# HELP! Unexpected German Blue Rams Spawning



## gravy9 (Aug 28, 2008)

Hello everyone,

I've been journaling my 38-gallon Mineralized Substrate Tank for a while. Over the last week I've been treating the Angels and the Rummy nose tetras in the tank for Ich with Formalin and raising the tank's temperature to 84 degrees. The fish are on their recovery path and will be ending my trreatment in 4 days, start changing the water and reducing the temperature to 76.

To my surprise, yesterday I found that in the back corner of the tank, there was a small pit dug up and it was clean. That corner had a pile of organic wastes in the past. I later checked on it and found that the Rams were cleaning it. By night I found that they had laid the eggs in the pit.

I found that the eggs usually hatch in about 48 hours. Here are some of my questions, with an aim to saving the fry:

The tank has formalin for ich treatment and the temperature is at 84 deg. Is there a danger to the eggs? If so, what can I do to minimize the danger?
Is there a danger to the fry from other fish and the filter intake? If so, what should I do to eliminate the danger?
What steps do I take to take care of their feeding once they hatch?
Should I try to remove them to a different tank? If so, what should the new tank be equipped with?
Anything else that I should worry about?
Thank you for all your comments and feedback, in advance.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

The temperature is fine. I'd recommend covering the filter inlet with a sponge. You can buy large sponge blocks from MarineDepot, BigAl's or several other internet sites. Just cut to size and put it over the intake.

By far your biggest issue will be predation from the other fish, especially angels. Rummynose tetras will take fry if they encounter them too.

Your best bet is to remove the other fish from the tank. If you attempt this, don't be surprised if it stresses the rams to the point that they devour the eggs. If they do, it's no big deal. They're clearly happy about their environment and they'll be spawning again in a few week's time.

If the tank is big enough, well established, and densely planted, the fry will probably find plenty to eat by picking at microorganisms growing around the plants. Watching the parents move them from place to place while they look for food is enormously entertaining. You can supplement with newly hatched baby brine if you'd like.

Trying to remove newly hatched fry to a new tank almost never goes well. It's far better to remove the other fish.

Good luck. Successfully spawning and growing out a desirable species like rams is very rewarding.

Don't get too bothered if things don't go well on the first try. Accidental spawnings almost never turn out well IME. Get prepared ahead of time for their next attempt and you'll be far more likely to be successful.


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## gravy9 (Aug 28, 2008)

Thank you for your response, Bryce. I'll buy the sponge and cover the intake of the filters. 

This being my first experience with any kind of spawning, I'd be hard pressed to stress the parents at this time. I'm thinking of letting it take its course but at the same time I'm very concerned by the predation.  CONFUSED!


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

If you leave them in there, nature will take over. Most likely the young won't make it longer than a day or two, especially if the angelfish catch on to what is happening. They view little fry like cheetos. You might increase your chances slightly by leaving some sort of dim light going at night and by keeping stressors to a minimum.

To me, there is something enormously rewarding about watching parent chiclids raise their fry in a well-planted tank. It's not too far from what happens in the wild.


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

Ravi, I bet the rams have eaten the eggs already....yes?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Predation is a big deal especially with the tetras, since they are small and fast and get into the swarm of babies and out before they take any damage from the parents.

The parents might be able to fend off most attacks, but then you will run into the problem of adequately feeding the fry. In a big tank this will be nearly impossible for you to do, so the fry will have to find microscopic food on their own. Most won't live, but if you are lucky and the other fish don't eat all the fish, the fry find enough food, the parents don't eat the babies (new parents tend to eat the first 3-6 batches before keeping them), then you should end up with 3-5 fry that make it to adulthood.

Keep us updated!


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## gravy9 (Aug 28, 2008)

Folks, I was out of the home from 10 AM and just came back at 6 PM to find that only about 10 eggs have survived. When I left this morning, I was able to see a lot of eggs. Not sure if it were the parents who ate the eggs or if it was some other fish in the tank.

Hopefully, the rest will survive the night. I will leave a low light overnight to see if any survive.

Thank you for your responses, everyone. Looks like a learning on the job situation.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Probably the parents that ate the eggs since they usually won't let other fish near the eggs.


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## new2plnts (Jul 8, 2008)

I have Jewel chiclids which layed 3 times and the first time 5 survived since then none have and they are in a community tank as well and I just let nature take its course. AS Byrce said it is really neat to watch the parents guard and move the babies. The first time I saw this I thought she was eating the eggs but was she was moving them. They get aggressive to as the nipped my fingers a few times. Good luck with as it is a pleasure to watch


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

Rams are notorious for doing that.


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