Rams laid eggs! - Aquarium Advice

808 · 03-03-2005, 03:25 AM

Over the past couple of days I noticed the female Blue Ram getting a really pink belly. Tonight when I went to feed them, I noticed all the fish went to eat except the male ram. He just hid behind a piece of driftwood and never left. I was wondering what was up with him...so I looked from the side of the tank and noticed this pit area in the driftwood was covered with eggs! The female has been chasing everybody away from that corner of the tank (20L) and the male just hovers above the pit, chasing whoever sneaks past the female. It's interesting to watch their behavior.

I did a search and read all the threads but still have some questions. I've read that they might not get it right the first time, but will the male still continue to defend the eggs even if they aren't fertilized? Say the eggs don't hatch, do I have to remove them or will the parents just abandon them and the other fish will eat it? If they do hatch, how long does it take? I'm trying not to get my hopes up...but it's hard not to! I just want to be prepared for whatever happens. It's so exciting because my tank is only about a month old, and I haven't done any water tests or anything but I guess conditions are good, even after running the water for only 2 days from set up till the fish went in. The Hawaii water I guess.

SerLunchbox · 03-03-2005, 10:07 AM

First of all .. congratulations. Your Rams behavior is very similar to how my angelfish are when it comes to their eggs.

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile3.html

There is a link to your rams. There is a section on breeding. From that, it will be about 48 hours of egg time with 4-5 days after that they become free swimming. The parents will protect the eggs even if they aren't fertilized but once the time is up, they will either eat the eggs that are unfertilized OR let the other fish in your tank get them. By what i have read about the rams, They move their new fry to a pit after the eggs have been hatched. I personally haven't bred rams (they get killed in my tank by my other species) but they seem to be similar in breeding habits to my angels.

hope the link helps

808 · 03-03-2005, 07:26 PM

Alright, seems like overnight the other fish raided the nest.

The male and female have abandoned their posts and now cruise around the tank again. If the female lays eggs again, will they learn to defend their nest better? Or is this something where I'm going to have to help out by separating them from the other fish or something? The next time they lay eggs I don't want to see it last overnight and then they are all gone again.

SerLunchbox · 03-03-2005, 11:10 PM

best thing to do in this case would be to section off the tank with a divider. That way when they have the eggs laid, then you can just section it off (hopefully a simple task for you) and then they will be left undisturbed (i hope)

I know how much it sucks. My angels spawned about 10 times already and 8 of those spawns had fish munching on the fry.

better luck next time. at least you know you have a breeding pair now.