Over the past couple of days I noticed the female Blue Ram getting a really pink belly. Tonight when I went to feed them, I noticed all the fish went to eat except the male ram. He just hid behind a piece of driftwood and never left. I was wondering what was up with him...so I looked from the side of the tank and noticed this pit area in the driftwood was covered with eggs! The female has been chasing everybody away from that corner of the tank (20L) and the male just hovers above the pit, chasing whoever sneaks past the female. It's interesting to watch their behavior.
I did a search and read all the threads but still have some questions. I've read that they might not get it right the first time, but will the male still continue to defend the eggs even if they aren't fertilized? Say the eggs don't hatch, do I have to remove them or will the parents just abandon them and the other fish will eat it? If they do hatch, how long does it take? I'm trying not to get my hopes up...but it's hard not to! I just want to be prepared for whatever happens. It's so exciting because my tank is only about a month old, and I haven't done any water tests or anything but I guess conditions are good, even after running the water for only 2 days from set up till the fish went in. The Hawaii water I guess.
I did a search and read all the threads but still have some questions. I've read that they might not get it right the first time, but will the male still continue to defend the eggs even if they aren't fertilized? Say the eggs don't hatch, do I have to remove them or will the parents just abandon them and the other fish will eat it? If they do hatch, how long does it take? I'm trying not to get my hopes up...but it's hard not to! I just want to be prepared for whatever happens. It's so exciting because my tank is only about a month old, and I haven't done any water tests or anything but I guess conditions are good, even after running the water for only 2 days from set up till the fish went in. The Hawaii water I guess.
