German Blue Ram Breeding "Journal"
- Thread starter Dread
- Start date
fishlvr;1144646; said:
A couple would be kept for future tanks and breeding, the obviously deformed and sub-par ones culled, and the rest would be given to my favourite LFS for store credit.
And Valyrian, yes, it's my 24'' fixture.
I'm loving it so far.So I couldn't reists the urge to purchase some Apistogramma sp. from a new LFS I've found, and so my Rams have been relocated. The new tank is a fully cycled 10g, same water parameters as their old tank, except with a silica sand substrate and alot of leaf litter. They seem to be enjoying this tank, especially when I open the window almost directly above the tank. Here's some updated pictures of them in their new tank:
Male
Female
The both of'em
The tank appears 'dirty' but I assure you water quality is excellent. Nirates always under 5ppm for these guys. The pH 6, which I'm hoping will be a key to more success.
Male
Female
The both of'em
The tank appears 'dirty' but I assure you water quality is excellent. Nirates always under 5ppm for these guys. The pH 6, which I'm hoping will be a key to more success.
Ok, ok. Another update. In their new tank, the pair spawned again. I noticed the eggs ontop of a clay pot turned on it's side. I also noticed some ragged fins on both fish, so I removed the female as a little experiment. I then read over Apistomaster's advice, and removed the male aswell. I put in an airstone in close proximity to the eggs, and I picked up the fungused ones with a pair of tweezers and a magnifying glass. And well... that was a blast, as you can imagine. Both the rams are in a 55g tank. I have to admit that I haven't been giving them the attention they deserve. I've been kind of preoccupied with a new pair of Apistogramma sp. 'Pebas' I've aquired. This all happened 2 days ago, about. In the Ram eggs, you can see two little dots inside each, obviously little fry eyes. I'm hoping they will hatch soon, within a day, or better yet tonight. Even if only a couple survive, I'll be satisfied. If they don't make it past the wriggler stage, I'll be slightly disappointed about it, but I'll have gained some knowledge. I'll know I can get them to hatch using this method and work from there. These two Rams spawn like clockwork, and are easier than Convicts to spawn for me! I will update this frequently if they hatch. If they do not hatch, I will post it here and I won't be updating this until I've advanced a step (ie, the first time I get them to wrigglers, or free-swimming, etc). I'm open to suggestions on what to breed if anyone wants to toos some my way. At this time, I can only do smaller fish (>=7''), but maybe someone can learn from it. I figure "what is no benefit to the hive, is of no benefit to the bee" and I'm hoping just one person will benefit from these little journals, and can start their own projects if they want to.. As soon as these A. sp. 'Pebas' are mature (they're ~6months now), I'll definately look into them. I was thinking about trying A. Cacatouides 'Double Reds' because I hear they're a good start for the budding Apisto hobbyist. I've found a new LFS where I can acquire all the fishes I've been looking for for ages. Heckel Discus (which I won't even tackle now!) to Altum Angels (I can keep'em, but I don't think anyone can spawn'em), to many Apistos, to F0 Corydoras of all kinds. So any suggestions on things people would like to hear? I'm all ears, and I'll look into each suggestion carefully and seriously.
And actually, to my amazment, when I glanced at the tank, I noticed a bunch og dots kind of vibrating, and I'll be damned! There's some wrigglers now. Not many yet, and there's only ~70 eggs total, so it won't be a huge brood.. but nonetheless! There's wrigglers, and I'm proud of myself.
How long do the live food last and under what conditions do you keep it?
Dread;1120612; said:I must be the lucky one, then! =D I just buy maybe $5 worth and keep them in a little shallow tub, and then take a pipette full and feed the fish. I feed this GBRs with one of these exact tools:
It's easier, and it lets me see how much they eat, and still be exact. There's little measurements in the side, and I usually feed 3mL of live brine shrimp at a time. It's gotten to the point where if I put the pipette in the water, the fish attack it. ^^ I think it's hilarious seeing a brine shrimp scurry around the tank for days without getting eaten, and then get snatched up as a snack.
jeromefish;1188207; said:
I just pour it out of it's bag of salt water into a cup, and then into the dropper and then into the tank. Kept in a cup with original water, and an airstone, food usually lives for a couple days, atleast.
As for updates:
There WERE wrigglers, however through my own error, I lost them. Literally lost them. The tank was heavily decorated with leaf litter, and so the wrigglers fell from the top of the flowerpot to the leaf litter below. And goodluck finding a 3mm thread-with-eyes in 1'' of leaf litter. I basically abandoned hope with them. The Rams went into a 55g with a Bolivian Ram, BN Pleco, and 15 Serpae tetras. The female still gets very gravid and lays eggs in the community tank, however, as imagined, they're devoured really quickly. Next time, I plan on moving the eggs to a 5g I have setup for hatching. Barebottom 5.5g, 2 clay pots, a matured sponge filter, and a limewood airstone will be placed right next to the eggs to prevent debris from gathering on them.
