I am new to breeding and new to this message board. I appreciate any advice that you can give me.
The Background:
I bought two GB Rams from a LFS and put them in my 55 gal community tank. I am now thinking that they were Blue Rams not German Blue Rams (not sure). One died in about a week and the other one (male) is doing fine. A week later I was in a different city and popped into the LFS, I found some great German Blue Rams and promptly bought 6 (2 Male 4 Female). So I had 6 German blue rams and the suspected Blue Ram (not as dark blacks or yellows but same body shape) in my 55 Gal aquarium with some dithers and algae eaters. One of the reasons I purchased the fish was to attempt to breed them. I didn't plan to do it this quick though, within a day of putting all the fish in the same tank, three of the four females bellies turned bright red and the largest most colorful female one had a visible omnipositor. The largest female and my original male (suspected blue ram) seemed to be staying together and chasing away the other fish. I moved them into a 10 Gal tank yesterday morning with plans of reading up on spawining today. By yesterday night, I noticed that the female was hovering over a flat spot on a piece of driftwood just behind some java moss. She seemed to be quivering from time to time which concerned me, so I watched her. I noticed that she was actually laying eggs! It was a bit unexpected, but I was excited. I also immediatley noticed, that the male was following right behind her and eating the eggs. I divided the tank and kept the male on one side, but now instead, the female eating the eggs. She would lay one egg, eat it, then lay another. This all happened around lights out, so when the lights clicked out I think it interrupted the spawning. I will have to see if there is any more activity today.
The Questions I have are as follows:
1. Is there a way I can encourage the couple to fertilize the eggs before eating them? (I would like the chance to remove and raise the eggs).
2. What is the difference between a German Blue and a Blue Ram? Could the male I have be a Blue Ram?
3. I have heard that a female will sometimes spawn even without a "mate." Is this true? Could my female just be spawning and the other fish have no intention of fertilizing the eggs?
4. I have two other males in my other aquarium that I purchased at the same time as the spawning female, should I swap in a new (more colorful) male?
5. How can I tell if a couple is bonded? The pair I have swim around together most of the time but occasionally nip at eachother also.
Thanks for reading my monster post. I apologize for writing a novel, I appreciate any help you more experienced Ram enthisiasts can provide, also any additional reference material or would be appreciated. I do have pictures of the pair, but I couldn't figure out how to upload them, anyway thanks for your time.
Jamie
The Background:
I bought two GB Rams from a LFS and put them in my 55 gal community tank. I am now thinking that they were Blue Rams not German Blue Rams (not sure). One died in about a week and the other one (male) is doing fine. A week later I was in a different city and popped into the LFS, I found some great German Blue Rams and promptly bought 6 (2 Male 4 Female). So I had 6 German blue rams and the suspected Blue Ram (not as dark blacks or yellows but same body shape) in my 55 Gal aquarium with some dithers and algae eaters. One of the reasons I purchased the fish was to attempt to breed them. I didn't plan to do it this quick though, within a day of putting all the fish in the same tank, three of the four females bellies turned bright red and the largest most colorful female one had a visible omnipositor. The largest female and my original male (suspected blue ram) seemed to be staying together and chasing away the other fish. I moved them into a 10 Gal tank yesterday morning with plans of reading up on spawining today. By yesterday night, I noticed that the female was hovering over a flat spot on a piece of driftwood just behind some java moss. She seemed to be quivering from time to time which concerned me, so I watched her. I noticed that she was actually laying eggs! It was a bit unexpected, but I was excited. I also immediatley noticed, that the male was following right behind her and eating the eggs. I divided the tank and kept the male on one side, but now instead, the female eating the eggs. She would lay one egg, eat it, then lay another. This all happened around lights out, so when the lights clicked out I think it interrupted the spawning. I will have to see if there is any more activity today.
The Questions I have are as follows:
1. Is there a way I can encourage the couple to fertilize the eggs before eating them? (I would like the chance to remove and raise the eggs).
2. What is the difference between a German Blue and a Blue Ram? Could the male I have be a Blue Ram?
3. I have heard that a female will sometimes spawn even without a "mate." Is this true? Could my female just be spawning and the other fish have no intention of fertilizing the eggs?
4. I have two other males in my other aquarium that I purchased at the same time as the spawning female, should I swap in a new (more colorful) male?
5. How can I tell if a couple is bonded? The pair I have swim around together most of the time but occasionally nip at eachother also.
Thanks for reading my monster post. I apologize for writing a novel, I appreciate any help you more experienced Ram enthisiasts can provide, also any additional reference material or would be appreciated. I do have pictures of the pair, but I couldn't figure out how to upload them, anyway thanks for your time.
Jamie
