So, y'all tell me how this is gonna go....

[ScorpiosWife]

Shawn got himself some Blue Rams maybe a couple weeks ago (been sick and my time is all outta whack) & I thought they were all female but I have to admit I didn't look very closely.

Well, as it turns out... they're not. There's 2 males, 2 females & the other 2 we don't think are GBRs. They closely resemble GBRs but they don't have the same markings, probably another strain of Ram.

At any rate, 1 pair are now guarding a spot in the tank, chasing all the other Rams away from it & the female is cleaning that area. She has herself a plump little pink belly (and so does the other female). All I've had thus far, that gave birth, were livebearers, so I'm assuming, from what I've learned, that she's "holding" eggs.

What should I expect? I read that sometimes they will hold their fry in their mouths to protect them but will they eat them like the livebearers do?
Will the other Rams eat them?
Should I remove the other Rams from the tank?
If so, for how long?
Is it normal for them to do the whole breeding & egg laying thing this fast?
I was going to add a canister filter to this tank this week. Should I wait on that?

[Fancyfish]

She's preparing to spawn. She's not holding eggs like in her mouth. When she spawns she'll lay her eggs on a rock or something near where she's guarding. Once they lay the eggs they may turn arround and eat them or they may guard them. If the eggs are fertile then they will hatch in 2 - 6 days( I don't remember how long rams take). When they hatch they will still have egg yolk and will not move arround much. mostly they will wiggle in place. Mom and Dad may pick up some, kinda chew them and spit them back out. Or they may move them to another place they like better. After a few days they will become free swimming. Then you will need to have lots of food to give them. Baby brineshrimp is good. you will want a turkey baster or similar so you can squirt the food where they are. They wont be going to the surface for food yet. At some point you will want to remove the babies from the tank if you want to raise them. Otherwise when mom and dad decide to spawn again, they may eat the current group.

If you have any fish in the tank, the other fish will try to eat the eggs or fry. But it is sometimes good to have other fish for the parents to protect the young from, it can make it less likly the parents will eat them. The parents can be pretty rough on the other fish.

Don't add the canister filter if you want to raise the fry. It will suck them in. You can add the filter and wrap the intake with something so the fry don't get sucked in.

What size tank are the fish in?

And yes, they must really like you!

have fun!

[clayt101]

Every time I have had german rams, a pair will form, and then they kill off all the other rams in the tank...this is a big tank too, 220 gallons.

[ScorpiosWife]

Ouch. Ok, thank you!!! Perhaps he needs 2 tanks, lol. Luckily I have a spare!

[troy tucker]

I have had my rams spawn just like that. New to the tank. They hatch in around 40 to 48 hours. Had some in the passed that killed off all the others but these didn't. But if they hatch you will need to feed them on day 6. Baby brine shrimp fresh hatched and no more then two day old.
Post some pictures...
hope you feel better...

[ScorpiosWife]

Troy, you have some baby brine, dontcha?

[ScorpiosWife]

Him guarding


Her guarding


Both guarding


Hubby says let them figure it out, so I suppose we're gonna see how this goes!

[mistahoo]

Him guarding


Her guarding


Both guarding


Hubby says let them figure it out, so I suppose we're gonna see how this goes!

Awesome! Good luck with the spawning

[sunkenmetal]

zie germans will kill you

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: So, y'all tell me how this is gonna go....

Inglorious bass turds

[sunkenmetal]

just don't show them any maps of poland

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: So, y'all tell me how this is gonna go....

Lol

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: So, y'all tell me how this is gonna go....

Phone finally decided to load the pics. Nice scale of fish and scape.

[allysangels]

i think letting them figure it out is the way to go... while watching for aggression that requires intervention. and while i agree that BBS are a great starter food, i have had tremendous success raising cichlid fry by just dropping a hikari sinking wafer (the one with the clown loach on the front of package) or 2 into the cloud of fry each day. the babies will pick at it under their parent's watch. NLS H2O stable wafers are good for this too. as long as mom and dad aren't beating anyone up too bad, things will be fine, and highly entertaining! i have a new batch of convict fry in my oscar tank now...

[sunkenmetal]

Just let them fight till the death weed out the weak...