Raising GBRs

[Mebbid]

I caught my new pair of GBRs laying eggs today which is something I've been hoping for. I was wondering if anyone had any special tips or tricks to doing it properly?

I will be pulling the eggs once they are done breeding and keeping them in a separate container hanging in the tank for them to hatch and grow a little bit before giving them their own tank.

 

[mattcham]

Use tank with sponge filter only. Some people say infusoria or egg yolk mix is needed during first two weeks (like betta fry) but in my experience newly hatched brine shrimp is adequate (some feel baby brine shrimp are too large for ram fry). Personally I've had worse luck with egg yolk mix, most fry don't seem interested and it just spoils the water faster. Always check ammonia levels. Rapidly growing fry produce a surprisingly large amount of ammonia that accumulates really quickly and is hard for biological filters to keep up with. In a 20 gallon tank you may have to do 50% water changes twice a day assuming you feed them 3 to 4 times a day. They grow faster with more feedings just like any other fry.

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[mattcham]

Oh, don't forget to use methylene blue to prevent egg fungus. Rams really like warm water. Most people say 80 degrees minimum. Use soft acidic water but in terms of importance I think its temperature, hardness, lastly pH. Don't mess around too much with pH as fluctuations are very stressful to fish.

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[mattcham]

How are you planning to pull those eggs when they are on sand? I think it's too risky to shovel that patch of sand.

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