Blue Ram Breeding Behavior?

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Clurin

Clurin

Melf
Sep 14, 2005
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Maynard, MA
Hey all. I think my rams are preparing to breed, but since I have no prior experience with rams, or cichlids in general, I'm not positive. So I created a 30 second streaming video of some of the behavior. Can you tell from this if they are getting ready to breed?

Blue Ram Streaming Movie

Edit: Spelling and grammar
 
Emg

Emg

AC Members
Jan 16, 2005
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emgstanks.blogspot.com
Yep...lol...that's exactly what they're doing...and I only had to see the first two frames of that video to know...lol...

What they're doing is cleaning off a surface to lay thier eggs on...and they're very busy at it too. Your female looks very ready and they'll probably have eggs by tomorrow morning.

Congrats !!

I have a pair that just layed thier eggs tonight. They spent the day cleaning off the rocks and following each other around. Fun hobby this ! :clap:
 
knashash

knashash

AC Members
Oct 28, 2004
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Yeah definatley breeding behavior...sweet footage!
 
Clurin

Clurin

Melf
Sep 14, 2005
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Maynard, MA
Cool! Will the oto upset them? I'm pretty sure my presence won't. They stop what they're doing and come see me whenever I come up to the tank.

I'm assuming not many eggs will hatch in my current water (PH 7.4, GH7, KH2), but if they do, how many fry can I expect to survive from first time parents? I don't have a growout tank right now, but I'd like to observe them rearing their young (if they don't chow on the eggs). How big would they have to be before they're too big to feed to tiger barbs and gouramis?
 
knashash

knashash

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Oct 28, 2004
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I would be surprised if any hatched with your PH that high
 
mooman

mooman

Scratch my belly Human!
Mar 8, 2005
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Columbus, OH
I disagree. Ph is generally regarded as a spawning trigger and a determinant of sex ratio (temp also plays a role in this). Gh is what's important when it comes to egg fertility. gh of 7 is higher than what they encounter in nature, but not so high as to eliminate the possibility of fertile eggs all together. You probably will just see fewer fertilized eggs than you would with softer water. If it's not too late and the tanks not to big, then do a water change with distilled water to lower hardness and increase fertility (although first time parents will probably eat the eggs/fry the first few time anyway)

Emg: what was the gh in your ram tank when they spawned?
 
NatakuTseng

NatakuTseng

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts
Jan 3, 2004
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Vermont
cichliddomain.com
pH has absolutely nothing to do with fertilization. The water hardness and Total dissolved solids count does. That gH is a little high, but won't eliminate the possibility of some fertilized eggs, hatch rate will most likely be low however. TDS measures the solids in the water in microsemiens, which unless you have a TDS meter you won't be able to tell us that. Generally for a good hatch, you want the gH down at4 or under, and a TDS of around 100ms
 
Clurin

Clurin

Melf
Sep 14, 2005
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Maynard, MA
Ok. I may try the distilled trick after they've tried a couple of times. As mentioned here and other places, I'm not expecting them to actually "do the right thing" the first couple of times.

The breeding behavior alone is pretty interesting - I like the full body vibration the male does! - and as I said, I have no place for grow out, so the eggs/fry would end up as fish food anyway.

I assume the GH will also be an important factor with A. Cacatuoides as well? Figure I may as well ask, since that is the next tank I plan to set up.
 
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