dking271

My Blue Rams have spawned for a fourth time. We had about 50 fry from the last batch, in which about 30 made it about two weeks. The parents ate the fry at day 13 & 14. Our plan is to remove the parents from the breeding tank by day 7 this time. That should put our fry eating BBS, and swimming pretty well. I am pretty confident we will get them to adults this time. I managed to get pics this time of the parents doing their business.

Peach pre-spawn



Again



Laying



Bowser doing his thing



Another shot

capekate

Good luck with the new spawn. Your GBR's look great!

Shaina

Awesome Good luck with the fry!

BTW...is that the fake cave thing from Petsmart? I have one of those but it's covered with Java Moss...my betta loves it...

dking271

Yes, my Rams love to spawn on it. This one is in a breeding tank set up specifically for this pair. I move a pair of Pearl Gouramis into the tank when not being used for breeding to keep it cycled. The Rams were moved in, and the Gouramis moved out about an hour before they spawned.

04_si

wow, im jealous! how big is your breeding tank?

dking271

Earlier today we had approx 60-70 eggs hatch to wigglers. All babies have since been relocated to a pit the parents had dug in the back corner.

I am currently using a 10g tank as a breeder set up specifically for this pair. I will have the mom out shortly after the fry are free swimming, and the dad out once they are eating BBS. I chose the 10g, because of the daily 50% water changes needed. I can have them done in about 10-15 minutes using a python. My last batch came to an abrupt end, when the parents decided to eat the babies.

dking271

Update 8/18/08 - Fry Day #2

It is hard to tell, but it appears that I have between 50-70 wigglers. They look great, and the tank is much more stable than when the last batch were in the tank. Fry will be free swimming tomorrow and will start being fed liquid fry food. I will remove the mother in a day or two, as I believe she started eating fry about day 11 last batch and our male turned on her. They will begin eating BBS around Thursday or Friday. I will probably remove the Male by Sunday, and try raising this batch without the parents. I am currently doing 50 % water changes every other day, but will begin doing them daily once the fry feeding begins. I will try to get decent pictures tomorrow.

Lucy

What is BBS?

dking271

BBS = Baby brine shrimp.

Most fry can take BBS at birth, GBR fry can't fit them in their mouth until about day 5/6. That is one reason these fry are difficult to raise. Once I have fry, I will have two BBS shrimp hatcheries going, starting a new batch every 2-3 days.

dking271

Update 8/19 - Fry day #3

Today most of the fry were free swimming. I fed them liquid fry food this morning, but only saw a few swimming this morning. I din't get home until late tonight, but my wife and son believe we have at least 75 maybe 100 free swimming fry. A batch of BBS is in the hatcher.

Juand15

Good luck keep "ME" i mean us posted please. if you can manage to save some fry please put me in 1st for a few females.
they are the hardest thing to come across here.

thanks =]

Lucy

When will they be big enough to post pics?

I just noticed, you're in middle Tn, me too, now I don't have to try to keep my own, I'm just going to come over and watch yours.

blueovalgal

Thanks for sharing your experience!! My Blue Rams are on their third batch of babies. With the first and second batch, the babies were gone after five or six days. Today is day three with their newest (third) batch. I have them in a 40 gallon tank with another male and can never tell when they're spawning. All I notice are the babies afterwards...

Do you think putting more plant material at the bottom of the tank for the babies to hide will help? Or will removing the parents the only remedy?

Thanks and looking forward to following this thread!
Barbara

dking271

I would think that Java Moss would definately help with keeping the babies alive. It would offer protection, but also has some infusoria for the new babies to eat. If you are losing the babies at night, you may want to add some lunar lights. It has been my experience that Lunar lights help the parents watch for predators, and calm them a bit. I still find the hardest part of raising these guys is feeding them in the first few days. We only have one survivor from this batch, but he/she is doing fantastic. I have a pair of Angels and Rams that should be spawning in the next couple of days, and I am not prepared for either.

dking271

Rams have spawned again, but the clutch of eggs seems a little smaller than in the past. I Probably have about 50 +/- eggs this time around. I have one baby from the 4th batch that is growing at an amazing rate. I moved the baby to a fry net this evening as I needed to get the adult Rams into the breeding tank. I plan to move the baby to a grow out tank this weekend. Now what to do with the Angels about to spawn?

blueovalgal

Wow, very cool!! No advice for your Angels about to spawn... looking forward to photos!

dking271

Update

One baby from batch 4, has been moved to a temporary 2.5 gallon tank. He is doing great eating BBS, tomorrow will be the first day with First Bites.

Rams are guarding Batch 5, and I expect them to hatch Saturday morning. I have just set up a new tank that will eventually be their permanent home. I will take the breeder tank and convert it to a grow out tank. With the Rams removed from the Angel tank, it should make it more comfortable for them to breed. I will try to take pictures this weekend.

04_si

where do you get this liquid fry food?

dking271

My LFS carries Wardley's Liquid Fry Food. It is an egg based liquid food, that is really messy, but so much easier that culturing your own infusoria. I just picked up some frozen rotifers, that I'm hoping my new fry eat.

04_si

i think im going to go that route because im not going to try my hand at culturing infusoria... it seems easy, but id rather not haha

blueovalgal

Since I have a 40 gallon tank, what do you think would happen if I divided it? I think the parents are eating/have been eating the babies. I was thinking that, when the babies "look" old enough to be on their own, I could catch the parents and move THEM to the other side of the divider. That way, there's no stress of water changes or environment to the fish. What do you think? Thanks again!

P.S. How's the newest batch of babies doing?

dking271

My only concern would be that the parents might fight one another if they know the babies are in the tank and they can't get to them. I would just watch that very closely.

My current batch of babies is now free swimming and doing fantastic. They seem to be a little more lively than the last batch. I have been feeding them thawed Rotifers, which was suggested by Butterfly (I think), and they seem to be eating them. They certainly get crazy when I squirt it in the tank. I am starting a new batch of BBS tonight, so they'll get some of them tomorrorw night. My pair has been squabbling a bit, so I may have to remove the parents soon. I really want to wait until the last possible minute to separate them from the babies.

04_si

update on my end, trying not to hijack your thread

i picked up a female on sunday. tonight i fed frozen bloodworms, and did a small water change, and theyve been spawning all over a decoration, and ive just noticed the female is digging a small pit in the corner closest to my couch. perfect spot for me to watch!

hoping they dont eat all the eggs, but this is their first time. I'll give it a couple tries..

how many times did yours eat all the eggs dking?

dking271

The first two spawns happened in my community tank. I have 5 cory cats that relentlessly went after the eggs. I managed to save 9 wigglers (all perished after about 8 days) from the first batch and none from the second. On the third batch, my female began to eat the babies after about 2 weeks. I have one survivor from batch 4, and now about 40-50 free swimming fry from batch 5.

I would have some Liquid Fry food and frozen Rotifers on hand for the fry. If the female is digging a pit, that is a good sign. The parents will move the wiggler there once the hatch. On this last batch, my female was moving the wigglers to the pit, and my male was moving them back to the spawning sight. They went around in circles for about four hours until the female got her way. It was really amusing to watch. You will not need to feed the fry until right before they free swim, and then you should start a batch of BBS. The first BBS feeding is usually around day 5/6. Good luck with your spawn!

04_si

thank you for the good info. Im going to have to keep checking back in this thread i dont want to miss a step and do something wrong haha!

Im frantically looking for a 2nd tank (10g) because i dont want to make a habit of feeding ram eggs to my loaches and pleco!!!

dking271

I have a new tank set up (24g) for my pair to move into permanently. I know what you mean about your loaches and plecos. Two of my Angels have spawned twice in the community tank, but there are just too many fish for them to keep away. 5 Cories, 1 Clown Pleco, and another angry male angel who all seem to love caviar. We think that our other male angel got their eggs this time around.

Each spawn has been a little different, but it is starting to get a little easier. PM or e-mail me if I can be any help.

PS I'm a huge Preds fan, season tickets, 2nd row, attack twice blue line. My wife is friends with coach Trotz's wife, and three of the players live in my neighborhood. My 9 y/o is just starting to play, and had an opportunity to skate with my neighbor and one of the other players a couple of weeks ago.

04_si

oh man! ill be thinking of the fishies everytime Vancouver beats the Preds this year! hahahaha

Day 2 - still eggs. i left a bunch of rooms lights on over night I think it made a difference.

dking271

LOL...How did you guys do in the playoffs last year?

I use blue LED lunar lights when my fish are either spawning, or with fry. It seems to keep them much more relaxed, though keeping a night light close by accomplishes the same thing. I'm hoping your batch comes through. We have been feeding the babies a squirt of thawed Rotifers 3 times a day, and this is by far the most active bunch we have had to date.

Lucy

I'd love to see pics, post some soon!

04_si

haha there werent any playoffs last year! NHL shutdown hahaha.