Female german blue ram laying eggs without a male pair?

[coolfishguy12]

About a month ago, I bought three female german blue rams and one male german blue ram. They were just random fish from my LFS, ie they weren't sold a breeding pair.

Recently one of the females started showing her colors and I noticed her and the male seemed to stick close together. Her belly started getting plump, so I figured they were beginning to pair although I wasn't 100% sure.

As suspected, last night the female laid eggs on an ornament I have in the tank but the male didn't fertilize them. In fact, he really didn't pay any attention.

Is there still a chance these two will pair off, or does the fact that he didn't fertilize mean he will never pair with that female? Do you think they will pair and possibly spawn next time? They are all fairly juvenile so maybe the male wasn't quite ready (he is definitely old enough though)?

 

[Brookster123]

Sounds like they've paired, thing is they're not the best parents to begin with, it may take then a few tries to get it down. Now you'll need to monitor aggression with is females out.

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[coolfishguy12]

Sounds like they've paired, thing is they're not the best parents to begin with, it may take then a few tries to get it down. Now you'll need to monitor aggression with is females out.

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Is it possible that she laid eggs if they weren't paired?

Should I give it a few days to make sure the eggs weren't fertilized, then remove them to avoid aggression?

 

[Gillie]

Is it possible that she laid eggs if they weren't paired?

Should I give it a few days to make sure the eggs weren't fertilized, then remove them to avoid aggression?

The first few spawns typically goe wrong, whether it be unfertilized eggs or eaten early on. If the eggs are unfertilized they will eat them and there will be no aggression from that, but there will be territorial aggression toward the other females so they should be removed and returned.

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[coolfishguy12]

The first few spawns typically goe wrong, whether it be unfertilized eggs or eaten early on. If the eggs are unfertilized they will eat them and there will be no aggression from that, but there will be territorial aggression toward the other females so they should be removed and returned.

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Yeah that's what ended up happening. A day after the eggs were deposited I came home from work and they were gone.

I'm still not even sure if the female was just unloading the eggs or if they are paired but the male just failed to fertilize.