breeding convicts:my log

[alison73]

Hello, thankyou for the advice...Because i had to put the fry in a new tank i have been giveing them crushed flakes..They doing really well,developing pretty fast..They were free swimming quite close to the bottom of the tank now they getting adventurous and climming higher,its a joy to watch as this is my first experience...

 

[DizzCat]

Isn't it fun watching them grow? Out of all my fry, I enjoy the Rams the most because I can watch the parents care for the eggs, then the wigglers and then the fry. I have a batch of Ram fry growing out in a 10 gallon and they are so cute!

 

[alison73]

we love rams,....we have 3 bolivian rams, and 2 very very cute balloon rams. we would love for the rams to breed, and advice?....i have uploaded some pictures on my profile,...please take a look and comment on the sexes if you can see what is m or f.

oh and do you have pics /vids of your baby ram fry?

thank you.

 

[DizzCat]

Its hard to tell what you have. How big are they? Looks like you have at least one male and one female. Mine were full grown when they spawned. I only have the 2 in a 30 gallon. They will spawn 3 times in a row, then nothing for 3-4 months.

Here is a post I put up. It has my Rams flirting, spawning, and the other one is the fry growing up. Really cute! You can really see the difference in my male and female in these videos.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f100/bolivian-ram-spawn-and-fry-videos-117589.html

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

Wow those are amazing video's, very cool indeed!

 

[alison73]

Really great vids.....

Its bn 3 weeks now since my convicts had their 1st fry. They doing really well, feeding them fresh baby brine and crushed flake food. They in their own lil tank and growing well. Havnt thought of what im guna do with them once they get bigger lol...

Parents have just laid their 2nd lot of eggs today, and female is alot calmer..i can actually stroke her instead of her biting me for a change.lol.. So all fun and games start again..

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

Alright I have a question, is it possible for one male convict to knock up two females at once? I have a 55gal tank with one male and two female convicts, about 3 weeks ago for the first time ever one of the females laid eggs, but than ate them...now both females have big bellies and all three fish hang out closely together, I thought convicts picked one mate and stuck with them for life?

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

Nevermind didn't happen, but I am pretty sure the mother keeps eating the babies abou 3 days after they hatch, its kind of bothersome

 

[alison73]

hi, well my convict babies are doing great. ive put 3 in my large aquarium and they keeping good. got the remaining 100 in smaller tank.took half to my LFS and ive to take another few up again soon so to give the remaining lil ones more space.im enjoying watching them grow its great.very satisfying. The parents are continuing to breed. its dead on every 3 wks but we now just remove the eggs once she has laid them..i have noticed that she will not lay eggs in the same place twice.. its kinda funny as she finds the most wierdest places lol....

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

That is weird...mine lays in the same spot everytime, no matter if I remove them or leave them there

 

[alison73]

oh really...well another theory out the window..up until last night she was laying exactly every 3 wks.we removed her last eggs last wk and she last night laid again.so shes doing it weekly now.

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

wow thats crazy...I wish mine were laying that much...and surviving...I cant get the babies to survive for the life of me...

 

[alison73]

im getting abit fed up with them to be honest lol....but its something im guna have to put up with..they are very active.i cant understand why its going so wrong for you ;( ...I dont know what would have happened to the babies if i had left them in with parents(they could have gone)..I have put 3 babies back in with parents and they are surviving well.lots of places to hide.lol...

I took about 25 again to LFS today, just to give the rest more chance of growing..im not guna keep them, just watch them grow a little then im guna put parents in there to get on and do what they do best..lol..

 

[convict78]

wow thats crazy...I wish mine were laying that much...and surviving...I cant get the babies to survive for the life of me...

liquid,try to take the eggs out and keep them in another tank before they hatch if you can.i tried to let the parents raise them at first but after the third try i saw the mother going to town eating all she could get.now i keep them seperate and they are doing good.the parents were very angry when i took them,the male bit me many times it was shocking fast he bit me.anyway worth a try.

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

yeah they have bred three times so far...i took the eggs out the second time and tried raising them in a 10 gal breeder tank, but roughly a day or two after they hatched they started dying...what was ur trick for feeding them?

i am pretty sure my female was eating the eggs, thats what i assumed when the father banished the mother to the other side of the tank and wouldn't let her near the flower pot containing the eggs. I noticed that with the third batch of eggs, she only starts eating them once they have hatched.

 

[convict78]

i bought fry food called first bites and feed them three times a day but they wont eat until about three days after they hatch,when their yokesac is gone.if they are dying that soon after moving them i dont think its a problem with food,how is your water you use for the fry tank?i syphone the water that is already set in the other tank with the parents, i dont use new water but i also only use a 1 gallon for them so its easy, for 10 gal it might be harder.i think the water conditions might be your problem though

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

well i have my swordtail fry in the 10 gal right now, and have always been putting them in there and they all survive, the tank has been running for months now, I even started the sponge filter in the big 55gal tank where the convict parents live.

 

[alison73]

I feed mine fresh baby shrimp, they love it or just dry flakes crushed up..temp is around 30.I removed another load of eggs today, they were not impressed one bit...

 

[Liquid_Pyro]

yeah the parents get quite aggressive when you steal the babies that is for sure...

 

[convict78]

mine just laid their third batch today,11 days after the last hatched so i was suprised to see more.i dont have anywhere to put this batch so im just going to see if the dont eat them this time