mybrosteve

Hey all, I have 4 pairs of GBR in my tank and some of the appear to be pairing off. Can anyone tell me what i should look for to know if they have indeed paired up and when i should move them to a breeding tank i have set up? Thanks!

04_si

they spend a lot of time together without doing a whole lot of squabbling. When they are getting ready to spawn they clear a nice flat spot (rock, or decoration) and they are SUPER brightly coloured. Plus, one thing ive noticed, is the females tube is sticking out a little bit..

mybrosteve

great thanks! i saw the two of my female's tubes out and they had very big bellies a few nights back, but in the morning they were both thin again, im assuming the eggs were laid and eaten?

04_si

its a REALLY good chance

if they do that again and you notice earlier in the day, do a water change with water a little cooler, and feed them some bloodworms or something. This will make them think its a rainy season and time to spawn.

THEN, if they do lay eggs, leave a room light on (not aquarium light) or if you have one, a moonlight. This will make them feel a little more safe, and less likely to eat their eggs.

Young Ram parents usually eat their eggs the first couple times. So if you're trying to breed them, its a good idea to have a seperate tank for them to lay eggs in

mybrosteve

i would like to have them lay eggs in the other tank, should i move them when the female gets big? the water in the smaller tank is a little cooler than the main tank.

04_si

Yep, even move them a couple days before. They can lay eggs about every 2-3 weeks.

mybrosteve

thank you so much! ill be sure to let you know how it turns out

04_si

yeah! please do!

pictures are always great!

Butterfly

It takes three to four days for the eggs to hatch. I never see the eggs but they just show up with a cloud of fry.
carol

mybrosteve

well good news, one of the smaller females has a large belly and has the tube sticking out a little i put her and the male she was most frequently next to in the small breeding tank i have which is a little cooler than the main tank, lets hope they lay eggs! Ill try to get some pictures soon!

04_si

that is good news! hope everything goes well for you!

Are you going to see if they can do it on their own, or are you going to take them out of the tank after they lay eggs?

mybrosteve

even better news! The pair spent all day today digging out a hole in the substrate (black sand) right under the heater!



and it depends on when they lay the eggs, if im around when they do and i can keep an eye on them, ill leave them in, but if i cant, ill take them out.

Butterfly

Thats really cool! the fry are so tiny they are hard to feed but I found some frozen rotifers that mine seem to be able to eat.
Carol

dking271

I tried the frozen rotifers with my current batch of fry, and they are the best most active batch to date. They are currently feeding on rotifers and BBS. The rotifers offer a higher protein diet than can be acheived by using BBS alone. I also have one baby that survived from the previous batch, who I am trying to wean off of live food. Best of luck with your Rams.

DK

04_si

awesome!!! i also picked up some frozen rotifiers today!

mybrosteve

so its been a few days now and still no eggs. i came home from work today and the female looked really big and her color had faded, shes mostly brown now with faint stripes, almost no blue or red. i noticed the water was a bit hard and the nitrates were a little high (30ish) so i did a large water change (changed 20% on the big tank, filled the small tank with water from the big tank as it was refilling then put stress coat in both tanks). shes looking a little better now, but now shes so big its getting hard for her to swim, does that mean eggs are coming soon? the male was very aggressive to the siphon tube when i had it in the tank.