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This has been a nutty day as far as my fish go! I have bugs and worms in my 29 tank, see WQ forum, and now my Rams have spawned! I've only had them since October 14th and I hate to say it but I know very little about them! They have been eating the worm things all day and then pokeing around the tanks castle. Now, on the flat top of the castle they have laid all these eggs! Help!
Do I do my water change tomorrow? Should I leave the lights on? What about when or if they hatch? I have two snails I think I will remove for now. And then there is my huge Angel! Will she eat the eggs or will the Rams go after her? The Rams were nipping my hands last week as cleaned the tank! Guess I know why now! I am in fish shock! I'll get a picture of the eggs.

Last edited by blondie at 28-Oct-2004 18:19

Last edited by blondie at 30-Oct-2004 10:20

Here is the picture of the Blue Ram eggs on the castle.

blondie attached this image:

Congrats on the spawning! I guess the fish think they're royalty - live food, and a castle to boot! Long live the Rams! I suspect the live food was a factor in having them spawn. Don't be too suprised if they end up eating their own eggs; it's not uncommon, especially if they've never spawned before. The Angel, too, may have caviar for dinner; that's the problem when fish spawn in a community tank. I would put off the water change for a few days, and try to minimize activity outside the tank for fear of frightening them. They may move the eggs to another location within the tank. Hopefully others with more experience will have more tips to offer.

Thank you soooooo much for your reply, I'll ask that my post be moved as I really need some help. I took my two snails out and added them to another tank. My great big huge angel is hiding over by the heater looking rather put out by his tiny tank mates. So far the Rams are eating most of the worms. I am still worried about doing a water change. I want so bad to do a gravel cleaning. Do I, or don't I. I feel I should, but...I don't know! The Rams are just really good at taking turns eating and faning the eggs. They haven't eaten any of the eggs that I can tell. But that seems to happen on day three from what I've read. And is today, day two or day one? I read about putting stuff in the water so the eggs don't get mold, but I don't know if I should do this. I guess not to many people are interested in breeding Rams or I'd get more replies. Sure hope I get some help soon.

I now have fry! Liveing inside the castle! All I can really see is eyes! And I went ahead and changed the water and cleaned up the tank and added my ick meds and water treatment. I moved in some fake plants to hide the Angel from mommy fishe's view and she stoped going after him. Ever see a very mad mommy fish! Oh boy! They bite! Good thing it doesn't hurt when she bites. Well I've done alright for winging it on my own. I'll be showing off my fry in a few days with a picture, giggles! And once more THANK YOU JOE FISHY! You are so nice!

Last edited by blondie at 31-Oct-2004 10:49

Very cool! What are you feeding the fry? I'd suggest using a baster or plastic pipette to squirt freshly hatched BBS into the cloud of fry. Also, if you have a hang on filter on the tank, cover the intake strainer with some fine netting or a finepore prefilter so as to prevent the fry from becoming sucked into the filter when they swim too close to the in take.

That's so exciting! The fry will probably find microscopic food in the tank, but bbs or any additions will be helpful, too. Test your water, and keep an eye on nitrate levels (or carefully continue to change the water, as you have done). This will help the fry to continue to develop. If you have other quarters available, you may want to consider moving larger fish (such as the Angel), to avoid consumption of the fry when they start to explore the tank. Happy fry raising to you!