Advice for Blue ram fry

[tuchon35]

This is my first experience with breeding any kind of fish except for guppies. I am not quite sure what to do. I have them in a 30 gallon heavily planted community tank with 2 angelfish and 2 rosy barbs plus various algae eaters.

The eggs were laid on sunday, and now they look like eggs with tails. Is there anyway that these fry stand a chance of surviving, because they are in a community tank. Is there anything i should do, or should i just leave the setup the same. The rams have no problem defending against the angel fish and rosy barbs, but will they lose interest in the fry and let them get eaten later?

 

[mooman]

I'm still trying to get to that point (getting fry from rams that is), but the info I've seen is that rams (particulary blue rams) will lose interest in protecting the fry at some point (usually sooner than they should). At this point fry predation by the other fish will skyrocket. I've heard it happens fast and if you're not watching you will lose them all.

Anyone have a specific suggestion?

Ideally you would remove all other fish to another tank, but this is not practical for most of us, and I've heard rams will prey on their fry after they lose interest in them also. On the upside, if they spawned once they will spawn again fast.

ps Suggestion from one asspiring breeder to another. Go purchase a sponge filter (best for fry tanks I've heard), put it in the tank and hook it up or at least get water running over it (maybe use it as a prefilter). When you do decide to set up a fry tank you will have a filter that aready has a good buildup of bacteria and your cycling time will be reduced it worked great for my second tank.

 

[kamla]

Congrats tuchon35…. I have seen ur posts before on the Rams fry’s..
How many eggs did you get…
Post some pics if you can..

Also what are goin to do once they grow up ….
Another tank …..

 

[loucas6290]

once they hatch, or become free swimming you can siphon them up and then transport them to a grow out tank, im not 100 percent on this though

 

[Samala]

what i would do..

Sounds like they are at the wriggler stage.. the eggs with tails that vibrate. They have actually hatched out at this point and are living off the yolk sac, which is too heavy for them to really swim just yet. Wriggler stage for rams should last two to three days. After this, if Mom and Dad are still interested in them, the parents will parade them about the tank looking for food. In a planted tank you are way ahead of the game, infusoria and other yummy micromunchies will be growing alongside the plants.

The angelfish concern me a lot. If your rams pair bond isnt very well developed they may cave if the angels charge try to attack the fry. Most dwarf cichlids will throw themselves willingly at fish that are even 5x their size to protect their babies. With many pairs this constant threat will strengthen the pair bond and inspire the fish to get it right.. but sometimes this results in so much stress that the male/female try to maximize their return on all the energy they put into the fry and will eat them themselves. Rams are notorious for this and the going theory is that they are too inbred and have lost much of their natural parenting behavior.

What I would do - once the fry go free swimming, scoop up about half of them (siphons work but are a bit stressful on delicate babies) and rear them in a separate tank. Something like a cheap ten gallon with just a heater and a sponge will work beautifully. Feed heavily with microworms as soon as they can take them, move on to BBS and grindals as they grow. Siphon/vacuum the bottom of the tank daily, remove about 10% daily of water and exchange.

I'd only remove half as you will want to observe the behavior interaction with your parents and the angels. They may surprise you and raise all the remaining babies by themselves jsut fine in a community tank. But, in case they dont succeed, you will have a small group of fry to raise on your own so you dont lose out totally on this particular spawn.

Good luck with them - email me if you need a source for microworms, I should be able to help.
>Sarah

 

[UDdiver81]

If you leave them in the tank they WILL get eaten and most likely but the parents (as horrible as it sounds). Its best to move them to another tank.You'll need to find something to feed them. They are a microgeophagus so they will be toooo tiny to feed them newly hatched brine shrimp. I have found that paramicium works great but they are still a tough fish to work with. Don't get discoraged though. They ma and pa will lay more eggs. (and if they don't... change the tank decor. around) Good Luck! Blue Rams are my favorite!

 

[scholar]

All of the other fish will simply eat them!