HELP! German Blue Ram Fry!

[lb8953]

Hello!

I am new to GBR Breeding and I have two blue rams who have been breeding. They are relatively small adult rams in a 70Litre tank. When i noticed eggs i took out the other gbr tank mates and left the parents. They have been really good parents so far! the eggs hatched on the 25th of November and while i was away for the weekend i noticed this morning they have become free swimming. Theres loads of them, i don't know exactly but i would say around 100. I put in a block of frozen baby brine shrimp and a pinch of Hikari First Bites, but I am unsure of what to do from here! Should i be setting up a nursery tank for them? from what I've read the parents can turn around and start eating them! at the moment they are still being really good and keeping them all together by collecting them and spitting them back out. I would really like to sell them to the LFS when they become a bit older, but i don't really know much about doing that either! So i guess my major question is, am i feeding them properly, and should I remove them from the parents? I want the parents to keep breeding so I don't want to stress them out by taking them away or removing the parents!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[coralbandit]

Sounds like you are doing ok with them.
It will be easier to move the parents then the fry if you want to separate them.

It is ram breeding season so you shouldn't be able to throw the parents off their 'game' very easy.

Good luck!
Keep us informed.

 

[lb8953]

Thanks! Checked the tank this morning and all the babies seem to be kicking on! Parents are still catching them and putting them back with the group so I assume all is well! I'm torn as to whether I should move the parents!! Also if I turn the tank light on the babies seem to swim head down into the gravel and get stuck and the parents fight if one is eating food. The parents turned on each other when the fry were wriggler sod I turned the light on too. Is this normal?

 

[coralbandit]

New ram parents often need practice.
Every pair is different but one chasing the other away and trying to be the sole parent is not uncommon.
I would just observe and prepare for next set eggs.

Go Bare Bottom for fry tank if you really want to raise em.

 

[lb8953]

The fry have been free swimming for 5 days now and the parents are still caring for them!! I lost a lot of fry though they kept digging themselves into the rocks on the floor and got trapped. I noticed a few died as the were pressed up against the tank in the rocks :/ also I vacuumed the gravel and found a few more :/ I think I still have about 70 left but I feel like they're still getting stuck! Should I move them? I don't know how to without killing them myself!!

 

[coralbandit]

I would let the parents continue and plan for next set of eggs.
Sounds like you may end up with some fry which quiet an achievement!
Sand very thin or bare bottom would be best IMO.
I've syphoned many fry and can't say that any ever lasted past 2 weeks.
2 weeks seems to be the big mark for ram fry.
Sounds you and your rams are doing well!

 

[lb8953]

Fry are getting bigger ! Although I think I have only about 50 left! They hatched a week and a half ago so we will see ! The dad has been totally exiled though, since Friday he's been hanging out on the other side of the tank and if the mum sees him he is really badly attacked :/ should I remove him? I still want them to be a pair but I'm scared the mum is doing some serious damage !

 

[coralbandit]

If you can separate them but still keep them so they see each other that would be best.
Possibly even a divider could work.

It really sounds like you have a FANTASTIC pair of GBR.

You and them are miles ahead of many others!!
Keep up the good work!
You know you have to post pics eventually?????

 

[lb8953]

These are the best pictures I could get of them over the last 2 weeks!!
I don't have a divider big enough :/ I'm thinking of just leaving them, i just feel bad for the dad!!

 

[lb8953]

and this is from today! I think thats all the fry left in the pic with the mum! It doesn't look it, but they are much bigger!!

 

[coralbandit]

WOW!
Those are great pics!
All the way from eggs!!!!
The male will be fine in the tank.
It is usually the other way around IME...

 

[Gillie]

You should consider yourself very lucky, I can count on 1 hand the number of times that I've seen gbr raise fry, congrats.

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[Brookster123]

Talk about it.. that's quite the accomplishment. Either parents of the year or your water is the holy grail you should be proud either way!

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[lb8953]

Thanks!!

Well in saying that I noticed that the dad was being exiled because he was eating them!! I removed both parents a couple of days ago into their own tank and babies are still happy! They're 2 weeks old today! It's cute they still swim in a little group together ! Hoping they all grow up I have about 30 now ! I'm hoping that the parents still breed more!!

 

[lb8953]

And defs don't think it's my water as I hardly ever do water changes and I have no testing kits ! Must be my parents!! They only look about 6 months old themselves!!!

 

[lb8953]

Update:

The baby fry are doing well since I removed the parents, they are getting bigger!

But on another note I put the parents in a small 20litre tank with another female GBR and I found more eggs this morning!! I'm running out of places to put them!!


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