I havea couple of GBR's they bonded and formed a couple and even breed one time but the fry did'nt make it but know the male seems to have turned on the female and chases her of when ever she comes out of hiding she seems to be less colorful than she used to probubaly do to stress but she is totaly healthy is this normal????????
Grumpy male German Blue Ram
- Thread starter HanZsvo2
- Start date
How long has it been since they last spawned? I think it's probably normal for the male to start pestering the female again, untill she's ready to spawn (usually around 3-5 weeks after the previous spawning). Just make sure she has plenty of places to get away from him (lots of structure). You might also add some "dither fish" to the tank to distract the male and give him another target. Feed a quality dry food and a variety of frozen foods, and they should be at it agian in no time.
Iam not exactly sure how long ago it was since the last time they spawned but it was probubaly like a month ago ? I don't want to add dither fish because they could pose a threat to the eggs if they were to spawn but I do have 2 otto's in the tank and he chases them ocasionaly but there is definitly adequete hiding spots in the tank and there seems to be no phisical damage it's just distrubing watching the female get attacked all the time.
My guess is that they'll spawn again soon. If you go with only a few pencil fish (small mouthed, top water fish), then they will not pose a threat to the fry, and may help to focus the parents "fry guarding" instinct.
i had a pair of A. cacatuoides spawn in a tank with no dithers, and since the male had nothing to do, he insisted on "pitching in" on the brood care. The only problem was that his version of pitching in was to take a mouthful of fry, spit them out on the other side of the tank, gaurd them diligently for all of 2 minutes, and then swim away, never to check up on them again. A few "target/dither fish" will alow the male to do what males do best....defend the larger territory. Granted Rams are different, and seem to share in brood care more than apistos, but that's just my take on it.
i had a pair of A. cacatuoides spawn in a tank with no dithers, and since the male had nothing to do, he insisted on "pitching in" on the brood care. The only problem was that his version of pitching in was to take a mouthful of fry, spit them out on the other side of the tank, gaurd them diligently for all of 2 minutes, and then swim away, never to check up on them again. A few "target/dither fish" will alow the male to do what males do best....defend the larger territory. Granted Rams are different, and seem to share in brood care more than apistos, but that's just my take on it.
I agree some dithers may be in order. topwater fish such as pencils was a very good suguestion. May i also recomend hatchets? I have a small schoal in my 55 right now, and have never seen them more than 2" below the top of the tank.
I doubt the ABF will threaten the rams. The rams might get nippy with it however. Also, it wont serve as a "dither" Dithers are usually smaller more active fish, that swill all over ans draw attention. When I had ABFs they are pretty still and move slowly. The point of adding these fish will be to take some of the aggression away from the male ram.HanZsvo2 said:
My rams go through nice/nasty phases all the time. I have a pair in a 29 and that seems to be enough room for the pair to get out of each others way in those "not so nice" moments....but.....
The 20long I have doesn't seem to do the job as far as space for the pair I have/had in that one. Even though it's got plenty of plants and driftwood, the female has harassed the male to the point where I have had to remove him for a bit. I tossed in a few female guppy juvies that I happen to have swimming around here
and when the male buffs up a bit I'll try adding him back in.
When that pair was in the 29 they both got along very well with no problems. I switched them to the 20 because I wanted to see if they would raise thier own babies in a tank with no one to bother them. (They have a few times but alway s eat them after they're a few weeks old) So, I'm thinking it's a space thing.
What if you put them in your 29 and put the single female in the 20 ? You'll probably have to remove any eggs if you want to raise them anyway.......if they'll get along better with more room you're likely to have better success getting them to spawn if they don't feel so cramped.
The 20long I have doesn't seem to do the job as far as space for the pair I have/had in that one. Even though it's got plenty of plants and driftwood, the female has harassed the male to the point where I have had to remove him for a bit. I tossed in a few female guppy juvies that I happen to have swimming around here
and when the male buffs up a bit I'll try adding him back in.When that pair was in the 29 they both got along very well with no problems. I switched them to the 20 because I wanted to see if they would raise thier own babies in a tank with no one to bother them. (They have a few times but alway s eat them after they're a few weeks old) So, I'm thinking it's a space thing.
What if you put them in your 29 and put the single female in the 20 ? You'll probably have to remove any eggs if you want to raise them anyway.......if they'll get along better with more room you're likely to have better success getting them to spawn if they don't feel so cramped.
rams are really crap parents, most of the time the fry will not last 1 week, and will be eaten or not recieve sufficient attention and slowly die. the male rams can get aggresive when the female is near spawning time, im not all that into dither fish, i think it is cruel to use them, i prefer to make more hiding spots for the female, pvc pipes work a treat, you should put a couple of them in there and have good rock work structure at the back of the tank with plenty of plants. a good idea is to have a wall at the back of the tank with lots of little holes so the female can get in and out and plants lining the back, behind the wall to provide as cover. i have used this before and it seemed to work better. as for breeding, i would remove the parents as late as possible, but sometimes it is nessicary to remove them as early as 1 week. it is a 50/50 chance that the fry will live, i had a few succsesses and a few failures with rams over the years. but i suggest what i have written above.