blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

[eklikewhoa]

well after seeing a pair fending off others from their pit at village tropical i bought the pair with the female's tube down. after acclimating them to my tank the female's tube went away or back in.

but today getting home from work and waiting for the light to come on(its set on a timer) i checked to see if all the fish were doing ok and to my surprise i couldnt the male ram, a bit of looking around and i found him way in the back hovering over a leaf on the anubias plant.

he was protecting a nest of eggs!!!!!     kinda worried though cause he seemed to be having a hard time with just about all of the fish in there trying to get a taste. emperor tetra, rusty corry cat, o-cats and the betta all seem to want a taste.

here's the best i can do with pictures, most to all of the leaves are green so look for the yellowish leaves closest to the ram.




here is one of the emperor tetras that just got chased off and decided he wanted to get his picture taken as well.



now off to find out what im suppose to be doing since i do remember reading how bad rams are at parenting.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

well i guess im just gonna let nature handle this one as they need to learn also because i noticed that the male left the nest in search of food and a guppie snatched a few eggs so if he keeps this up the eggs wont hatch.

but hopefully a few hatch.

[swinters66]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

Awesome!!! That is great....esp. if they dont all get eaten by your guppies!!

[rrocket2002]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

Do you have another tank to transfer the plant?  Or at least the stem which has the leaf of eggs?  If it was me I would try to secure the stem to a rock or some other decor in a small tank with a sponge filter.

Raul

[eklikewhoa]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

i dont want to pull them out and have to surrogate them, i would rather let them do as they are suppose to i would probably lose the eggs trying to take them out so i dont want to bother.

i threw some food near the male and he ate till full and back to guarding the nest, the others have also left the nest alone too. i guess i just have to keep these guys well fed and the female has joined the male with guarding, her coloring has gotten really vibrant as of late too.

its pretty cool watching them fend off predators and fanning the eggs with their fins.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

update....they are still there and the father is still fending them!

[Mzungu]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

Great! What will you do when they hatch? Are you giong to transfer them then, or just keep up with the "let nature take it's course" idea? And keep posting pics, it's neat to see them!

[eklikewhoa]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

im thinking let it be but i might even siphon a few out into the nano tank to grow a few out. after looking closwer at the eggs 1/4 of them are not fertilized.

[SCOTT]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

I have been looking for some locally spawned fry. Let me know if any make it. I would be interested in some, but I would want them while they are still small.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

I have been looking for some locally spawned fry. Let me know if any make it. I would be interested in some, but I would want them while they are still small.

any particular reason for the locally spawned? i have no problems with it just curious.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

Well I checked when I woke up today and the non-fertilized eggs have fungus and have raided the good ones. I figured the parents were suppose to eat them.

Oh well maybe next time.

[SCOTT]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

The reason for locally raised is a combination of stress and water. I find that locally raised livestock tends to do better than imported livestock. Add in the stress of shipping and overcrowding in hatcheries and fish stores and it quickly becomes apparent that locally raised stock is much healthier.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

makes total sense!

but im sad to say that this batch was a learning experience for the rams, the eggs are all gone.

[Mzungu]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

:(   Sorry about the eggs. But, at least you know they're a pair, right? And maybe they're like angels and will be more successful with time...?

[eklikewhoa]

Re: blue rams have laid eggs!!!!

from what i have read on the net is they do get better and at least i hope so. i sure hope they are a pair, they act like it at least.