saki

So I have a pair of BRs that spawned! I originally had what I thought were 2 males and 2 females in a 20 gallon tank. I noticed that 2 of them definitely were in a pair, one was very skiddish and the last one was beating up everyone who came close. I separated the scardy ram and the jerk ram into another tank and about 2 days later the pair spawned on a flat rock. Last night all the eggs turned into wrigglers and they moved them into a little indent under an overhang in the tank.

What can I do to ensure the frys' survival once they become free swimming? I know I should block the power filter intake with some polyfil or something of the like, and I have read that the fry are very sensitive to nitrites, so I will need to stay on top of the water changes.

I am on day 7 of treating for ICH using "Ich-Attach" which the guy at my LFS told me was very mild. The instructions says to go 3-4 days more for ich but I would really like to put the carbon back into the filter and do a water change (in light of the wrigglers). Should I risk it? The water temp is around 85 or 86°F so that in itself might take care of it...

Also, will my neon tetras bother the fry? They are the only other fish in the tank. There are 5 of them. Any tips on how to rear these guys into maturity would be great! Thanks!

04_si

a few days after free swimming, remove them from the tank and put them in their own little tank.

feed infusoria for a couple days, and start a batch of BBS tomorrow, that way they will be ready when the baby rams have grown a little more.

saki

So they don't seem to be guarding their little pit any more. The wrigglers were pretty well hidden to begin with so I couldn't see them. Does this mean they ate them? If the wrigglers were still there they would still be guarding the pit, no?

04_si

Yep. The parents likely ate them.

When I had my blue rams they spawned about 8 times and the fry never lasted longer than a week. I'd say "I'm taking the parents out in the morning" and sure enough the parents would have eaten them that night.

Don't give up on it. They will keep spawning for you.

TedsTank

And the neons need to be moved from the wrigglers next time. They are mall and beautiful but thet love live food. If you really want to raise them all, you need a breeder tank for just the BR's. They will/should eventually take care of the little ones for quite a while before moving them.

AmongthePuffers

Its common for new fish parents to eat the fry. Eventually they may not eat them and instead take care of them. Its actually quite interesting to watch. You will have to be careful with the tetras, as they will attempt to eat the fry.
good luck!

saki

They are actually all alive! The parents just moved them to a spot where I couldn't see. They are getting quite large and are living in a big quivering mass... they should turn into swimmers in the next couple of days, which means I should probably move the tetras so they won't get eaten. I have some otos and ghost shrimp I was going to introduce to the tank to work on algae control... will they be any problem for the fry? Thanks for all the responses!

Amanda

wow! I can't wait to see pics!

04_si

i never had a problem with oto's in my breeding tank, but I never put shrimp in.

saki

The parents are doing very well with this batch of fry. They are herding them and keeping them "safe" from the oto. I'm starting to get an algae problem with the tank so I think I'll probably add 3 or 4 more otos to do some cleanup work... the one I have in there right now is fine around the fry but is getting bullied by the adults.