Rams spawned!

[Maillis]

They've barely been in the tank and one pair has already spawned and the second looks like it's getting ready. Most of the eggs were fertilized and as of right now I've got a bunch of eggs that are wiggling and bouncing about the nest. This has been going on for a while without any free swimmer yet... could the fry be having trouble breaking through the shells? The parents pick up the eggs that bounce out of the nest, roll them around in their mouth, and spit them back into the nest. Are they supposed to break the babies out?

 

[Maillis]

Female has started moving some of the wiggling eggs to the base of an amazon sword that I left in it's plastic pot with rockwool.

 

[Maillis]

....but looks like she forgot to tell the male because he just picked up a few and put them back with the other eggs.

 

[Sonia]

Sounds like so much fun!!! I hope they hatch well, good luck!

 

[rubysoho]

keep updating on the behavior, this is so cool!

 

[ScottVinVA]

Take photos!

 

[Maillis]

The first pair of rams has moved all the wigglers into the pot and now the second pair of rams is in the process of spawning. Looks like I need to set up another tank. I've submitted some photos to my gallery, waiting for approval.

 

[Sara]

Maillis, would you mind describing your tank set-up in detail (pH, water conditioners, etc., etc.)? It sounds like you're having great success with your rams, and I (and I'm sure many others on the board) would be interested in hearing your secrets!

 

[Maillis]

No big secrets here, my water is actually far from ideal from what others say rams need. My pH is about 7.2-7.4, and my GH is about 15 degrees (don't have a KH test but I'm sure that's a little on the harder side too), and the tank is a toasty 82 degrees. The tank is a 20 gallon high, planted with anacharis, hornwort and an amazon sword, and has a nice big piece of driftwood.

 

[SerLunchbox]

This is taken from an alternative site i have bookmarked and thought it might help some.

If optimum conditions are kept the Ram is easily breed. The water temperature should be raised to about 80 degrees. They usually lay their eggs in caves or rocks. Both the male and female share brood protection. The eggs will hatch in about 48 hours, then the young will be moved to a shallow pit in the substrate. After four or five days they are free swimming and herded together in a group and looked after by the male. Each brood can contain as many as 150 to 200 young. The fry should be feed live or frozen brine shrimp nauplii.

It is awesome to see your sucess! keep it up!

 

[Maillis]

I wasn't really prepared for them to spawn so soon, I'm hoping atleast a handful of them will make it.

 

[SerLunchbox]

you might be surprised at how good the parents are.