Breeding Rams

[danb_1985]

thinking of giving it a go and wondered if anyone can give any advice and what i'd need ?

 

[minxfishy]

From your sig (dont know if this is up to date or not) the 2ft would be fine for a breeding pair, however to be able to get a breeding pair, its usually recommended to get 6 young rams, are you wanting german blue or bolivian? and let them form a pair and return the rest.

They like lots of plants, fake or real, a fairly fine substrate, gravel or sand and some smooth flat rocks or slate to spawn on. ph anything from 6.6 - 7.6 but I believe the lower end of the scale for breeding, temp from 26c - 28c and pristine water conditions, obviously 0 ammonia and nitrIte and as low as possible nitrAtes.

Its not unusual for the first few times of spawning that the pair will either eat the eggs or the fry until they get the hang of things, but usually they make good parents and its best to leave them to it, rather than remove the eggs. If you do want to remove the eggs, you will need an airstone in the tank to keep the eggs fanned to stop fungus, this the parents would do themselves.

Im not sure on how often they would spawn or whether you need to remove one batch of fry before a second batch is hatched in case the older fry eat the younger ones, but Im sure someone else who knows more about this will be along with more information for you soon

 

[konigwolf]

Minxfishy fairly right their. One th ing to watch for is Rams are sensitive (like many dwarf cichlids) and really prefer a mature tank. One of the prime reasons for getting a group of rams and having them pair off is female rams can be picky in their mate. One thing to help improve parenting is a target fish (something to help focus their protective instincts on, a small school of half beaks can bee good here as they are fast enough to get away from the rams and are generally to small to eat any fry

HTH

KW

 

[Truck]

theres more chance of rams breeding at higher temps 28+ in the wild they breed at 33oC but 28oC should be fine and may help them along a bit.

provide lots of caves and slate for spawning, the first few times wont be successful because cichlids are useless at getting it right first time, but they slowly get better.

 

[danb_1985]

thanks for the advice.

I would want blue rams but the 1's in my lfs are i think asian rams which look similar but is there a lot of difference?

Is it absolutely necessary to buy 6 rams? would i be able to pick out a pair from a group in the shop? / would 4 be ok?

 

[danb_1985]

Minxfishy fairly right their. One th ing to watch for is Rams are sensitive (like many dwarf cichlids) and really prefer a mature tank. One of the prime reasons for getting a group of rams and having them pair off is female rams can be picky in their mate. One thing to help improve parenting is a target fish (something to help focus their protective instincts on, a small school of half beaks can bee good here as they are fast enough to get away from the rams and are generally to small to eat any fry

HTH

KW

would a school of rummy nose tetras be ok for this?

 

[Truck]

4 would be okay, and rummy noses might be ok, but cardinal tetras would be more suited to the higher temps

mikrogeophagus remirezi
mikrogeophagus altispinosus

and then tell us which one it is, either way theres a higher chance of them breeding at higher temperatures.

and how can they be asian, seeing as they come from south america?

 

[minxfishy]

thanks for the advice.

I would want blue rams but the 1's in my lfs are i think asian rams which look similar but is there a lot of difference?

Is it absolutely necessary to buy 6 rams? would i be able to pick out a pair from a group in the shop? / would 4 be ok?

Unfortunately even being able to pick out male and female, doesnt guarantee a pair, as they can be picky who they pair up with, you might be lucky with 4.

 

[danb_1985]

4 would be okay, and rummy noses might be ok, but cardinal tetras would be more suited to the higher temps

mikrogeophagus remirezi
mikrogeophagus altispinosus

and then tell us which one it is, either way theres a higher chance of them breeding at higher temperatures.

and how can they be asian, seeing as they come from south america?

asian was wat i was told? or i miss heard but it wasn't bolivian or blue but looked like blue? lfs gettin some german blues in anyway so think i'll go for 4 n hope for the best so fingers crossed!!!

 

[danb_1985]

just found this site that mentions asian rams?

http/dwarfcichlid.com/Microgeophagus_ramirezi.php

 

[Truck]

yeah theyre from south america

 

[danb_1985]

oh ha.

so get 4 in a heavily planted tank with some rummy nose and smooth surface and see how it goes?

 

[Truck]

yep and a high temp (28oC)

 

[danb_1985]

ok thanks i'll get on it as soon as cycled.

one more question...my tank should be big enough to raise the fry til they old enough to go to my lfs shouldnt it? how many fry should survive once they in the swing?

 

[Truck]

quite a few about 50, i had 50 from one batch and made a packet on them i sold them all for £40 to the LFS