Need help with German Blue Rams

[Condor]

I am having a post spawn problem with a pair of blue rams. I was treating them for ich in quarantine. On saturday I noticed that the female had become bloated and the bottom of her belly turned was gray. Sunday evening they spawned. Male set up guard over eggs and wouldnt let female near them. To make a long story short, they tried to be good parents but did not succeed. Seems that somebody ate the eggs. (Though they lasted almost three days) Anyways, the female seems to be in bad shape. Despite treatment with ridich (once every 24 hrs) the ich is progressing and her fins are looking tattered. The bottom of her belly is still that sickening gray color, though the bloating went away after the spawn(explains that) Other than that she is acting fairly normal- very active and her coloring is very bright. I have been doing 25% water changes every day and started increasing dosage to every 12 hrs. Tank is 20 gallon bb with sponge filter. Water is regular tap water, about 7.4 ph. Is there anything else I can do? THanks for your help.

Adrian

[Northwestcoastdisc]

hi D.Jones,

I am sorry about the female has bloat. Its baterica.

you should take out the eggs and grow the fry by yourself.. The male will eat the eggs.

You can try treatment with Kyancian. I had them before but it does not work for me, keep low tempture.

hth

Duncan

[brewmaster15]

Hi Adrian,
I agree with Duncan that it sounds like bacteria is an issue here. I would suggest that you try treating them with Furan 2 for a week and see if that helps. Keep the temp above 86 F , Rams can tolerate that.

as a future note, I have used jungles "ich Clear" tablets very effectively on community tanks" and have also had good luck with Quick Cure( but it kills biofilters) in Qts.

I tried Rid-ich once and was not impressed.

Hth,
al

[177ichael]

I've kept Ram pairs in a planted 10g tank and had wigglers on three occaisions. My pH was relatively low at around 6 with soft water. As opposed to Discus, Rams do very well in planted tanks. My pH was lowered in a planted tank due to the substrate used for planted tanks. I suspect the soft water helped with the hatching of the eggs as the shells of the eggs would be softer. Once the eggs were layed, it took about 2 - 3 days before the eggs hatched. Both parents would take turns protecting and fanning the eegs. Once the eggs hatched, both parents would take the wigglers into their mouths and spit them back out in an effort to try to keep the group together.

German Rams often times come from very weak overbred lines from Asia. In fact, it is very difficult to find good quality German Rams, unless you are lucky enough to know of a local breeder. The only place I know that has "large" good quality Rams is Fairy Lake Discus in SF. In comparison, all other Rams I've seen are very small and weak looking. I would think these weaker Rams would be more difficult to breed. The Rams in SF are HUGE with an average size of about 2-3 inches long.. In comparison, they are larger than Gouramis and certainly more plump.

[Condor]

Thanks everybody for your help. Came home from work and female seemed a little bit better. Going to up the water changes and try some anti bacterial medicine. Bacteria makes sense. Got the pair about a week ago and they came from 50/50 ro/tap water. I will post again and update on progress.Thanks again.

Adrian

[Condor]

Ok, this is unbelievable. The pair did not eat the spawn. They simply moved them. I was doing a large water change this evening, when I saw the wigglers in a little clay pot that I had put in the tank as an alternative spawning site. (1/4" tall by 4") The parents had been picking up the young as they hatched and moved them to their nest one by one. Well, hopefully it turns out ok.

[Northwestcoastdisc]

good job D.Jones,
I had 7th spawn of germany blue rams they ate when the wrigglers because they are living in discus and other rams. I have no time to pull out the pair in the breeding tank.

Keep post up how is ur pair rams and the offsprings too.

Good luck

Duncan

[177ichael]

Congrats! It is a treat to watch Rams breed. Good luck!!

[Condor]

Well, I hate to say this, but I lost the fry. Think that it was my bumbling water change that did it (temperature fluctuation). Guess it's for the better, though, because now I can treat the parents without worrying about the young so they will be able to do again in the future. Thanks again for your help.

Adrian