GBR's about to mate?

[SHIFT_Unique]

I just recently got two german blue rams male and female(red belly).

they have just recently found them selves and nice hiding spot, secluded from everything else. behind a peice of driftwood, where plants block both sides and the only entrance is from the top.

they are not hiding due to stress, i just fed them and they came out ate their share, swam around, them went back to their cave area.

Them seem to be moving around rocks a little bit there also.
is this a sign they may be getting ready to spawn?

How much do these fish go for at LFS's? I know of one nearby that don't have these.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Sounds like they might be. Sometimes they lay eggs on the plant leaves, and sometimes the female will dig a pit, which is where she lays the eggs.

At the LFS here, they are 13.99 each.

 

[bs6749]

If they are cleanig an area then the are ready to spawn. They will clean it with their mouths. Usually my males and females both help to dig out the gravel pit. Look for the ovipositor to be showing on the female.

Depending on the quality and store of them they will go anywhere from $4 to $8 here in Michigan.

 

[SHIFT_Unique]

they just layed eggs, i even saw it. pretty cool, how long can i expect till they hatch and are tank bound?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

If they don't eat the eggs, it takes 3 days before they start hatching and have wigglers, and another 5-7 days to become free-swimming. Once they are free-swimming, you will need to feed them egg yolk, as the fry are very small and fry foods are generally too big for them. Take a hard boiled egg and mix some egg yolk in a bowl of water, then take an eye dropper and spot feed the fry. The wigglers are still feeding off their own egg yolks, which is what causes them to staay on the bottom of the tank. Once their egg yolks have been depleted, you need to start feeding egg yolk, or other extremely small foods if you can find them, like micro worms, etc.

 

[bs6749]

Actually, you may want to start feeding a little BEFORE they yolk sacs are completely gone. This is what it says on the back of the Hikari First Bites package and it makes sense. You don't want those litttle guys to be without food as their early development is very important. 2 of my GBR pairs just spawned last night as well. One in a dug out pit and the other on a small piece of slate that I may remove to my 10 gallon tank. You may want to think about moving your eggs too if it is easy to do so.

 

[SHIFT_Unique]

im getting a 55g tank sunday, what should i do about the babies?