# GBR Stocking in a 40 Gallon



## Mostlydave (Apr 2, 2012)

I have a 40 gallon I set up just for GBR, I currently have 2 inch and a half rams in the tank. I have the opportunity to pick up 6 or 7 juveniles.

I am hoping to breed for fun, my question is how many rams can I have in my aquarium? The tank is setup with a lot of real plants, some driftwood and some cichlid stones as caves.

I'm thinking I have much better chances of getting a mating pair if I raise some small fish together instead of trying random adults. Also is there any harm in putting the younger fish with adults, or would I be better off moving the adults to a community tank?


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## Mostlydave (Apr 2, 2012)

I'm logged in and I don't see an edit button so here goes:

Nobody on this forum has any thoughts on how many German Blue Rams should be kept in a 40 Gallon tank? Anyone have any idea if it's safe to put juvenile in a tank that already houses adults?


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## aggriffin3 (Aug 15, 2009)

I have only owned a pair, but for that size tank, my best guess would be two pairs, or 1 male and 3-4 females, just put line of sight dividers (plants and rocks) once they pair up. I also think you will be fine with the number of juvies you are putting in, as long as you remove them after they pair off later down the line or get to adult size. 
Whether the two larger ones will bother the juvies, I am not sure on that question, but you can try, and if its a no, take and rehome the larger ones and grow out the juvies.

Good luck

Art


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## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

Breeding wise. youll need a seperate tank. If you want to just keep them i dont see a problem with keeping them all in there together. You just have to watch and make sure no one is getting bullied or stressed out. I started with 2 pairs in my 75 gallon and 1 pair laid eggs, the other pair would come over and eat the eggs. The parents tried attacking them but it didnt do much. Rams werent made to fight.


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## Mostlydave (Apr 2, 2012)

Thanks for the info gutted, I'm going to move my to female adult GBRs to my my 55 community tank that is mainly tetras, I'll then use the 40 Gallon for the juveniles to try and get some pairs.

I do have an extra 20G long, Would It be best to move a pair into the 20G from the main GBR tank until they spawn and then move them back and use it as a fry grow out? I didn't realize that GBRs other than the parents would eat the eggs/fry in a species thank!


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## gutted (Mar 7, 2012)

I think a 20 long would be perfect for them especially if its heavily planted/decorated. That gives the female plenty of room to hide if the male starts chasing her.

Im not sure if you know this but rams are horrible parents (for the most part). *** talked to 3 seperate breeders, 2 local and 1 out in Nevada, and they all artifically hatch the eggs. They told me they havent seen hatch them on their own. I can agree because I had an awesome pair that bred every 2-3 weeks but theyd always eat their eggs on the second day.


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## Mostlydave (Apr 2, 2012)

gutted said:


> I think a 20 long would be perfect for them especially if its heavily planted/decorated. That gives the female plenty of room to hide if the male starts chasing her.
> 
> Im not sure if you know this but rams are horrible parents (for the most part). I've talked to 3 seperate breeders, 2 local and 1 out in Nevada, and they all artifically hatch the eggs. They told me they havent seen hatch them on their own. I can agree because I had an awesome pair that bred every 2-3 weeks but theyd always eat their eggs on the second day.


I have read that, I've actually seen mixed info on it some people saying they never raise and others saying they do. I'm thinking when I get some eggs I'll move them to a fry tank and see how they do, If I end up with more than 1 breeding pair I'm going to try both parent raising and egg removal.


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## Mostlydave (Apr 2, 2012)

Well I ended up with 6 females and 1 male for right now! I currently have them in the 40 and I'm going to try to get some more males, I have a feeling my breeding program isn't going to go much further without a few more!


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