Take Two...

[hsherman1986]

Well, they did it again...my GBRs have spawned again. Hopefully they did it right this time. They chose the EXACT same spot as last time, but something went wrong, and they ate the eggs. I came home from work to them spawning. How long till they should hatch? I have BBS and microworms ready (mostly for my killifish fry, but those are always hatching, so I always have cultures going) for them, hopefully the eggs survive to enjoy the live food

 

[Michael]

Are the Rams by themselves? If not they will most likely eat the eggs every time. If you really want to succeed you should remove the eggs.

 

[hsherman1986]

yea, they are by themselves. I am giving them one more try to do it themselves, but if they screw up this time, I will take the eggs out next time. Last time was their first time ever spawning, so i didn't really expect them to get it right.

 

[bs6749]

I have heard to give them 3-4 tries to do it right.

Mine always hatch out in about 36 hours but they should hatch out by 48. I can only get mine to live for 5 days or so and then they all die for some reason... not quite sure why. Congratulations and good luck.

 

[hsherman1986]

Well, either they moved the eggs, or they ate them. Either way, they are not there anymore We are gonna test the water hardness, and next time, the eggs will be seperated. Darn it, I was hoping for babies...

 

[bs6749]

They wouldn't move them....they ate them. It happens. Water hardness may be of little significance because people on here have reported successful hatching and raising of fry in really hard water with a pH of 8.2 or more.

If it were me I would add some slate or other flat pieces of stone for them to spawn on. That and plants with large broad leaves seem to be favorable spots for spawning. Then all you have to do is either clip a leaf or simply remove the slate and place it in another tank.

 

[hsherman1986]

well, their choice spot is that driftwood in the first pics, and it is actually really easy to remove from the tank. and the tank has lots of broad leafed plants in it, so unless they decide t spawn on the sand, no matter where they spawn, it will be easy for me to remove the eggs next time. Now I just have to sit and wait for 6 weeks until they spawn again

 

[bs6749]

Mine were spawning about every 5-7 days. I had 3 of my 4 pairs spawning at the EXACT same time and the fourth spawned hours later. That was a VERY neat thing to see. Yours should spawn weekly or so too I would imagine. You may have to get them "in the mood" though. I would do a PWC with water that is a little cooler in temperature. This seems to make mine spawn. I recently did a near 100% water change due to moving the tank and it caused them to start spawning again after a few months of not.

 

[hsherman1986]

really? What are your params (ph, and such)? It took mine 6 weeks between spawns.

Is it normal for the male to chase the female after the eggs are no longer present? both males did that so bad that we removed the females.

 

[bs6749]

My pH is roughly 7.0, no ammonia or nitrite and nitrate is around 10ppm or less (planted tank). I keep the temp around 82 degrees. Varying this can induce spawning as well (such as adding cooler water during a PWC).

It is normal for the male to chase the female away from the eggs, but when I DO see this it is usually near the end of when the eggs should be hatching. This doesn't happen with every pair every time. It may happen once in a while with the same pair but I haven't noticed it being habitual between the same pair. I don't recall seeing that much aggression AFTER the eggs were gone but there was still some on occasion. Probably not a bad idea to remove the female though if aggression is heavy and there is another tank for the female to be placed in.

 

[hsherman1986]

well, she did most of the gaurding over the eggs this time and she was chasing him around. My other pair though, he got really aggressive toward her after the eggs were gone, so we took her out, and when we tried to reintroduce her, he was just as bad.

 

[bs6749]

I have seen the females be aggressive to the females but this doesn't happen often with mine. Usually they work as a "team" with the male guarding them for the most part and when it comes to feeding time she will take over and allow him to eat and then he takes over after he has had something to eat. I split a pair up once after they spawned in a 10 gallon tank and I was worried that they wouldn't recongnize each other when they were both back in the 55 gallon tank but they did. I am about ready to reintroduce a female GBR that was sick back into the 55 gallon tank after 2 weeks of being in a QT tank. Hopefully all goes well there.