# Saving Blue Ram Fry From A Community Tank



## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

Hey All,

I have a 125 gallon small cichlid planted tank that's been a really fantastic tank so far. I need to take some pictures to post here. In that tank, I have some of the most beautiful blue rams I've ever seen. I keep getting spawns in there, but I haven't been able to save any fry. I know, I know there is a huge difference between a breeding tank and a show tank. The show tank is what I really want, but if there's a way to save some fry, I'm all for it.

Here's what I tried:

1) leave the fry in the tank -- They got eaten within a day of becoming free swimming
2) Siphon the fry out into a 10 gallon bare bottom (sponge filter, heater at 81, small amount of java moss, fed BBS) -- All were dead within a couple of days.

I'm thinking that my BBS might be too big for the wigglers, because as soon as the egg sac faded, the fish all died off. Do you think option #2 would work if I got some decapsulated brine shrimp eggs?

I've also added some small pieces of slate to the tank corners to see if they'll lay eggs on those. If that's the case, I can remove the slate rather than traumatizing fry with the siphon.

Any thoughts? Do I have any chance of saving fry from the tank? let me know what you all think.

Thanks!


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## NeptunesNeighborhood (Apr 19, 2012)

Have you thought of moving the breeding rams to a breeding/grow out tank and then removing the parents once they have fry?


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

Baby brine shrimp should be eaten eagerly by the free swimming rams... you could try and find some other fry food like golden pearls but in my experience, if BBS isn't being eaten then neither will the BS eggs...


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## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

Number6 said:


> Baby brine shrimp should be eaten eagerly by the free swimming rams... you could try and find some other fry food like golden pearls but in my experience, if BBS isn't being eaten then neither will the BS eggs...


If that's the case, then the fry are likely getting overly stressed from the move, correct? I guess I'm going to have to try to either retrieve them while they're still eggs or try to get the parents to breed in an isolated tank. (...unless you know of a less stressful way to move the fry of course).

Any suggestions on knowing when a ram pair is getting close to breeding? Also, will moving them to a spare 10 or 29 gallon tank (what I have at home) stress them out enough to interrupt a spawn? Let me know if you have any thoughts.

Thanks!


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

my usual method of breeding dwarf cichlids is that once I see the pair lay eggs, I yank out all the other fish from the tank and let them breed/rear their fry in the tank where they are happy. 
I am guessing you cannot do that as the tank is likely full of other fish... so, what I might try is to find the eggs, transfer them under water (do not expose to air at all) into a bucket and then move to a tank of 100% water poured from the main tank. Follow all artifical rearing techniques from that point forward and you might be ok...

for food, if the rams are tiny (too tiny for BBS) then you can culture tiny live food by growing this type of culture:
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/bre ... orgii.html

Zman was the man for Rams for sooo many years... I wonder if he is still around?


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## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

Thanks for the advice Number6. They keep laying in a monster piece of driftwood, so moving it really isn't feasible. I'm hoping I can get them to lay on the slate pieces, which should give me a better chance at moving.

Do you have any good references on artificial rearing techniques? My fry raising experience so far is with African cichlids, which is pretty much as easy as doing frequent water changes and feeding them food that's small enough to eat. ...and from finding homes for all of the fry before they overrun all of my tanks.


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## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

Oh, and yes, it's a 125 that's full of tetras and other dwarf cichlids, so I wouldn't have a place for all of them, nor would I want to dedicate a 125 gallon tank to a pair of rams.


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## Mostlydave (Apr 2, 2012)

I'm on my first attempt breeding Rams, I've got a 40 tall cycled and 7 Rams arriving today! I'm going to trow them all in the tank and see if I get any pairs or eggs, at this point I'm not sure if I'll try removing eggs to a 20 long I have or maybe trying to relocate a pair to it. I may even try a combo by installing a divider and keeping a pair on one half and eggs on the other. Eventually I'd like to get a 40 breeder and maybe divide it for 2 pairs.

For food I would try some microworms, they're super easy to maintain and every fish I have loves them including Celestial Pearl Danio fry which are also very tiny.

Let us know what you end up doing and how it works out for you. Good Luck!


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## Shahlvah (Dec 28, 2011)

I have my rams in a 20 gallon...I just have a few harlequin rasboras in there and 2 cori julii....if they breed all the other fish will be gone from that tank....and I will leave the pair by themselves and if I spot them eating the babies...they are out too....

I have a pair that is acting "very romantic now for days.....


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