german blue ram eggs :)

[fishlady]

Re: german blue ram eggs :)

finfan...i think you should let the dad do his thing for the babies in the eggs.....if the mom seems too stressed about it you might want to consider moving her so she can settle down some.....they are fragile when it comes to stressing them out.....

http://members.aol.com/WnyZman/rams.html

[finfan]

Re: german blue ram eggs :)

i know and i don't want to lose her, she is really cool and good at laying eggs :)

but she has been at it now for two days, the problem is i have no other tank and i know rams are sensitive to water parameters changing and so i don't want to risk putting her in a container w/o proper water filtration/heating etc.

i really need to get a tank for these situations :(

[jklntx]

Re: german blue ram eggs :)

Creating a softwater environment is a challenge...but a fun one. I have 2 75 gal softwater tanks and I have never experienced PH crashes. I use several addins to maintain the levels....but I NEVER use Houston water. To me that spells disaster.

I use RO water exclusively with peat in canister filters, driftwood and almond leaves. I always add trace elements when I do a water change which is done at 20-25% once a week. My PH maintains at 6.0-6.3. I do not have an RO system but rather buy the water at .25/gal at local LFSs.

I have  apistogramma, and  rams (both German and Bolivian) that breed regulary. I also keep tetras in the tanks and , as you experienced, ram and most apisto fry dont survive. I do have a few generation apisto survivors . I also feed them frozen bloodworms as part of their daily diet.

How to maintain a softwater tank in Houston is doable...the 'Net offers a lot of information to get there.

[Mzungu]

Re: german blue ram eggs :)

Congrats!

I would think that the whitish eggs are either unfertile for some reason or no longer alive. Don't lots of cichlids eat the bad eggs? I wonder if that comes with experience...

My advice would be to watch the eggs surrounding the white ones, because fungus can spread to other eggs pretty quickly.

Just went to google - this page is neat! Has pictures of ram eggs.

http://apisto.bravepages.com/Galleria%20Pages/Fry%20development1.htm

[finfan]

Re: german blue ram eggs :) - we have wigglers

well i was not expecting anything at all, i have had 3 male rams for about 3 or 4 weeks now and just got a female three days ago, of course the dominant male has been courting her since i dropped her in the tank, well i come back from work late tonight and much to my delight, there is a nice little pit and some little white eggs, maybe 60 to 80 eggs :)  but i don't think they have figured out parenting quite yet, the female seems more attentive to the eggs and at time they both leave the sight and then come back and do some dance, the female seems to be fanning the eggs regularly, the male is usually around but not right on the eggs, it will be a miracle if the eggs make it through tonight between all the hungry mouths in the aquarium, plus with this high ph i am sure they would never really develop anyway, but its still very exciting to see the eggs and the parents trying to learn to be parents..  my first cichlid eggs :)))

[finfan]

Re: german blue ram eggs :)

ok so i come back from work and there are WIGGLERS    i am amazed, i just really didn't hope to see that, somehow the mom and dad are getting along now and are a team again and not fighting, they have moved the wigglers from the leaftop where the eggs were and they are all in a gravel pit all wiggling, tried to take pictures but because they are in a corner of the tank and the angle i could not take a shot, the parents are quite diligent now, one of them is always guarding, hope they get to free swimming before becoming a sushi lunch for the tetras!

[Brownsnoutuk]

Re: german blue ram eggs :)

Once they become free swimming is when they'll be eaten by the tetras. Go buy a 10 gallon tank and filter and add water direct from your tank.

[fishlady]

Re: german blue ram eggs :)

awsomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....congrats....i can't wait to see them.....this is exciting.....whoooohoooo...for you.....
that's so cool.....

[finfan]

Re: german blue ram eggs :)

i went and got one of those bookshelf 6.6 gallon tanks, just in case they get to freeswimming and i can put some water from my 30g tank to this tank and put them in there, if it does not work out, i am moving the parents in there hopefully for a spawn later! maybe i am getting ahead of myself, o well

[fishlady]

Re: german blue ram eggs :)

i think that's a great idea.....you did good for them....good luck....if they make it i want one ..or two.....

[finfan]

Re: german blue ram eggs :)

just an update, the parents have moved the wigglers to a new pit, i can't tell how many are still around, i would say about 20 to 30 maybe, they are not wiggling so much, they seem to move some, but mostly just stationary, it seems like i can see eyes or something, i will try to take pictures, the parents have been quite diligent, from time to time though they have these dumb moments where they forget they have wigglers (the dad more than the mom), keeping my fingers crossed - so that they develop to fry's and i can salvage a few :)