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I have a 30g aquarium with a alot of fake plants(cant get real yet ) wand some flowerpot caves with:

2 German blue rams
7 neon tetras
5 bleeding heart tetras
5 scizzortails
1 pleco


I woke up this morning and the back halves of the rams body were very blue. The male is always following the female around and seems to be putting on a display for her(shaking in front of her once in awhile, spreading fins). He has never done this before. I think they might be getting ready to breed. If they do breed should I:

1.remove the eggs and put them in a breeding net/fry tank
2. wait till the fry hatch and then remove them
3 let the rams take care of the fry (tetras might eat them though )

I dont know what to do and am keeping a close eye on the rams

Last edited by Ethan14 at 11-Jul-2005 15:46

the female is getting very plump too!! she also spends a lot of time in the deserted part of the tank, behind/in a jungle of fake plants with the male.

I might try and set up a ten gallon and transfer them to it.

Yes, they are ready to breed and they'll probably do it soon. If you want to remove the eggs, put a slate in there and they'll probably spawn on it, then you can remove it, but it's up to you what you will do. If you leave it up to them the eggs might be eaten, either by the other fish or the parents, if it's their first time, they get better every time.

Your main risk for the eggs/fry are the tetras and the pleco. Tetras because they're too quick for the parents and the pleco because they're like tanks. Nothing will stop them if they want to get the eggs, not even two very diligent parents...

I would leave them in that tank till they breed & see how it goes. After remove them & put them in the 10 gal. tank & breed them there. Usually the first spawns aren't very succsessful, but by time they'll get it right.


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thanks for the replies. They havent spawned yet but I'm gonna put in a flat rock for them. I decided I'm not going to move them as it might be too stressful because I recently bought and transferred them to my tank.

I'm going to take the eggs out if I can. would it be ok to put the eggs in a breeder net or should I put them in a plastic container floating in the tank?

The neons will stay away. The scissortails, however, will work those fry down to nothing. I almost always self hatched when I still had the cichlids. In a community setting, they'll do better without the parents. The best home for the developing eggs would be a separate tank entirely.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 12-Jul-2005 13:24

I would put them in a floating plastic container, with an air stone.


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ok i put in some flat rocks for them to spawn on. Now they are cleaning off one of the rocks.

When they lay eggs what is the best way to remove them? a turkey baster? Or do the eggs stick to the rock and i can just remove the whole thing?

Last edited by Ethan14 at 12-Jul-2005 14:45

It's better to remove the rock with the eggs attached.


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i like to get a rubbermaid container, and not remove the eggs from the water, just set the rock in the container, and slowly take it out of the water, and pour out a little water out so it floats, then add a blubbler and your set

Another good idea too, is you can use a small tupperware container, and float it in your tank. That way it will still stay nice and warm.
I usually tape the tupperware to the tank edge so it cant float away.
Make sure to add a bubbler, and you might want to add some methylene blue or pimafix to it to keep away fungus
The fry usually hatch in 3-7 days depending on water hardness and temperature.
Once they are free swimming you can remove the stone
Do water changes with water from the main tank until the fry are about 1/2 inch
Once they are that size or a little smaller you can probably move them a 10g tank with no substrate and a sponge filter
You can cycle a sponge filter if you want in your bigger tank, or use a fresh uncycled one.
Good Luck!


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Cut several holes in the tupperware bin and stuff them with sponge. It allows for even water transfer.

wow thx for all the advice. I will use it well. Unfortunately they havent spawned yet. (Hopefully )

i check on them about every 30 minutes. My question is... How long do you think it would take the other fish to consume the eggs?

"How long do you think it would take the other fish to consume the eggs?"

Unfortunately, if it's the parents' first time, it is very possible that the male will consume the eggs, but they will spawn again very soon even if they do that and will succeed eventually.

If they don't consume the eggs then they will guard them from other fish and at the time the pleco poses the biggest threat as not even the parents will deter it from eating the eggs if it wants to.

If neither the parents or the pleco decide to go for the eggs then they will most likely be safe until they hatch. Leaving the room lights on during the night will help the parents protect the eggs.