German Blue Ram Discussion

[maxwell1295]

EGGS!

One of my couples had their first spawn and I missed it! I happened sometime during the day because there was nothing there when I left for work this morning. When I came home this evening......Voila!

The male and female are taking turns tending to the eggs. Since this is the first go round for both of them, I'm pretty sure there will be some mistakes. I'm not set up for ram fry yet, so I doubt these guys will make it. The neons in the tank aren't even paying them any attention and the other pair of rams gets run off anytime they come near the dominant pair's side of the tank.

Here is my first batch of ram eggs...

Proud papa...

Mom is in good shape...

The family portrait...

 

[Jchillin]

Does pH or hardness have more of an impact on the survival rate of the eggs/fry, and on the overall health of the fish?

Having a low kh or gh is wonderful but it has no effect on the fry AFAIK. The only issue is the acidity of the water from my understanding.

Congrats on your spawn Maxwell.

 

[maxwell1295]

I lost one of my Ram males this morning. When I went to bed last night, all was well. Water conditions were perfect, the Rams were lively and colorful with the exception of one of the females. She was slightly darker than normal, but ate well and was just as active, so I didn't think much about it. Then I wake up this morning and see the dead male. I was baffled because he really looked good and had even eaten some thawed brine shrimp from the tip of my finger. Even though he wasn't the dominant male, he was still thriving and showed no signs of stress even though was getting chased off pretty regularly by "Billy". Even this evening when I got home, I still couldn't figure it out until...

I had another spawn today! The female I thought was stressed was the one always being chased away by the dominant pair. Come to find out, she was actually the female who just spawned just 5 days ago. It seems like "Billy" decided to keep both females for himself and probably stressed the other male to death. I have no other explanation. Billy, being the dominant male would not allow him near a female who was about to spawn (even though she was not his mate). Anyway, the 2nd female has laid a boatload of eggs (see pics below).

So now I have one female spawning, one female feeling jilted and stressed, and the one remaining male "Billy" on top of the world. I think I'm going to save the stressed female by returning her to the LFS (PETCO where I bought her) rather than keep a threesome where one of the females will always be stressed by Billy and the other female.

I'm still amazed at the fact that I had 2 spawns in 5 days...

 

[Primetime]

Theres a sale at one of the Fish stores near me which has German Blue Rams for $2.69 ea. (Canadian). Is this a great price or just decent?

EDIT: Just saw the above post! Wooow 5 spawns in 2 days?? Awesome man Congrats!

 

[jrp1588]

No clue about how canadian dollars convert to american, but they cost $5 around here.

 

[maxwell1295]

Theres a sale at one of the Fish stores near me which has German Blue Rams for $2.69 ea. (Canadian). Is this a great price or just decent?

EDIT: Just saw the above post! Wooow 5 spawns in 2 days?? Awesome man Congrats!

$2.69 Canadian is a great price! My guess is that translates to less that $2USD. BTW, it's 2 spawns in 5 days. 5 in 2 days would be a miracle with only 2 females...

 

[Primetime]

LOL thats what happens when I decide to reply at 12 o' clock

 

[SeymourFRESH]

well i added my 2 new females out of quarantine about a week ago, and the less dominant male isn't taking crap from the more aggressive one anymore! they went crazy when i added the females and keep having these little standoffs. (quite interesting to watch actually!)

i thought they weren't really hurting eachother until one day i realized the dominant male had one of it's fin's nipped and has a white bump growing behind it's eye. it looks like fungus growing out of a wound, i've been treating with melafix but it doesn't really seem to be helping (been about 3 days now). any ideas what this white fuzzy bump could be besides fungus?

 

[workfortheman]

Heh congrats, Maxwell. That billy is *beep*! That's a lot of eggs man, did they eat the first batch?

I'm pretty sure my female is getting ready again, as the "ovipositer" (sp?) is protruding again. I'm actually planning on getting rid of the black neons, rasboras, guppies, and the lonely male. He's really stressed and light-colored.

Hopfully that will help the two young lover in their second spawn! In the tank will still be 2 otos, 2 cories, and a lone baby angel.

 

[maxwell1295]

Heh congrats, Maxwell. That billy is *beep*! That's a lot of eggs man, did they eat the first batch?

Yeah, that Billy is definitely a *beep*. He got r dun this time around. The second female laid a lot more eggs than the first one did. Maybe that's why he switched mates. I always thought they stayed loyal to one mate. He kicked the other one out as soon as the new gal was ready to drop. He basically kept the other male away from both females, but would also chase the female who wasn't ready to spawn. I ended up returning the stressed female to the LFS and probably saved her life in the process. As long as Billy is in there, I won't put any more GBRs in the tank.

 

[Jchillin]

Sorry to interrupt - Let's refer to BA Billy as Billy and leave the BA out. Thanks.

Maxwell - I read your other post in WeaselF's thread and congrats on utilizing the artificial breeding methods.

SeymourFRESH - It sounds like an injury that is in the process of healing. You are doing the right thing by using melafix. Give it some time and keep it monitored.

 

[workfortheman]

JC, duly noted and edited

A second round of eggs has found it's way onto my driftwood. I only regret that they spawned before I had a chance to remove their tankbuddies. I guess we'll see how this batch does, and consider removing others next time if need-be! I'll keep ya posted.

maxwell, how are your eggs looking? are they still nice and white?

 

[maxwell1295]

JC, duly noted and edited

A second round of eggs has found it's way onto my driftwood. I only regret that they spawned before I had a chance to remove their tankbuddies. I guess we'll see how this batch does, and consider removing others next time if need-be! I'll keep ya posted.

maxwell, how are your eggs looking? are they still nice and white?

Must be Ram breeding season this week. My eggs hatched on Sunday. I set up a temp maternity ward in a rubbermaid container that was too small to regulate the temps. They were all over the place...anywhere from 72F to 90F. I would've been better off leaving it at ambient temp as opposed to trying to match the temp of my tank. Anyway, I have maybe 10-20 live fry (as of this morning when I left for work) out of the ~50 or so eggs that actually hatched.

BTW, white eggs is not a good sign as that white color denotes fungus.

 

[SeymourFRESH]

wow that's awesome what luck you guys are having. mine haven't laid any eggs yet to my knowledge. we're adding 2 more females out of quarantine in a few weeks so we'll see how that goes.

the fungus on my one male is only looking slightly better...i'm not sure if i should be worried about it, but he's had it for about 5 days now...i guess i'll see what happens. hopefully it's nothing to worry about

 

[workfortheman]

Well my luck is not as good as I would hope. They are eating the eggs again, to my dismay. Hopefully next time the removal of most tankmates will help.

 

[Skyrmir]

Ok with everyone talking about recent spawns, maybe someone can explain something. My pair is working on a second set of eggs right now and I've definately confirmed that they are attempting to blow bubbles at the eggs?!?! The male mostly will go over to the air stone, suck up enoguh air that his gills get puffed out, hoover over the eggs for a minute with a big puckered look on his face, then blast out a bunch of bubbles.

What is that about?!?

Other than the apple snail attempting to invade the nest, things seem to have been going pretty smooth on this attempt. I'll either have GBR fry or caviar by the end of tonight.

 

[Cheadle Chick]

I bought my first pair of German blues yesterday and the male didn't even make it home. Poor guy. The female seems to be doing well...so far.
They're such neat fish!

 

[maxwell1295]

I'm not sure how much more I can take. I lost my female last night. She was laboring with her breathing when I got in last night. Water was perfect (0pmm/0ppm/5ppm in a lightly planted tank). I have been teating for ich (no meds) with high heat (86*F). All of the other fish are fine, except my male ram (Billy BA) who is in hiding right now, but not breathing as quickly as the female was.

On top of that, I lost all of my ram fry yesterday. When I got in, they were all dead, most likely due to flutuations in temp. I had trouble with the temps in my makeshift maternity ward from Day 1...

It was not a good day...

 

[SeymourFRESH]

i'm sorry to hear that maxwell i hope the best for you...i guess if they all die you can buy more and hope for better luck...i've heard of so many cases where they just die for no reason!

i've been treating with melafix for almost a week now for this white bump that's on one of my males and i literally can't tell if it's gotten any better (probably because i've been looking at it every day so i probably can't notice any difference). the fish is acting fine except sometimes it lays low on the bottom and twitches a little bit, but it only seems to do it when it's female mate is nearby

what do you suppose i do, JChillin? i've been considering using the rest of the metronidazole i have left from my last sick ram, i heard that's great for anti-bacterial treatment

any thoughts? my carbon's been out for a week now and i was wanting to put it back in soon...i'm kind of puzzled as of what course of action should be taken[/i]

 

[maxwell1295]

I am at a loss for words. I test my water twice a day, so if something were to go wrong I ould know aout it immediately. German Rams seem to experience MFD more than any other fish I am aware of. Billy BA has been moving around a little, but he's not looking very good either. He seemed interested in eating, but not enough to come up to the top like he normally does. He's tough as nails though and is trying to hang in there. I have my fingers crossed...