German Blue Rams will not spawn again

[brian.petry]

I ordered a breeding pair of gbr last october (10/20/13) and they proceeded to spawn once after two months. However the eggs were not fertilized and were eaten. They have since then never spawned, despite my efforts to achieve a perfect environment for them to breed. I have contacted Yunite, the company I purchased them from. They just instructed me to feed brine shrimp and blood worms on a regular basis (3-4 times per week). I have been doing this for several weeks and since I have started, the male is less interested in the female than it ever has in the past, only occasionally chasing as opposed to the last year. What can I do to help this? I don't know what else to do.

Thanks for any help!

Tank Specs:
Size:26 Gallon Half Hex
Substrate: ecocomplete on bottom, fine sand on top.
Filtration: Aquaclear 70
Planted: Yes - several varieties of plants.
Light: Odyssea 24" T5 Quad High Output Light Fixture with Timer 6500K
Water Changes: 6.5 gallons every 7 days (Mostly RO)

Parameter:
General Hardness: 6 drops
PH: 7.2
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0

Stock:
2x GBR
1x Bristlenose Pleco
4x Kuhli Loach
7x Neon Tetra
1x Glowlight Tetra
3x Pristella Tetra
2x Nerite Snail

 

[Andy Sager]

When I bred rams, I did it with no other fish in the tank. This may be some of your issue. Too many distractions. Also, if these were older rams, they may have past their breeding prime and won't breed either too often or again. Can't say for sure.
Things to try:
Remove all the other fish and just keep the rams in there.
Make sure you have a temp of 78-80 degrees F
Subdue the lighting. Mine bred with indirect lighting
Reduce activity in front of the tank. They like privacy to spawn.
Add more areas of seclusion (i.e. 1/2 clay pots or rock formations with a flat spawning rock in front of the formation)
If these are wild fish, you will need to lower the PH to about 6.5 and reduce the hardness to almost 0
Lastly, diet is key to preparing fish to spawn. These need protein so make sure you are feeding more than just the brine shrimp as that has little protein. Use some FD tubifex worms or the bloodworms as part of their regular diet to help bulk them up.
Try some, or all, of these and see if you get a different result. For me, I finally got spawns when I moved the fish to a tank in the back corner, out of the way, of my hatchery room. They just wanted a little privacy I guess.

Hope this helps

If all else fails, you can always try some romantic music in the room. lol

 

[elephantnose]

There are factors that go into this. As stated above. It's been months since my rams laid eggs. And just last week they started and haven't stopped laying. I have the breeding tank ready this time so I hope i can keep them all alive.


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[Tieberion]

My Rams did something like that. turned out was an easy fix. Change current diet from whatever you are now to anything else approved. Drop water temp for a week+ , then bump it up to 85/85, change to a good quality diet of something else they have never had before, and chances are you'll be spawning within a few days. Good Luck!

 

[brian.petry]

Still waiting

Thanks for the ideas. I have reduced the temperature, which I will leave for a few days until I bring back up to ~82f. There are plenty of hiding places available, and it seems that privacy isn't really an issue for them. It is possible that it is just too busy, which if it comes to it, I will remove some of my tetras.

I am unwilling to lower my light intensity as my plants are doing fantastic now that I have the balance made and the lighting schedule is set, so hopefully the temperature swing will be enough to persuade them into some procreation. Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback.

Here are some tank pics