Well I've been reading up on German Blue Rams and finally bought a few of them because I wanted to try and breed them. Well I've had them in my 29g tank for about a week and they've decided to breed alrdy. I have read a lot about how the breeding gos and how they usually only have one mate at one time. Well this male seems to have mated with two females at the same time and it looks like all 3 of them are taking turns guarding the eggs.... my question is, Do I remove one of the females, or should I just leave both of them in there to see what happens? They are all young, and from what I read it's suggested to remove the eggs if I wanted to have any fry leftover. I just find it strange that all 3 of them are taking turns guarding the eggs....
Breeding German Blue Rams
- Thread starter solofuz
- Start date
That is odd behaviour (as far as I know). When my rams breed I usually take out the female and leave the male to do the work cause she has a history of eating eggs and he's pretty good at lookin after the babies. He's succesfully raised 2 batches of eggs while she has succesfully eaten another 2.
If you do take the eggs out, make sure you have a good place to hatch and look after them. They need to be well aerated and you need to watch for fungus. Find posts by Cathy G or pm her. She knows all about ram's.
By far the easiest would be if your male decides to be a good dad and looks after the babies himself but you never know if he's any good untill you try. Personally, the first time I would take the females out and leave the male in to see what happens. If they have spawned after 2 weeks it wont be long untill they spawn again (another 2 - 3 weeks) if the male does fail. In which case, it gives you 2 - 3 weeks to read up on how to look after eggs and fry
Good luck!
SynoSteff
If you do take the eggs out, make sure you have a good place to hatch and look after them. They need to be well aerated and you need to watch for fungus. Find posts by Cathy G or pm her. She knows all about ram's.
By far the easiest would be if your male decides to be a good dad and looks after the babies himself but you never know if he's any good untill you try. Personally, the first time I would take the females out and leave the male in to see what happens. If they have spawned after 2 weeks it wont be long untill they spawn again (another 2 - 3 weeks) if the male does fail. In which case, it gives you 2 - 3 weeks to read up on how to look after eggs and fry
Good luck!
SynoSteff
If you don't have a fry tank setup and cycled, I'd just leave them in with dad and see what happens. You can setup a fry tank so it'll be ready for thier next spawn. Seed a sponge filter in your established tank and add a nylon bag with some gravel from that tank into the fry tank.
That is unusual as far as I know, for a male to have two girlfriends at the same time....in rams anyway.... If you do have a tank to put the fry in I would wait until after they hatch and remove them while they are still wrigglers. That's the easiest way. Some parents will eat the eggs, but if they will take care of them it's best for them to do it. They fan the eggs and eat any bad ones so fungus doesn't take over. It's easy to syphon out the wrigglers because the parents dig out a ditch to put them in. If you wait until they're freeswimming you'll have a heck of a time gathering them all up...lol.
If you do remove the eggs or fry, leave a few in with the parents so you can enjoy the interaction. It will also give the parents some practice and experience so hopefully, they'll someday raise thier own without your intervention. It's alot of fun watching the parents herding the little ones around the tank.
That is unusual as far as I know, for a male to have two girlfriends at the same time....in rams anyway....
If you do have a tank to put the fry in I would wait until after they hatch and remove them while they are still wrigglers. That's the easiest way. Some parents will eat the eggs, but if they will take care of them it's best for them to do it. They fan the eggs and eat any bad ones so fungus doesn't take over. It's easy to syphon out the wrigglers because the parents dig out a ditch to put them in. If you wait until they're freeswimming you'll have a heck of a time gathering them all up...lol.If you do remove the eggs or fry, leave a few in with the parents so you can enjoy the interaction. It will also give the parents some practice and experience so hopefully, they'll someday raise thier own without your intervention. It's alot of fun watching the parents herding the little ones around the tank.
Thx to you both for great replies.... As for now I don't have a fry tank setup just yet... But i would really like to watch the parents try to raise the fry... What's confusing me is that I didn't see who laid the eggs and after some more reading I'm trying to figure out which ones the male... I thought the two smaller ones were females because I went with the blue speckles in the black splotch, then I read that it's not always true.... because the anal and dorsal fins can also show male/female by length...
This is really confusing, but i'll stick with my first guess...
Well a few eggs seem to be turning white, which means they weren't fertile, I hope that a few of the eggs actually hatch...
Thx again for the help...
P.S. Great looking Rams you have EMG...
This is really confusing, but i'll stick with my first guess...
Well a few eggs seem to be turning white, which means they weren't fertile, I hope that a few of the eggs actually hatch...
Thx again for the help...
P.S. Great looking Rams you have EMG...
Hi Solofuz,
What is the gh and kh of your water? If they are too high, the eggs might not have been fertilized properly...
I wrote up some directions on how I hatched my ram's eggs, etc.
I believe I may have a harem spawning blue ram male. He seems to pair up with whoever is ready at the time...
You are right, emg's rams are gorgeous. (Just try to get her to ship you one - HA!) I had to learn to breed my own to get rams of good quality. (And I even offered her a quilt...) Emg, I hope you are listening! (I am just teasing her.)
Here is a link, click on the Aquarium page link on the bottom right...
Cathy G
http://www.cathygeier.com
What is the gh and kh of your water? If they are too high, the eggs might not have been fertilized properly...
I wrote up some directions on how I hatched my ram's eggs, etc.
I believe I may have a harem spawning blue ram male. He seems to pair up with whoever is ready at the time...
You are right, emg's rams are gorgeous. (Just try to get her to ship you one - HA!)
I had to learn to breed my own to get rams of good quality. (And I even offered her a quilt...) Emg, I hope you are listening! (I am just teasing her.)Here is a link, click on the Aquarium page link on the bottom right...
Cathy G
http://www.cathygeier.com
I dont have a water testing kit... but I'm very excited now... there were about only 3 or 4 of them that were turning white but those are gone now. Now I am seeing little dark eyeballs and the eggs seem to be wiggling. I hope they will hatch soon because I work on wednesday, so i am very lucky to have had them lay the eggs over the weekend... Haven't taken out either females yet but will prob do that very soon... I think i will see how daddy does with the babies...
Cathy you have some lovely rams too... and your tank setup is so nice... plus thats some great quilting skills you have....
P.S. Cathy we are neighbors... I live in Minnesota.....
Cathy you have some lovely rams too... and your tank setup is so nice... plus thats some great quilting skills you have....
P.S. Cathy we are neighbors... I live in Minnesota.....
