- Longer dorsal fin, the first 3 spines in particular
- no blue spots on the big black spot
- anal fin extends to tailfin
For females:
- orange/pink belly when ready to spawn
- blue spots on the big black spot
- dorsal fin spine pretty much the same length
- anal fin stops at beginning of tailfin
I look more for a combination of those criteria because I'm not sure any of them is 100% accurate. For example, I think the two fish I added yesterday are males, but one of them has some orange in his belly region. The color is faint, but it's there. I like your idea better.....whoever lays eggs is a female. lol
OP
OP
Jchillin
Aquarium Advice Addict
That is the "guide" but how many times have we been wrong? Which is what prompted by last post....arrrrrrrrghhh! LOL.
My friend called me Friday and told me one of our local pet stores just got a batch of the best rams he's seen in a while. I'm so tempted to take another crack at them. But I kind of want to focus on cultivating my plants and eradicating my beard and hair algea problem first...plus I might go with africa cichlids. I'm really in a conundrum here lol.
OP
OP
Jchillin
Aquarium Advice Addict
Africans and plants don't do well together for the most part. I would stick with the SA cichlids, especially rams. You can add plants as you go along...they will appreciate each new addition.
SeymourFRESH
Aquarium Advice Freak
i got 2 male blue rams a couple months ago. now, i'm about to add a female that i got in quarantine (she had an internal parasite and i THINK she may be better now)...i really hope she makes it
i figured that could be bad, but i figured in a 92 gallon aquarium with lots of space and hiding places they should be alright...still haven't added her yet, gonna wait another few weeks or so...what do you guys think?
here are some pics i took today of both of my males, and the second pic is the female in QT
i figured that could be bad, but i figured in a 92 gallon aquarium with lots of space and hiding places they should be alright...still haven't added her yet, gonna wait another few weeks or so...what do you guys think?
here are some pics i took today of both of my males, and the second pic is the female in QT
Kilgore
Aquarium Advice Activist
ace said:
You can try Daffodil brichardis, they are African cichlids which don't grow too large, and they are beautiful. Mine never bothered the plants. They are fairly easy to breed also.
As for rams, I remember reading somewhere (probably in the first set of posts) that part of their weakness comes from being injected with growth hormones in either Thailand or Singapore (or both). So the recommendation was to try and purchase locally bred fish or fish from European sources. Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there. Feel free to debunk my statement.
Wizzard~Of~Ozz
Aquarium Advice Addict
Now im intrigued with trying a couple.. My water seems to be around the right params for them (KH 4-5 GH 9 PH 6.5 w/ Co2).. Perhaps I'll stop by the store tomorrow and see if they have any in.
I've read that sexing them is becoming a nightmare, even the blue spots on the black spot is becoming unreliable due to selective breeding (European fish I believe)
Best one I've found sofar says the black 3 spikes at the start of the dorsal fin and Males also have a pointed caudel fin and a longer pectoral fin.
Not to debunk your statement, but I've read the same thing, it's a form of Testosterone, it also has a side effect of making the males sterile or producing only females.
I've read that sexing them is becoming a nightmare, even the blue spots on the black spot is becoming unreliable due to selective breeding (European fish I believe)
Best one I've found sofar says the black 3 spikes at the start of the dorsal fin and Males also have a pointed caudel fin and a longer pectoral fin.
Not to debunk your statement, but I've read the same thing, it's a form of Testosterone, it also has a side effect of making the males sterile or producing only females.
workfortheman
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Valentines Day Suprise!
Well, I was pleasantly suprise to find a valentines day gift from my rams: EGGS!!!! Actually, they weren't giving any of them away they were/are viciously defending them! Boy, I now have so many questions pardon if my thoughts seem jumbled. Oh, the best picture I could snap was this overhead shot. If I had to guess there are something like 50-100 eggs!
The funniest part is I still don't know who's the jack and who's the jill!
Question 1: What is the process? I am guessing the female lays ALL the eggs, then the male fertilizes them, then they both guard them?
Question 2: What is the white/translucent "peice" sticking out of their bum-bums? I assume they are the genetalia (sp?), but they both have the same part! Not only that, but the odd-man-out third ram also had his/hers protruding as well!
Question 3: When I finally realized what was going on, the two lovers were taking turns passing over the eggs very slowly, with thier parts brushing up against the eggs. What was this act?
Question 4: When and How will I know if the eggs were fertilized? As I recall, I will start to be able to see little eyes soon?
Question 5: Who typically guards the eggs after they are layed/fertilized?
Question 6: What is a typical hatching time?
Question 7: If they look like they will hatch, what steps should I take? I plan on putting a sponge prefilter on my HOB, and I have BBS ready to hatch, as well as frozen.
Well, that's all for now! I don't think my wife was too happy to see me crouched with my nose against the glass, waiting to go out to dinner!
Well, I was pleasantly suprise to find a valentines day gift from my rams: EGGS!!!! Actually, they weren't giving any of them away they were/are viciously defending them! Boy, I now have so many questions pardon if my thoughts seem jumbled. Oh, the best picture I could snap was this overhead shot. If I had to guess there are something like 50-100 eggs!
The funniest part is I still don't know who's the jack and who's the jill!
Question 1: What is the process? I am guessing the female lays ALL the eggs, then the male fertilizes them, then they both guard them?
Question 2: What is the white/translucent "peice" sticking out of their bum-bums? I assume they are the genetalia (sp?), but they both have the same part! Not only that, but the odd-man-out third ram also had his/hers protruding as well!
Question 3: When I finally realized what was going on, the two lovers were taking turns passing over the eggs very slowly, with thier parts brushing up against the eggs. What was this act?
Question 4: When and How will I know if the eggs were fertilized? As I recall, I will start to be able to see little eyes soon?
Question 5: Who typically guards the eggs after they are layed/fertilized?
Question 6: What is a typical hatching time?
Question 7: If they look like they will hatch, what steps should I take? I plan on putting a sponge prefilter on my HOB, and I have BBS ready to hatch, as well as frozen.
Well, that's all for now! I don't think my wife was too happy to see me crouched with my nose against the glass, waiting to go out to dinner!
maxwell1295
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Congrats to the eggs! Now we know you have least one female...lol
Keep us updated...
Keep us updated...
SolarityBengals
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Do you find the color has to do more with breeding or the conditions they live in? Theres a breeder in Florida that sells GBR's on aquabid and on their site so I'm debating to get them online from a breeder or my local Petco. The problem being that the ones at Petco are not quite as colorful which I'm not too sure about...
Meredith
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yea!! Congrats on the eggs!
My rams have layed eggs a few times (none yet in the new tank)
The male and female will usually take tuns guarding the eggs. My male seems to be more diligent than the female.
What you see sticking out of their body is what they use to lay/fertilize the eggs.
What happens during the whole process is the female will go along the wood or rock, or what ever, and stick the eggs onto the surface. The male then goes behind her and fertilizes the eggs. Does one of the fish have Bright red on its belly? That would be the female.
As far as the hatching goes, I cant help you there. My pair have eaten all their eggs. So don't be surprised if that happens. The eggs would generally last 2 or three days before they were all gone.
Good luck!!
My rams have layed eggs a few times (none yet in the new tank)
The male and female will usually take tuns guarding the eggs. My male seems to be more diligent than the female.
What you see sticking out of their body is what they use to lay/fertilize the eggs.
What happens during the whole process is the female will go along the wood or rock, or what ever, and stick the eggs onto the surface. The male then goes behind her and fertilizes the eggs. Does one of the fish have Bright red on its belly? That would be the female.
As far as the hatching goes, I cant help you there. My pair have eaten all their eggs. So don't be surprised if that happens. The eggs would generally last 2 or three days before they were all gone.
Good luck!!
