View Full Version : German Blue rams or Kribensis
Most of you have heard about me getting my tank in 1 & 1/2 days:grinyes:
and still tossing and turning about breeding
either Kribensis or Blue rams?
They have set me up with a undergravle filter so babies cant get sucked
Does any1 no if Blue rams eat there babies?
Any general advice to which you would choose and if you have had
any experience:help:
Or experience of survival rate and stuff to do with breeding
It will have a terracota pot and 1-2 live plants
lukee:silly:
:thumbsup:
German Blue ram
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/img/ram2.jpg
Kribensis
http://z.about.com/d/freshaquarium/1/0/C/N/cichlids15.jpg
Nolapete
06-26-2007, 2:48 AM
Umm, set up with an UGF so they CAN'T get sucked? Cichlids dig. An UGF is useless with digging cichlids. You are better off with powerhead powered sponge filters if you want to spawn them and raise fry in the same tank. All cichlids are capable of raising babies and eating babies. It depends on the parents, not the type of fish, although some are more prone to than others.
Oh, ill ask tomorrow i've never seen them dig
Nolapete
06-26-2007, 3:33 AM
The GBRs probably don't dig as much as the Kribs do and neither digs as much as a convict, but to suggest using a UGF to prevent babies from being sucked in is ridiculous. You can use a HOB filter and just put a sponge filter over the intake. Double filtration!
German Blue Ram
http://www.myfishtank.net/photopost/data/523/German_Blue_Ram_male_01.jpg
Nolapete
06-26-2007, 4:24 AM
Yep, it sure is. Point?
Yep, it sure is. Point?
You sure it digs?? i never seen either dig.
btw how important is it to NOT get UGGF
ct-death
06-26-2007, 7:27 AM
GBRs only dig when mating and building a nest. Not sure about Kribs. Either way I have 2 and they are small (2.5-3") and unless they go bananas the cratering effect can't be that large (assuming 3-4" of substrate is used) to bother anything.
I'm not expert, nor have I seen breeding behavior so i could be 100% wrong here! :eek: NEVER! ;)
I vote GBRs - Love the colors!
pinkertd
06-26-2007, 7:35 AM
I have two pairs. They never dig. Each pair claimed territory at opposite ends of my tank and that's where they stay basically all the time. I have large driftwood and plants in there. Both pairs spawn on the large plant leaves. And they are dedicated to those eggs!! It's so funny to watch one of my discus wander over toward where they have eggs, just grazing through the gravel....and WHAM! Daddy blue ram flies out and whacks the discus on the head. The poor discus just look like....what the heck just happened:grinyes: :grinyes: . And I found out that clown loaches love those eggs!!!!
Debbi:)
Kribs are quite a bit bigger and the fry is live thats the upside,, but GBR are worth more and look a bit better,, ahhahaha its soo hard, ct-death what you think of Under Gravel filtration do you think that would suck the eggs up?
thinking it would but i dont think it would affect the Kribs because the hand really close to the female/male they've got more of a chance getting sucking into a normal filter.... Im not setteled .. more advice plz 1 day!
Jayhawk
06-26-2007, 7:39 AM
UGFs are highly efficient biofilters provided you suck the gunk out from underneath them when doing weekly water changes. I used them for years (might tell you when I started keeping fish), and the main problems with them are plants don't do as well and they lose efficiency when cichlids dig.
That said, kribs and rams don't dig much if you have lots of nice caves for them. While I prefer a HOB filter, if you really want the ideal filter for fry of small cichlids get an airpump and a sponge filter. The fry will feed of the organisms that grow on the surface of the sponge - no worry ever about the fry being sucked into it, and...despite the fact they're older technology, they do work very well. You do need to rinse the sponge off in your tank water (the bucket of water you just sucked out of the tank) so you don't destroy the good bacteria but do keep it clean enough to work.
Eric
Jayhawk
06-26-2007, 7:40 AM
Oops forgot to comment on the fish. This will be a new tank, right? Is your water soft and low pH? If not, go with the kribs - they're hardier anyway. Also, the tank needs to be cycled before adding the fish. If it's not cycled, the odds of rams surviving are essentially nil, kribs would hang in there - they're tough fish.
Eric
ct-death
06-26-2007, 8:20 AM
Good point on the tank and Rams having a hard time tolerating poor water conditions Jay.
As for the UGF I would suggest the HoB or powerhead with a sponge 1st, and then adding a Rugf as a 2nd option. The reverse flow would completely eliminate the entire argument over sucking anything!!
Besides, I prefer the RUGFs over the traditional UGFs and if I could do it all over again that's what I would go with (p.s. Plants do fine I hear from many a relaible source re: rBishop!) ;) I have never used undergravel filters, but I volunteer at our LFS (I just can't get enough!) and the RUGFs are a breeze and she has tanks with all sorts of plants and sizes with every fish she sells. She breeds her guppy feeders in her plant tanks with RUGFs with no issues.
davexstumpe
06-26-2007, 10:14 AM
i have no experience with kribs whatsoever, but i heard they breed like bunnies.
but i personally think GBRs look a LOT better, and it would be a good challenge to have a good surving fry rate,
the UGF is probably one of the worst ideas.
Mine found a piece of rock to lay the eggs on, but a few buddies of mine have their GBRs constantly dig little pits in the gravel and lay them, so it depends on teh rams. If the UGF doesnt suck the eggs then, it will when the fry are born. The wigglers are barely able to swim and will fall through the gravel, and then be sucked into the UGF.
I personally went with a single sponge fitler for the first 2 weeks, doing almost daily WCs, and then added a small whisper filter on its lowest setting with a foam prefilter on it.
I vote rams too. You can use a regular filter and put a cut off pair of nylons over the intake. (the foot part of the nylons)
davexstumpe
06-26-2007, 3:11 PM
I vote rams too.
i could never vote against them, by far my fav FW fish.
jessicar613
06-26-2007, 4:29 PM
I disagree that rams look better, I think kribs are beautiful. Their coloration is more subtle but I prefer it to rams'. I lost my pair today, they loved to dig in the sand, they dug all around their rock cave until they had a sort of cave condo. :( The bred like crazy but always ate the babies. I'm not sure what you meant about live fry, Lukee- kribs are cave spawners; after the eggs hatch they move the wigglers around a few times until the fry are free swimming, then herd the little guys around the tank like the ones in your pic.
If you're planning on keeping other fish and its a smaller tank, I wouldn't go w/ a pair of kribs. They can be... feisty. :p:
i really feel like a i have to change to a sponge filter and i thought kribs were live beares (dumb me) do rams eat there babies and whats the chance of the survival rate.
when my water is cycled could i just get 2 random GBR one boy one girl.
would there be a veryy high chance for them to mate
davexstumpe
06-26-2007, 7:10 PM
i really feel like a i have to change to a sponge filter and i thought kribs were live beares (dumb me) do rams eat there babies and whats the chance of the survival rate.
when my water is cycled could i just get 2 random GBR one boy one girl.
would there be a veryy high chance for them to mate
the survival rate pretty much depends on many things... whats in the tank with them, if the pair eat them, keepin up with WCs.
As long as the GBRs are close in size, the male maybe a little larger than the female, there is a pretty high chance for them to mate.
how many water changes ?
im having fine gravel
palmbreeze
06-26-2007, 7:20 PM
From what I've heard from others, Blue Rams are excellent parents. They may need to get the hang of things if they are young though. So the first batch or two may not work out, but after they get the swing of things I hear they are excellent. I have no experience with the other type you listed.
If you get a random boy and girl it doesn't necessarily mean they'll breed. I got lucky this last time. But I've tried before and they kill eachother. Granted it was a small tank (12 gal) but still, just because you put a boy and a girl fish together doesn't mean they'll like eachother...except for maybe guppies. :)
May I ask why you want to breed them so badly? Is the tank even set up yet? Rams are sensitive to new water...well, all fish are. The tank should be well cycled meaning at least a month running before you add them. I've only taken care of kribs when I worked at the LFS years ago...they seem slightly more hardy as a general rule, but they also get bigger than rams so you'll need more space.
Well im getting a tank in 12 hours and am going to put aside 2 biggest GBR male/female, i'm not badly wanting to breed them, just can't make up my mind. And of course i will have to w8 about 4-5 weeks for cycle to be completely under control. Then i'll add the GBR.
And i'm completely ditching U.G.Filter thanks to this Thread posty thingo