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German Blue Ram Breeding Journal


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Things holding stable with fry. Changed water in 20-gal. Fed live white worms to adults / Grindal worms to fry. Haven’t been too obsessed with water changing the fry container.

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Added a Catappa leaf and a few Alder cones to 20 gal tank. Coconut fibers get on fry container bottom via Grindal worm feedings. 

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A L R I G H T Y ! ! ! It’s moving day.

The batch has passed the threshold for BAP submission. I’ll be able to submit these fry for points with my fish club. So now, a fateful day has arrived: it is time to move them to breeder nets in the 20 gal.

The water chemistry is different. It’s hard to be sure all will go well. But generally speaking, enough fry usually make it.

Heres a shot of the nets in place prior to the move…

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Heres a count — 32 fry survived…

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Here’s part one of moving the fry with me rambling…

Here’s part two after fry are moved with further ramblings…

Here’s the pH / AM / NI / NA comparison between Specimen container vs tank…

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Before you string me up on account of high Nitrates, let me say that it’s possible the titration drops are not rendering an accurate result… they’re nearly out, and possibly expired. Crystals in reagent bottle (#2) get cranky. If accurate, then… we’ll… that’s just very bad 😂

The major difference is the 6.0 pH from the fry container to the 8.0 pH in the tank. That’s a real leap.

N O W ! ! !

This happened…

So, I’m starting all over again…

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Here’s a video afterwards, with ramblings-a-plenty…

 

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Have you ever used the medicine syringe to suction the unfertilized eggs off of the rock?

I wish you the best, Rams are notoriously hard to breed. Which is probably the fun, right?😅

Your brave one has spunk!

<died laughing at "this happened" because I just delivered dwarf zebra danios to the lfs.... and the ones I kept for my breeding program spawned immediately. Since their spawn date was 5/1 I didn't bother trying to hatch any. In a few more months, I will try for an intentional spawn.>

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On 7/29/2021 at 10:02 AM, Fish Folk said:

In my club (PVAS - Potomac Valley Aquarium Society) you must (1) provide notice of initial spawn (2) document from 1st “free-swimming” day (3) record and journal weekly progress with photos, videos, or by bringing fry in to club meetings (4) If minimum 10x fry survive for 30 days, you are awarded points, depending on the species, difficulty, etc. For GBRs… I think… they’re either a 15 or 20-point fish. At 300 points, you are an “advanced breeder” and at 500 points you are awarded the certificate of “master breeder.” To become a master breeder though, there’s some tricky fish you’re required to breed, including a number of CARES species that are endangered.

My son is an “advanced breeder.” I’m trying to catch him 😅

So are you going to try breeding zebra pleco for your masters ?

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On 8/7/2021 at 12:03 PM, Fish Folk said:

Not for awhile! If Dean has such a rough time with them… I doubt I’ll get anything! 😂

I could give you a pointer to someone who breeds them if you want advice 😉 They have been doing it for more than 10 years. To be honest I myself would never breed them since i can't use them for my community tanks (they hide too much)...

 

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On 8/11/2021 at 12:10 PM, Hobbit said:

It’s soooo amazing to me that the parents recognize and guard the fry through the fry box! 🥰

Indeed. Very, very endearing. Sadly, unless they raise them up themselves, they'll just eat the fry. Fish are strange sometimes. I've noticed that lights-out tends to "reset" their little brains. Unless a light is kept on in the room, they'll awake and just eat fry.

Now, if the parents _so_ raise them up all by themselves, they tend to be better with this. The reason I don't try at this point is that after dozens and dozens of times watching Rams spawn and eat their eggs . . . or eat their wigglers . . . or eat their fry . . . it's so disheartening, that I just pull. I'm always super excited for aquarists whose Rams raise their fry successfully by themselves! It's just never been my experience. 

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