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O M G!

They laid dozens of eggs on a pebble. The female appears to guarding it at the moment! What should I do? This is my first fish tank!

I am leaving for a 10 day vacation today but will have a neighbor to feed back. Any suggestions before I leave?

Questions:
1. How long before the eggs hatch?
2. Will it be alright if I keep the eggs in the community tank?
3. Should I drop flakes/pellets near the eggs? The female doesn't seem to moving at all. She is fixiated on the eggs.


The first mention of them mating at this thread:
http://fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/thread.asp?id=44773&page=3



[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-08-11 10:18][/span]

Don't worry TOO much. The pair may get nervous and eat the eggs, or the may not do the best of guarding them from other fish since it is there first time But they will start to breed every 2 weeks or so, so i hope you have plans for all the littles ones. Just get a 10 gallon tank and a sponge filter...seed the sponge filter in you big tank, and when the fry are free swimming, move them to the 10 gallon. No need for substrate as it would make it harder for you to see the fry. Not sure about there diet to raise them, but you could try crushed flakes if you dont have bbs or other small foods. Good luck BTW, what are your tank conditions, i am hoping to breed my rams and i want to know what you did to get yours to spawn.

The breed "reed every 2 weeks or so"? They breed that often?

Nothing special with my conditions. All I have are some plants and regular gravel. Ammonia and Nirite are at 0 and Nitrate around 20. My pH is around 7. IF you want more info, check my profile for a complete tank listing.

Right now, the female is doing the guarding. She stays stationary right over the pebble and pokes at anything that comes too close to it. Even the male.

I have pics of my fish and tank here:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v347/djsly/

[span class="edited"][Edited by sly 2004-08-11 11:30][/span]

Sly, congratulations! Here's hoping you have many successes! Your tank is lightly stocked, and heavily filtered; no doubt that's a factor in having the Rams breed. Too bad you don't have a webcam on the tank, or we'd all be watching while you're on vaca! Let us know how things work out when you're back!

[span class="edited"][Edited by joe fishy 2004-08-12 09:22][/span]

Sly - They may not breed every 2 weeks. Cichlids really vary in frequency of breeding, especially if you leave the fry with them. I'd just let nature happen, sit back, and enjoy the ride. Don't drop flake food by the fry until you can see they're free swimming (until then they're hooked to their egg sacks).

Many dwarf cichlids tend to be very lenient in letting their fry stay with them (much like tanganyikan cichlids). I've heard of generations of borellis sharing the same 30 gallon tank --- maybe the bolivian rams will do the same.

Congrat's on the eggs!

Eric

Hey, my bolivian rams have now laid eggs, too!

Sly - We'll have to compare notes when you get back in town...

Eric

Now, I've got fry in a fry pit being guarded by the parents (they switch off). They've shown they are not afraid of the angelfish in the least bit when the angel has swam down too low a few times (they drove the angel off like it was a little tetra).

Cool!

Eric

I'm finally back and signs of fries are none. The eggs on the pebbles are all gone. So it would seem that either they eggs were eaten or the fried was eater (when they hatched).

Don't feel too bad about it...my fry disappeared overnight last night. I'm not sure if my tank cleaning upset the parents (I kept as far away from them as possible), if someone like the angel or the clown pleco got to the fry, or if they're just new parents. Still, I was pretty happy with fry for over a week.

So, maybe yours will do better next time. With cichlids, it's definitely a learning curve kind of thing.

BTW - Welcome back.

Eric

Its alright, at least I don't have to worry about the fries