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i realy want to breed rams, i have 1 bolivian atm (did have 2 gold, 2 blue and a male bolivan, but they all died off:#()

when i do plan on breeding, i was wondering if i could keep 2 pairs of rams in there? i want 1 pair of bolvians, and 1 pair of possibly golds, and breed blues in the 55 gallon....

other fish in the 20 gallon would be 3 threadfin rainbows. they have such small mouths, i was hopeing they wouldent pay too much mind to the rams.



ok, the tank is densly planted, and i have 3 caves in there, but 2 are hidden, and my female bolivian has claimed the biggest, and most open rock cave for herself, and chases all the other fish out of it, if she is near.

so i guess my question is what would the survival rate of fry be in a tank be with 2 pairs of rams and 3 threadfins? or should i try to breed 2 pairs of rams in the 55 insted?

thanks

If you want succsessful breeding, just leave only 1 pair per tank.


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Your threadfin rainbows should shred any viable hatch of your rams. The rams will protect their nest site but once the fry are free swimming they will be tender vittles for iriatherina werneri.

Here is a link to a description of one hobbyist's adventure in spawning m. altispinosa: http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=31

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

No matter what species or color variation(s) you want to breed, I think it would be best to either give the parents a tank all to themselves or spawn them in one tank and hatch the eggs in another. It would simplify the care of the young, and eliminate worries of predation.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

well, i thought that because the rainbows mouth was so small, that it could only try and eat the fry for about a week the fry i have now that are a little over a week old (i think) are already too big for their mouths, although these fry are either their fry, or zebra danio fry, and if they spawn in the cave, then the fry would only have to be protected at 1, maybe 2 areas, the biggest thing i saw the rainbows eat was an aquatic worm, and it was about __ < long and nobody noticed it but the rainbows, anyway...and a bit ago someone here told me that if i wanted other fish in the same tank as the rams to breed in, to get threadfins... odd, i just wanted to have someting else in the tank that would eventualy breed too, try and make it a happy tank ya know and also i heard that if you dont add competition, that the parent rams will end up eating the eggs, or fry.

i heard that if you dont add competition, that the parent rams will end up eating the eggs, or fry.

Not true; not adding competition wouldn't make them eat their eggs...it doesn't make sense. By refraining from adding competition, you alleviate much of the stress the Rams can endure while breeding. It will be a big relief for them not to have other fish constantly going after their spawn.

Also,

and if they spawn in the cave

Rams are not cave spawners. They spawn on flat surfaces in the open (or surrounded by plants/cover) or, every so often, in open pits dug in the substrate, Which will also make it harder to guard the eggs...more ways for other fish to advance from.


[edit] spelling




Last edited by Tetra Fan at 16-Dec-2005 18:13

well its not exactly a cave i just call it a cave lol, but there is a rock or 2 in there that she has been fanning , and she chased my clown pleco out of there for good (grr now i cant see him!) its like she is awaiting a mate or something but i also have a rock in the middle of the open part of the tank too, it is so denselt planted that there is only about 4.5-5 inches wide in the biggest open spot and the spot is about 10inches long, possibly a few inches longer, but i made the tank so when they fry get bigger they and a million and one places to hide, and another 20 gallon would be set up for the larger ones i catch....

if they dont normaly spawn in a cave, then why is she being protective, and cleaning? is it a teritory thing?

Most likely she is just tidying up her territory. When a mate is introduced and she is interested, they may court and THEN they will clean the spawn site they wish to use. Cleaning the "cave" now doesn't mean anything unless there is a male present. Also, she is most likely not "fanning" the rock like you say...Rams will tend to hover around their territory and look like they are fanning at nothing...(mine did it too)

And for some reason Bolivians don't like bottom feeders...I had 3 bolvians (no pair bonds) in a 29 and they would always chase my panda cory's...dunno why they do that.

Last edited by Tetra Fan at 16-Dec-2005 19:50

she doesnt seem to mind the 4 corys in the tank with her once in awhile she will give chase, but it only a little charge of abou t3inches, and the corys dont seem fased

I haven't had problems between my Corydoras and the Bolivian ram pair. That may be because all of the cories were in the tank first, and they greatly outnumber the rams. Might also just be a temperament thing.

I agree with Pat, your ram has probably just claimed an area for itself. My female ram did that before I added a male to the tank; she had dug a pit in the gravel and hung around it for a while. Now she doesn't stay in any one area often, and swims around the tank with the male.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

i also just added 6 tiny new corys and they follow her around, she even chases off other fish who come near them, its so cute, she thinks they are hers

i wish i could show you picks, but she goes into the cave, and she has 6 happy little corys trailing behind her,

this sounds quite unusual to me, will this phase last long?