Nick Y Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 Hi Everyone I was hoping for some advice on successfully breeding German blue rams. I’ve watched Deans video, read the Coop blog article and have watched a ton of Coop videos. My question is more specific so here it goes... The picture in my thumbnail is from a ram pair that bred in my 40 gallon community tank. Other inhabitants are two mystery snails 10 black neon tetra 11 rummy nose tetra and eight amano shrimp (along with the ram pair). I keep the temp between 82-84 degrees depending on my room temp. Water parameters (going off tetra strips) are stable. Ph 7.2-7.4 no ammonia nitrites or chlorine. Kh low between 20-30 ppm, GH high between 200-250 ppm nitrates steady around 20 ppm. The rams bred on the side of a large rock which was too big to remove. About three days after the eggs were laid the rams are the eggs (I saw them eating them). I understand that’s common for new pairs or if they’re stressed. I would like to raise some rams so I bought a 10 gallon tank with sponge filter, some pots n saucers like in deans video and added some anubias and water sprite. Water parameters are similar to community tank although slightly higher KH (40 ppm) and slightly lower GH (150ish) PH 7.4ish temp consistent at 84. About 8 ember tetras are only fish in there. My plan was to use the tank to raise the fry. With all that said, my question is do you guys think it would be better to move the ram pair to the tank and give them time to lay eggs and raise the fry, wait until the eggs are laid or fry hatch and remove them and put them in a breeder box with some air or just leave the rams in the community tank and hope for the best? If I move the ram pair, should I drip acclimate them or just put them right in the tank? If I move the fry, it seems like consensus best way is to siphon them with airline tubing. Is that the best way? sorry for the long post but from reading other posts and watching corys videos it seems like it’s best to provide tank condition info for a more informed answer. Thanks for any advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Cory Posted October 25, 2020 Administrators Share Posted October 25, 2020 Setup the dedicated breeding tank, and raise the fry there. As for drip acclimating, I personally never do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrostiesFishes Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 Just as a general statement I think separate breeding tanks are better in almost every situation. And I second not drop acclimating as I never do this. And I’d pull the eggs before I pull the fry. They may eat the eggs early on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Y Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 Thank you both for the advice! I did move the rams over to the breeding tank and the female laid eggs. Since this is only the second time I’ve had them lay eggs, I think I’m going to let the parents raise them. If they continue to eat them, I’ll separate the eggs. I’ll continue to update this post on what happens next. Couldn’t say enough positive things about Corey and the Aquarium Coop team. Would’ve never been able to even get to the point of rams breeding without all their plants, equipment, and most importantly knowledge. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augustjd27 Posted November 22, 2020 Share Posted November 22, 2020 Personally I'd recommend you give the parents a number of tries...maybe alternate between pulling spawns and leaving them with the pair. In my experience breeding rams, I found it extremely hard to feed the newborn fry. The most fry I got out of an artificial hatch was 10 as I believe most starved...but I got over 30 when the pair finally raised them for me! Make sure you include java moss or another fine leaves plant to grow some microorganisms for the babies to eat. I think that would be extremely helpful in helping the parents successfully raise the fry. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Y Posted November 23, 2020 Author Share Posted November 23, 2020 On 11/22/2020 at 11:01 AM, Augustjd27 said: Personally I'd recommend you give the parents a number of tries...maybe alternate between pulling spawns and leaving them with the pair. In my experience breeding rams, I found it extremely hard to feed the newborn fry. The most fry I got out of an artificial hatch was 10 as I believe most starved...but I got over 30 when the pair finally raised them for me! Make sure you include java moss or another fine leaves plant to grow some microorganisms for the babies to eat. I think that would be extremely helpful in helping the parents successfully raise the fry. Thanks for the advice! Since my original post I’ve let the pair lay eggs three more times and each time after a few days they eat the eggs. I knew I would be away this week so I didn’t want to try to pull the eggs and then worry about fry while I’m away. When I get back from vacation I’m going to try to pull the eggs and run some scaled back air and methelyne blue on the eggs to hatch them. I do worry about feeding them but I have a vineager eel culture first bites and sera fry food all to try. @Augustjd27 what did u find worked best for food? I also have floating water sprite and Java moss in there. Thanks again for the input, they just don’t seem to let the eggs hatch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtydave Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 I too would like to know what everyone thinks is best for newborns German blue rams. I have the brine shrimp hatchery but Ive heard they may be to big at first.Ill put some java moss from another tank in to introduce some micro organisms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jopinga206 Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 The vinegar eels are a good first food, but whatever you feed, try not to feed them too early. It could foul up the water too quickly if their in a smaller container. Also, if you really want to be successful, try getting 6 or 7 more and maybe then you could have 2 or 3 pairs going. You may have more success with a different pair. Not to say you can't be successful with these two, but it definitely increases your chances and will give you more practice hatching the eggs and playing with different parameters. Not to mention, if you have multiple pairs in the same tank, they will release hormones when spawning and get the other pairs spawning too. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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