Blue Rams taking care of young

Emg

Emg

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Jan 16, 2005
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Northeast Connecticut
emgstanks.blogspot.com
Just wanted to share.....

I have a 5 gallon planted that has been set up for some time now and doing rather well. I put one pair of my 18 week old blue ram juvies in the tank to see weither or not they would parent thier fry without eating them.

So far...they are both doing an excellent job of it ! The first batch they had didn't make it for some reason. I don't know if they hatch out and just didn't make it, or if mom and dad ate the eggs or fry. It's hard to tell because as the eggs are hatching...the parents will take the fry and spit them into a scooped out "nest" they make in the gravel. They had the eggs behind a fake driftwood I have in there so I couldn't watch very well.

This batch is about a week old now...and seem to be doing very well. Mom and dad take turns watching over them. When one leaves the nest, the other one goes right over to stand watch. There are no other fish in this tank but the parents and fry...so I think they are doing such a good job because they aren't so stressed out about protecting them from hoverning neighbors.

The fry are just beginning to swim around some...but mom and dad keep them gathered in the nest. If any stray out they take them in thier mouths and spit them back in with the others. I can see the fry jumping after infusoria they can see, but I can't. They must be finding plenty to eat. I did sprinkle in a bit of powdered fry food this morning and they went right after it.

I better get that 20L up and running so I have some place to put this brood and thier parents. I want to see if they will continue to be good parents and at what size/age the parental instincts 'turn' off and what happens then.
 
The temp in that particular tank is set at about 78 only because the knob to adjust the temp isn't working on that heater...lol....but the fry are doing fine so far. Mom and Dad are doing a great job ! They took them all out for a walk-a-bout today...lol....let them out of the nest to roam around a bit. They keep a good eye on them and it seems like they are keeping them away from the filter intake...good thing, because I don't have anything over it...it's one of those "in tank" whisper 10's. I guess I could cut the right size sponge pad or something and just set it over the intake and it should stay there ok....I'll have to give it a try.

Water parameters......the PH is around 7.8-8.0 usually and the hardness measured about 80ppm last time I checked....but I did just pick up a gh/kh kit yesturday....I'll have to go check it out...if it's any good that is. Found it at one of those small lfs stores and who knows how long it's been sitting on the shelf. I looked for an expiration date on the package and couldn't find one. Oh well, I'll give it a try and see what it reads. I'll do the other checks too while I'm at it. I usually don't check parameters very often, I just do regular maintenance and keep things tidy in general.
 
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What a good set of parents I have here. They let the fry out of the playpen for the day....to roam and learn and eat...then they hussle them all back home for bed in the evening...lol....herd them all up in a pile in the "nest"....lol...this is fun ! :D

I still haven't checked my gh and kh yet....got distracted yesturday and it didn't happen. Oh well, not critical, but I am curious to find out what the readings are.
 
To the best of my knowlege, there is no expiration date for hardness test kit because the chemical is inorganic and won't degrade over time, provided you keep the cap tight from evaporating the solution. According to your pH, you have alkaline water but the hardness, 80 ppm = 4.4 GH, is on the soft side though no where approaching the zero GH found in their natural water.

Rams are the most interesting cichlid to watch if you have multiple pairs in the same tank. Pairs will delineate territory and display border skirmish. If your fry make it, I will be interested in getting a colony from you to get started if you happen to live near me. Do you happen to live near Philly/NJ area?
 
Emg said:
They keep a good eye on them and it seems like they are keeping them away from the filter intake...good thing, because I don't have anything over it...it's one of those "in tank" whisper 10's. I guess I could cut the right size sponge pad or something and just set it over the intake and it should stay there ok....I'll have to give it a try.
Click to expand...

great job, emg!

my experience is mirroring yours i think. your descriptions sound exactly like what i have been observing with my bolivian rams. it is fascinating!

i have a pair in a 12G eclipse tank watching over a brood of fry that just became freeswimming yesterday. i too was concerned about the fry getting sucked into the filter intake. i put a nylon stocking over the filter intake, secured with a rubber band. it gets clogged and has to be cleaned daily. i use a clean, never-used tootbrush to brush it clean and the dislodged particles become fish food for the fry!

here's pic of the tank. you can see the sock over the filter intake...


i'm curious. are you doing more frequent water changes since the fry have arrived? if so, how often and how much?
 
Another way is to buy a dense foam and fit it to the intake tube. The foam is a growth media for micros and will provide first food for the tiny fry. Buy the foam from a pet store, not WallMark to ensure they are non-toxic. If you can't find a foam that fits the intake, here is a trick you can make it fit. Wet it with water and place in the freezer. Once frozen, you can drill a hole to size to fit.
 
Tiger...I live in the northeast corner of Ct....not far from UCONN in Storrs. The parents of these little fry are from the last batch that I've raised. They're about 18 weeks old now and I have plenty left...lol...though I do have a few folks looking to buy some.

Mr Limpet...I have only done a water change once since noticing the eggs. It's a small 5 gallon tank with lots of plants...but I do really need to get in there and clean up the bottom a bit. Just letting them get big enough to be able to swim away from the syphon...or at least be big enough for me to see them well...lol...

This morning I notice one of the parents spitting out some food over the fry...and I watched the fry snap it up...COOL ! :D
 
mrlimpet, I have never had bolivian rams before but I heard that they are more hardy. But they don't seem to be as colorful as regular rams, at least from my observation at pet shops. They also seem to be less aggressive, as I seldom see them display territorial skirmish to the extent as regular rams do which to me is an interesting show.
 
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