german blue ram breeding questions !

[hoythero aquatics]

hello and I am a in need of a few questions I need answered about breeding german blues .

1. first off I would like to know if I can breed them in a community tank and do I need to take mother out of tank and put into small breeder tank or will the parents protect fry until big enough ?

2. I would like to know if I put java moss behind breeder rock I have in my community tank will it help the chances of fry surviving ?

3. what should I feed the fry ?

4. how do I get my german blue rams to color up more (they are about a month old) or do they need to grow up more ?


thank you for reading this and here is some info about my community tank the pH is 7.5, temp is 78.9 f and i have a few live plants and 1 big driftwood in there tank is a 29 gallon marineland and I have 25.00 $ I am willing to spend on my tank what should I do with it ?

[ScottFish]

Welcome to our Forum! Let me offer my and we'll see what others have to say:

1) What are the other fish? Rams are pretty good parents, but if there are alot of other fish, and the tank is small, there will be problems --either the Rams will hurt the other fish, or the other fish will eat the eggs. Both parents are usually kept with the eggs to keep the eggs clean.

2) The fry will be herded by the parents once they are hatched; they don't run for hiding places like livebearers.

3) Once the fry have absorbed their yolk sack and are free swimming, they can usually take newly hatched brine shrimp (you can also find frozen versions of this). You can also feed them a powdered verion of your best flake food as a supplement. Feed the fry by squirting the food towards them with an eye dropper.

4) Let them grow up more.

BTW: you'll need to get the pH down; Rams like it softer to "inspire" them to breed.

[hoythero aquatics]

thank you . the fish are listed on my info but I shall list them . and I hope to learn alot from this forum being a passionate 13 yr old aquarium fish keeper/attempting breeder ...

the fish are 2 kuhli loaches 2 panda corys 1 bristlenose 4 serpae tetras 3 baby tiger barbs i am raising oh and 6 harlequin rasboras and i do 30 percent water change every 2 weeks and what should i spend the 25.00 dollars on ? hardness is 50 ppm last time i checked . ill lower pH to 7.0 sound good ?

all fish are doing fine ! no harrasing with the tiger barbs as of yet but the tiger barbs or bristlenose is ruining my plants a little bit

[ScottFish]

I would raise the numbers in your schooling fish: at least one more cory, another tetra, and maybe one or two more barbs. You have a very active tank; keep an eye on those barbs. pH done to 7.0 is better --how are you lowering it?

[Crazygar]

German Blues need the pH down a bit more than that. I would say around 6.8 or lower (6.0 is what their lowest pH level is) to establish optimum breeding results. I would work on lowering the pH first.

Also, Rams are open spawners, so a flat rock is something they prefer. With Tiger Barbs (babies or not) you'll never get the eggs to hatch as the Barbs will eat them and Mom and Dad Ram will have a devil of a time keeping the Barbs away. My suggestion is to return the Barbs to the Store.

Gary

[hoythero aquatics]

thank you for the answers ! first off i use a chemical that is used to lower pH which slowly but surly works .

and i do you really think i should get 1 more tetra ? and I dont want to get rid of tiger barbs I've raised them up !

and i have some slate ill put in ! any other ideas for use of the 25.00 dollars ?

[hoythero aquatics]

ok one more cory and would it be ok if i added a different type of cory ? will he hang out with my two panda corys happily ?

and 1 more serpae ! right ? is there a fry trap i can find somewhere to put into tank ?

[hoythero aquatics]

ok put some slate down looking good in a corner so they dont have too worry about fish coming from behind !

[Crazygar]

Panda Corydoras don't like warmer water which your Rams will require. While it can be done, your Panda Corydoras will have an accelerated lifespan and die sooner. If you do have the Rams, you'll have to raise up your water temperature as well. Rams like their water much warmer.

Gary

[hoythero aquatics]

ok can you suggest a cory that does like 80 degrees and do all my other fish like 80 degrees ?

[Crazygar]

Kuhli Loaches, Bristlenose and Rasboras will enjoy the temperature. Corydoras sterbai like their water this temp.

Gary

[hoythero aquatics]

Will the serpaes and tiger barbs like 80 degrees ?

[Crazygar]

Tigers for sure, Serpae,prefer somewhere in the mid 70's range, most likely the warmer water will speed up their lifespan or possibly endanger them.

Gary

[hoythero aquatics]

can,t breed the germans in this tank . I had to put a indian dwarf puffer in there he was scaring my platys i have in a other tank that I have succesfully bred . thank you for your input I will breed them in my next tank !

[hoythero aquatics]

and I would like to know how do you become a admin because I know alot about fish . or mentor would be best cause I want to mentor instead of administrate ! I know alot about everything freshwater not to interested in saltwater though ! besides the goby and shrimp partnership they have . I love that !