Diary of the 75G planted tank.... New pics 6/26/06

[Lonewolfblue]

They are used to me.

Earlier, when they were doing the ritual, I was doing a gravel vac, and had to push them aside and they kept doing it, lol. Like I wasn't even there, lol.

Now here's the interesting part. The 2 are laying and fertalizing the eggs, and one of the other GBR's is standing guard, chasing any other fish out of the area, lol. Do I have a trio? lol.

 

[An t-iasg]

Oh, wow...pics are just spectacular! Good luck with the fry!

 

[kaz]

very nice

 

[Guest]

Nice, I'd say your fish have got this down to a science. Allthough I think there owner helps them out a bit with there groovy apartment. Makes me want to get my tank going a whole lot quicker.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Nice, I'd say your fish have got this down to a science. Allthough I think there owner helps them out a bit with there groovy apartment. Makes me want to get my tank going a whole lot quicker.

Actually, this is their first spawning. The Bolivians have spawned 5 or 6 times now, but this is the first for the GBR's.

 

[lmw80]

Wow, great pictures! Congrats!!

 

[Guest]

Actually, this is their first spawning. The Bolivians have spawned 5 or 6 times now, but this is the first for the GBR's.

My mistake. I dont think most aquariests have that much propagation going on in there tanks. LOL Hey you putting something funny in that water? Just Kidding

 

[Lonewolfblue]

OSI Cichlid Aquarium Flake Food
NLS Cichlid Formula
Vegi Wafers
Shrimp pellets
Frozen Bloodworms and brine shrimp
And occasionally Zucchini.

Then I dose Potassium and CSM+B, and nitrogen and phosphates only when necessary.
Prime as Dechlor
Excel on occasion

That's about it, LOL

 

[sir_dudeguy]

great pics and fish.

are they easy to breed?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Once they start, you can't stop them, lol. If you move one to another aquarium, the other will try to jump across to the other, lol.

Yes, the rams are pretty easy to breed. 2 major ingredients, Planted, and Water Quality. And of course a male and female, lol.

Parameters:

ph 6.4-7.0 - Mine is 6.4-6.6
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 10-15ppm
Phosphate 1ppm
kh 60
gh 100
temp currently 87.5 due to ick treatment, normally 78.
Heavily Planted

 

[Guest]

Once they start, you can't stop them, lol. If you move one to another aquarium, the other will try to jump across to the other, lol.

Yes, the rams are pretty easy to breed. 2 major ingredients, Planted, and Water Quality. And of course a male and female, lol.

For us mere mortals a few prayers and miracle wouldn't hurt. lol But seriously, its an awsome sight to those little rascals trying to start a family. Good luck and we want to see some fry pics.


EDIT* baby fish pictures.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I added my parameters to my last post.

 

[fish_4_all]

Sweet pics and very beautiful fish. Should be a lot of fun to take care of the babies.

!!!!CONGRATS!!!!

 

[sir_dudeguy]

dang sounds pretty easy...sure you even need the male and a female lol...just kiddin

i'm thinkin of settin up a 10 gal. in my room...right along my heaboard on my bed im thinkin..
anyways, woudl a pair of gbr's be good in a 10? i really don tknow anything about them, as i've never really kept cichlids (they are cichlids right?)

and if i wanted to do planted tank on that, could i just get a couple of those compact minies that screw into an incandecent ficture? they come in 10 and 20 watts i think, and the fixture i got holds 2, but i cant remember if it was only made for 14 watt bulbs or not..i'll have to check in the morning

 

[Lonewolfblue]

A pair of GBR's will do fine in a 10G. Just plan on planting it if you go that route, they will do much better. And if the ph is a little high, you can always use CO2 to drive the ph down to the desired levels. And if heavily planted, I highly recommend using a bubbler at night, as the plants will consume O2 at night. And they give off O2 during the day. and don't worry about ph fluctuations with the CO2, won't hurt the fish. What hurts the fish is ph fluctuations caused by changing the kh. If the kh remains the same, and you add CO2 to to drive the ph down, the fish will be just fine.

Yes, GBR's are Cichlids. But the main difference is that Bolivians and GBR's are community fish, where other cichlids are aggressive. But if you plan on breeding them, I wouldn't have any other fish in there with them. The Bolivians haven't been able to have success because of too many other fish. Will now see how the GBR's defend their turf. They seem a bit more aggressive.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Awesome LWB! Thanks for the heads up too. I just bought my first (hopeful) pair of GBR's this afternoon. They are inseperable already! Your pics are beautiful. They are lucky fish.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

As for the coloring, they turned a beautiful gold, and also turned red in the face as well. I love how they change colors.

As for my female, she's attracted to all the guys, lol. Even me, lol. I put my hand in the tank and she comes right up to me.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

couldnt i just use some driftwood to bring pH down? i use it in all my tanks anyways pretty much, and they all have a little lower pH. How low exactly do they need? and what do you guys think of the no filter way? just use live plants? i've seen it a few times.

and ya the tank would be just for them...how much do they run usually, as far as price i mean?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yes, you can use driftwood to lower the ph. That's just fine. And GBR's will be fine in ph up to 7.8, as long as it's stable. But for breeding, their preference is just a bit under 7.0. Not sure how easy it is to trigger breeding at higher ph's, and if they are successful. If you can get it to around 7.0, then you are fine. I have my CO2 driving mine down to 6.4-6.6.

As for 10G tanks, they are pretty cheap. If you have the extra money, I'd probably go a long 20 instead, shouldn't be too much more. I recently bought a 10G kit but no stand, and a 29G with no hood but has a stand, all for under 150.00. I got it at Petco. Walmart has some nice tanks pretty cheap as well, then you can get better equip for it online at Big Al's.

 

[DeFeKt]

thats amazing mate, magnificant timing

well done, and good luck with them