GBR Breeding

[bs6749]

There are at least two different strains of BBS eggs on the market and they are different sizes when they hatch (I did research and asking around). You will want the San Francisco Bay Brand eggs because they are the smaller of the two strains.

I recently hatched out a batch of GBR eggs (April 26th) in a ten gallon tank and fed BBS for my first time. I also am using the Hikari First Bites. The Fry seem to be uninterested in the BBS but they are taking to the First Bites. I noticed around 10 days or so they seem to be eating and I can actually see them take in food through their little mouths.

You may have lucked out if the male is taking care of the fry. I had 80 plus wigglers at one point in the 10 gallon tank but now there are only 4 left! I am sure that these ones will make it though. Congratulations BTW.

 

[SparKy697]

Day 7

It seems that the vast majority of the fry are alive and doing well. There have been some losses but I'm sure that is normal.

In the middle of all the excitement, I found my male dead in the tank yesterday. I honestly have no idea what was wrong with him. He had not been eating but I just thought it was due to his focus on the kids.....

Fortunately the little ones seem to be able to get along all by themselves.

Pictures of the little ones soon.

 

[bs6749]

WOW. I am so sorry to hear about that. I bet it was do to stress and not because of lack of eating. They can go a lot longer without food IMO.

What about the mom? Is she still separated? Maybe you should try letting her near the fry and see what happens. If she starts to show aggression towards them then I would remove her, but I feel that the presence of a parent would help a great deal.

 

[SparKy697]

I'm afraid to try that. She has been out of the tank since the second or third day. The fry seem to be getting along very well so I think I will just leave them. Besides mom seems to have moved on. I put another male GBR in the tank with her and they seem to be getting on nicely.

I have been feeding a touch of first bites with the bbs just incase. I still have nice looking swimmers, although their numbers seem to be dwindling a bit. I can't tell if they are hiding in the moss or if they are just dieing off.

 

[bs6749]

Good luck trying to get her to form another pair. Usually it is uncommon for GBR's to spawn with another mate after losing one. Generally, I would say, it is harder to get the female to spawn with another male rather than the other way around. I have had no luck with one of my females that lost her mate even after adding another male. He is interested in her but she is not interested in him.

 

[SparKy697]

A little update.

I'm down to a small handful of fry. The ones that are left seem to be doing fairly well. I can watch them eat bbs and they seem to swim just fine. I might actually get a fish or two out of this adventure.

No pics worth posting at the moment.

 

[SparKy697]

Update 6-2-2007

I have tried so many times to get a decent photo of the little guys, but to date I have nothing that is postable. They seem to be a bit camera shy. I have to sneak up on the tank in the dark just to get to see them. I assume that not having an adult in the tank makes them feel less safe.

I'm wondering about how long I should keep feeding bbs? Has it been long enough that I an start mixing ground up flake food? I have been trading off one feeding of bbs with one feeding of first bites.

 

[bs6749]

I stopped BBS after about a week or so when I noticed that they were doing perfectly fine on Hikari First Bites food. It is just much less of a hassle. Currently I have 3 GBR fry (37 days old) in my 10 gallon grow out tank and I just started feeding them crushed up flakes at about day 26. I would still mix in a little of the First Bites as well.

Now what I am feeding them is the New Life Spectrum (NLS) Cichlid Formula. What I do is I count out about a dozen little pellets and place them in a plastic spoon. I then place another plastic spoon on top of that one and then I squeeze them together and mash the food so that the pieces are small enough for them to eat. I then dip the whole spoon into the water and wave it back and forth until the food is all in the water. This seems to work really good for me.

Any idea on how many little ones you have left? I am just wondering why so many of mine did not make it when I had over 80 fry to start with. I guess I should be happy that I have 3 though.

My fry were all very skittish as well until about 5 days ago. I had very little in the tank (a piece of driftwood where the eggs were laid, and a sponge filter setup). I added some pieces of slate about 5 days ago and they seem to feel more comfortable and will venture out more rather than just staying at the back of the tank and hiding near the driftwood. The tank is still bare on the bottom to make cleanings easier for me and the fish.

 

[SparKy697]

Oh after a week? That is great news. I think I will try to start weaning them off of the bbs mainly because it is a pain.

I decided that I did not like the bare bottom tank because it seemed so unnatural.

There were 6 in the original tank but when I started picking the moss out of it I trapped one of the little guys. There are now only 5 left. As to why more did not survive, I really don't have a good answer. Young parents? Water params? Brine shrimp too big to eat? Genetics?

Like you, I'm just happy that I have a couple to look at.

 

[bs6749]

I doubt that it's water params... mine have always been near perfect for the tanks with fry.

You can continue to feed BBS as much as you want, I was just letting you know that I stopped after a week (after free swimming) and they did fine on the First Bites. I have no doubt that BBS, if done right, would be better for them and would make them grow faster.

I wish I had more tanks LOL. I just had 2 pair spawn when I was gone for a day and only a few eggs from one spawn are left, and a third pair is going to lay tonight. I really need more tanks if I want to raise these guys.

 

[SparKy697]

My water has been perfect as far as the big three. I was referring to the whole hardness/pH issue that always comes up when you talk about Rams.

I was able to catch one shot of the smaller fish this morning at lights on.

Tanks are cheap! Space on the other hand is usually a premium.

 

[shayfish]

Aww... cute baby! Good luck Sparky. Seems like you're doing a great job.

 

[Jchillin]

awwww...he's a cute transparent little thing

 

[bs6749]

Wait a couple more days and you will be able to see the black on the dorsal fins unless yours got that already. Mine just got the black on their pelvic fins and for some time have been doing the dart-flare fins that the rams do. They are so fun to watch.

 

[SparKy697]

Can you count 5 baby GBR in this photo?

 

[Jchillin]

I counted four, the obvious one in the front and the rest appear to be near the big boulder?

 

[SparKy697]

Answer Key

 

[bs6749]

My guesses before looking at the key:

One dead center, two and three facing away near wood in center of pic, four is on the left under the leaf but above the rock, and five was a tricky one but it is on the right under the leaf and hidden really close to the sand (the eyes gave it away).

EDIT: I circled what I thought was the 5th one. Don't those look like eyes? To me it looks like a fish.

 

[SparKy697]

LOL I had not even seen that one. That does look like a fish!

They are coming along well, three are bigger than the other two but everybody seems to be eating and growing quite nicely. They seem to be getting some markings, not color but the black tips and stripes that make up their basic pattern.

Photo added 6-12-2007

 

[SparKy697]

Update pic

Not much to report. The same 5 fish are still around and all growing fine. It's still surprising to see the different rates the fish are growing.

Here is s photo of the most developed one in the bunch, you can see some of the black markings really starting to show up.