well....gonna do another ram spawn.....

[Emg]

Well.....if the parents lay the eggs on something handy like one of the small rocks I have in my tank....I just sink a bowl in the tank and move the rock into the bowl and that way the eggs never leave the water.....I take them out in the bowl and transfer them that way.

If you are syphoning out wrigglers, just have some of the tank water in another container and syphon them out into the container and transfer them that way. They can take the trip no problem...if you've ever seen how the parents pop them in their mouths...swish them around a bit and then spit them back out....I think a trip down the syphon tube isn't too much for them to handle. You can add some water from the tank you are transfering them to...slowly into the container to acclimate them if you feel you need to. Just be sure the water temps are the same.

If you can wait until they are wrigglers I think that's better. The parents will actually clean off the egg sac from the fry as they are hatching. That's helpful to the fry. Some of the fry seemed to have a hard time getting the sac all the way off when the parents aren't there to help them out. they manage ok...but if the parents will care for them at least up to that point...all the better.

 

[stingray4540]

I waited for mine to hatch into wigglers. At that point the parents moved them into the gravel were they disapeard, but after I looked real hard I finally found them and just syphoned them out of the gravel into a waiting 10 gallon under my other tank. They definately servived the trip and are just starting to swim. Emg's right it's probably best to let the parents raise them until they hatch, they will guard them with there lives at least to that point.

 

[Sully]

sorry,it is the first time i checked this thread in a while. the low pH TDs point made early on that you mentioned "oh no not required", is typically the exception not the rule. I bred microgeophagus ramirezi for several years. i stopped breeding them a little over a year ago and took down 10 tanks utilized for breeding the species (i have had more than a few spawnings in my tanks). I am thinking about resuming breeding because a person that knows me well recently found 8 wild caughts for me. Not sure what I am going to do with them--except that say they are swimming about at my place now.

Microgeophagus ramirezi that successfully breed in waters of 7.8pH plus are very hard to come by--at least in my part of the world. several studies have been performed on low tds, low acid fish that clearly evidence an impairment of the gonadotropic response in higher tds, higher pH waters. At the same time many breeders have found that at higher pH we frequently encounter higher gh. what has been found is that the eggs calcify more quickly than they can be fertilized.

If you begin to meet others that breed rams (i went looking for them at the cinci ACA convention several years ago and was happy to meet many other hobbyist breeders) a consistent issue has been fry survival at 6.8+ pH levels.

I am sure that some of the problems reside in the fact that many of the hobbyist breeders work with wild caughts and low numbered familial generations. Often times introducing F0's to help the gene pool of over bred, line bred strains. From the sound of it you are dealing with a line bred strain that has adapted to the local water conditions (possibly more than local waters).

You are the first person I have encountered in the past 5 years that achieves consistent success with breeding rams at high pH. Congrats. I think I can still safely say that if others are after breeding the rams that careful consideration of water conditions should be given--with pH and TDS's being at the top of the list.

 

[Emg]

I was wondering if my softer water had anything to do with the success I have with my rams spawning and hatching out fry.....on a regular basis.

I bought my original rams from PetCo. I had asked the fella where they came from.....he said they bought them from a breeder down in Florida...where they get all thier fish from.

My PH is in the high range...7.8-8.0....but my gh and kh measure at the low range....kh-70ppm....gh-60ppm. I just figured that the softness of my water had something to do with the success these fish have spawning and hatching out fry.

Thanks for the clarification and for mentioning how unusual this is...I had no idea. I wouldn't want to give folks who are trying to breed these fish an unrealistic optimism.

 

[stingray4540]

Well, it seems that any of the rams from asia won't even survive unless in optimal conditions, much less breed. Mine came from germany and my water is also high ph about 7.4 - 7.6 and farely hard too. I think it has to do with were you get your stock from, some seem to be very fragile as will there offspring, while others are quite hardy as willl be there offspring.

 

[Sploke]

Hey Emg, I'm looking to get a few rams...maybe ina few weeks, whenever its ok to do so, I could buy a few from you? I have a 30 long that is cycled and getting set up now, and I would like to get 2 pair. I know its a slim chance for that since it will be a while before you can sex them, but I'd rather pick them up from someone like you than a pet store, at least this way I know they'd be healthy. I'm in eastern CT, so it can't be that far.

 

[Emg]

Sploke, I'm also in Eastern CT....not far from Storrs. You are more than welcome to a couple of pairs if this batch goes well.

The last batch I did took about 4 months to get to sellable size...about an inch and a half. Keep track here and give me a holler if things go well and they're ready to go.

 

[valleyvampiress]

I know this is kind of off topic (since it doesn't relate to egg hatching), but I was wondering if any of you could tell me if I have a male or female. And also, is it possible to tell where they came from (germany, europe, asia) by how they look?

Pic: http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a380/valleyvampiress/363650b4.jpg

 

[Emg]

Looks like a male to me ValleyVamp....and could be of the european variety rather than asian. I don't know how to describe the difference between the european and asian lines.....but the asians just aren't as nice in appearence IMO....more yellow and less colorful all in all. The german/european seem to have more black and speckles on them I believe....at least from what I've seen.

Nice fish !



BTW.....LOL......I just caught the parents of the current batch of fry....doing thier thing again ! I only JUST today spent most of the entire morning redoing thier 20long. The plants were getting all overgrown and clumped so that the bottom leaves were looking brown and unhealthy......so...took EVERYTHING out including fish, emptied all the water and refilled to over halfway with fresh clean aged/dechlorinated water. I trimmed and cleaned off all the plants and rescaped it...then put all the occupants back in...(they were all hanging out in a 20hex I filled partway with the tank water) and filled the tank the rest of the way with some water I had taken out to put the fish in.

Must have agreed with them because they are spawning as I speak ! Now they only just produced thier last batch of eggs on January 2nd.....they sure don't waste much time ! I may just remove these too and add them to the tank of fry I have going now. I wonder how that will work out ? This time, I'll wait until they are wrigglers before removing them. Hope they don't get eaten by thier sibs...lol...but if they do, that's good nutrition for that first batch !

 

[Sploke]

Awesome, thanks...I'm right near there too, I live in Lebanon, go to Uconn for grad school. Maybe I'll get the tank all ready and get the tetras and other stuff I'm planning on going in there, then add the rams last.