Breeding blue or gold rams

[islander]

Howdy,

Is there anyone in the area that has had good luck with breeding rams?  Any tips or advice?  I found a breeder in NY that has really good luck and breeds 4 pair to a 10gallon tank.  He has some of the long fins and golds and the price is not bad so was thinking of getting some.  Would like to chat with some one locally first to find out if the are as picky about their water as what I have read.  later, ken

[Hanson77]

Re: Breeding blue or gold rams

Check with the folks at Aqua Zoo, they might be able to help.  I know they sell them and I have had a few conversations with Shannon there about this subject.  I gave up too easy on the groups that I had because of the water parameter issue that you allude to.

[Zulaab]

Re: Breeding blue or gold rams

I used to many years ago to have German Rams, and I am thinking about getting a 29G together for few young to grow old in.  Back then water had to be basically rainwater, make sure that you have a good subtract that can handle plants.  You want the pH to fall to about 6.5 if at all possible.  LOTS of plants.. If you would like for them to spawn make sure that you have some flat rocks for them to lay their eggs on.  I plan to make the tank a German Ram and Cardial Neon tank...  The one thing I have to make sure of is that I can get rainwater / reverse osmoses water, because H-town does not have nice water for them.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Breeding blue or gold rams

I had a pair breed and I bred apistos as well......lots of RO/DI water changes, Aquasoil substrate which lowered pH and KH, Large leafed plants worked for me as egg holders.

After that just throw them in there and let them do their thing.....rams eat their fry so you could probably pull the leaf the eggs are on and incubate them yourself.

[Zulaab]

Re: Breeding blue or gold rams

I had a pair breed and I bred apistos as well......lots of RO/DI water changes, Aquasoil substrate which lowered pH and KH, Large leafed plants worked for me as egg holders.

After that just throw them in there and let them do their thing.....rams eat their fry so you could probably pull the leaf the eggs are on and incubate them yourself.

I cannot agree more with Eklikewhoa, both are very true..

[islander]

Re: Breeding blue or gold rams

Howdy,

Great advice, I have two diffent planted tanks that I was going to try them in and will pick the one with the lower PH.  Have to move some more fish around to make space!  later, ken

[Cleetis]

Re: Breeding blue or gold rams

I've recently set up a 30g cube with Rams in it however I was being stupid and didn't let the water cycle so I've lost a few but I've still got a beautiful female that I can hopefully breed eventually.

I'm housing them with galaxy rasbora so the rasbora are prolly too small to harm the fry I ever get any.

I was thinking about getting amano shrimp though, does anybody know if they'll mess with the Ram eggs?

[High-PH]

Re: Breeding blue or gold rams

Don't think I'll be trying it in the foreseeable future, but I'm curious about the rainwater....do you need to add anything to it? I mean, I know it's supposed to be 'soft', but do you have to buffer it or supplement it with anything that the Rams would need?

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Breeding blue or gold rams

Honestly I think it's better to use RO/DI water since you can never tell what contaminant made it into the rain water.

Amano shrimp will probably be too busy for the Rams and will snatch whatever they can once they settle in. Rams will eat the Celestial babies, actually both of them will eat their own fry moreless the others.

[SCOTT]

Re: Breeding blue or gold rams

Well, not to be the nay sayer here, but. I have successfully bred both german and bolivian in 8.2 water. The secret is plants and conditioning as well as frequent water changes. BBS and a quality flake will bring your female to readiness without any problem. Provide plenty of cover as rams are a bit skittish. Then watch for a rearing pit.
Rams are very good parents if allowed to be. Once the fry has hatched and reached the free swimming stage the parents dig a pit in the substrate and herd the young into the pit. The mother will stand guard directly over the pit, and the male will take up an outer picket 2-3" away and ward off predators. Once the fry begin to wander from the pit, then it's a good idea to remove them to a rearing tank as the male will often mistake them for food or a threat to the remaining fry.
I know this runs counter to everything we have all read, but trust me, rams can do just fine in harder water. The only real downside to harder water is smaller clutches, but then, what would you do with 500 fry anyway? I find that 50-75 is more than enough, hehe.
By the way, as an aside here, these were spawned in a community tank no less. A heavily stocked one I might add. That should give some indication of just how good rams are at parenting.

[islander]

Re: Breeding blue or gold rams

Scott,

Thank you for the additional thoughts, it will help us plan ahead.  Can they be kept with albino kribes...probably not?  Mark and I got them in a few weeks ago from a NY breeder.  We bought the younger ones and they are growing out nicely.  Have about 15, golds, blue and blue long fin.  The later two are coloring up nicely and maturing faster then the golds.  They are growing out in a 20 gallon high, next month we will move them to a 30 gallon high with a sand bottom that is heavely planted with live plants.  How many should we keep for breeding in the 30 gallon high?  Will have to move the kribes probably.  We will probably have a few extras if anyone is wanting to buy some or do a trade.  Or I am ordering from the ram breeder again this week let me know ASAP if you want some.  kensteblein@aol.com

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Breeding blue or gold rams

I wouldn't keep the Kribs and the rams together just as a precaution.