German Blue Ram predicament

[NanosotaAquatics]

I recently had a pair of German blue rams start spawning for me, but upon watching the footage, I noticed the male has picked some eggs out and eaten them. Now I’m worried and I’m wondering should I remove the male? Is there a reason he ate those other eggs? Should I remove both parents?

[Guppysnail]

They will eat the infertile eggs and any that fungus. Unfortunately GBR are the WORST parents. 
 

I recommend removing the eggs to hatch rather than removing the parents. 
 

Here is a wonderful video from @Fish Folk’s son on how to hatch. He has several but I can’t find them. 

 

[Fish Folk]

Here’s a thread on what I do…

I always pull eggs, and hatch in an isolated container in the tank.

[NanosotaAquatics]

@Fish Folk @Guppysnail thank you for the advice. However I did wanna see them raise the fry up, rather than raise them myself. If I observe him eating more eggs I will remove the eggs but it may be too late as they prolly will be hatching by the time I get home from work. Hoping he was just picking off the infertile ones. After this spawn I prolly will start pulling the eggs myself. I just really wanted to see them parent them themselves.

[Fish Folk]

On 10/13/2023 at 3:14 PM, NanosotaAquatics said:

@Fish Folk @Guppysnail thank you for the advice. However I did wanna see them raise the fry up, rather than raise them myself. If I observe him eating more eggs I will remove the eggs but it may be too late as they prolly will be hatching by the time I get home from work. Hoping he was just picking off the infertile ones. After this spawn I prolly will start pulling the eggs myself. I just really wanted to see them parent them themselves.

You may need to wait for 7-12 attempts before a mature pair learns nit to eat fry / eggs. Hopefully not! Like you, I’d love to see them raise fry themselves.

I’ve heard — cannot confirm — that brooders raised by their parents will take to raising their own fry.

Be mindful that lights-out / lights-on often triggers a panic response in certain fish species. Leaving a low light on constantly may help the parents.

[Guppysnail]

On 10/13/2023 at 3:14 PM, NanosotaAquatics said:

I did wanna see them raise the fry up,

Here is one from @Lowells Fish Lab where he successfully got the parents to raise them. I never did but he gives some great tips. 

 

[NanosotaAquatics]

Thank you guys for the great answers again! I did watch Lowell’s video and continue to go back to it, and the goal is to have rams that are more successful at raising there own fry, also I have a small light that keeps the tank dim but not dark enough for panic to set in. Hopefully that stops most of the fry eating.

[NanosotaAquatics]

Update. It’s now 3 days later…. No eggs have hatched. I see a bit of fungus on some of the eggs and the parents don’t seem as interested. They do occasionally go over and fan them and guard them but not near as intensely as they did originally. You guys think the eggs still have a chance? Should I give it a little longer or just pull them? I’ve heard they take as little as 36 hour to as long at 60 hours to hatch. They where laid around 5-8pm on 10/11.

[Guppysnail]

if you can zoom in with phone camera or use a magnifying glass the eggs will have eyes already if they are fertile.