Da Rams

[LizStreithorst]

I guess it's time to give my dominate pair a tank of their own and try to breed them again. Right now they're in a 100 gallon with around 8 4 1/2" Discus. I was vacuuming their tank yesterday and one of them bit me. Sure enough, there were a clutch of eggs in a corner of "their" half of the tank. Before I try I have to look at all of Tom's videos so I don't do things wrong.

[Filip]

I'm crossing my fingers for a successful spawn Liz .
Discus would surely love to have the both halfs of the tank too .

[danotaylor]

Yay Liz, good for you mate. Your patience, or whatever internal experiences you were having, paid off, lol

[RogueDiscus]

That's great Liz! I haven't gotten to the point of committing tank space just to them yet, and they spawn in their corners, but I'm pretty sure that's what it would take to get the fry to survive. Checking Tom's videos is probably wise. I think removing the parents is recommended.
Good luck, and I'll be watching to learn.
Steve

[coralbandit]

Ask away if you have questions ..
Congrat on the eggs ..

[Second Hand Pat]

That's sweet Liz and crossing fingers for fry
Pat

[Mando]

Cheering you from the sidelines you got this. Did you try to move their eggs over into the new tank?

[LizStreithorst]

No, they were on the bottom of the tank.

[LizStreithorst]

I moved them this afternoon. They're in a 29 with a spawning place in a private corner with subsassertang partly hiding it. I just fed them a ton of BBS and started another batch for tomorrow.

Tom, I really want these guys to raise their own kids. What are the odds of that happening?

[coralbandit]

Tom, I really want these guys to raise their own kids. What are the odds of that happening?

It took me a long time but now I see parents raising fry very often ..I will say I think a 29 is a little big but keep it half filled and they may be happy enough ..
I breed in 5&10g and read Joe Gargas uses 2g [ his own words ] .
They dig tight /safe spaces where it is easy to keep the kids in line ..That may be one of the tricks ?
I will send you as much ram karma as I can Liz ..You can do it ,they are easy..Easier then my discus that move their fry but never get them to attach ! Why don't they just spit them onto each other instead of the other cone or pot ?? Discus are not as smart or sneaky as rams IMO !..

[LizStreithorst]

I hate the thought of artificially raising any fish. I cut my breeding teeth on Discus so I just can't help it.

I do have a 10 gallon and a place to put it. I took fish and shrimp to the LPS today. I am in the black to them again. I bought a heater for a 10 gallon and the cutest little sponge filter I have ever seen. I put it in a 100 gallon to cycle. Till then, the pair will stay will they are.

Tom, how many times a day to you feed your breeders? I've fed BBS twice today and plan to give them a pinch of black worm fines this evening.

[coralbandit]

I think you will do better in the 10 ..
I feed as much as they will eat and I can keep up on tank .
3-6 times a day for conditioning ..My fish get BBS everyday .Almost all of them even the 'adults' for sale .
I hatch a lot so I just feed a lot ..My pairs can tare up a 1/2 of cube of the black worms in one the 6 feedings !
My rams love and respond well to frozen blood worms also ..
So feeding for my pairs go ;
BBS ,kens grow meal sized appropriately { I have 0-3}
Grow meal again and golden pearls appropriately sized [ I have 100micron - 800 micron ] Great food few seem to know about .. Really great food .
Frozen or freeze dried worms , I have both plain blackworms and spinach added ,I alternate them weekly .
Grow meal rarely flakes of a worm nature or Tropical D allio.
BBS and golden pearls .
That is 5 meals ..I am very repetitive in almost every aspect of my fish keeping so next meal would be like any of the others .
besides the spinach I stay on the carnivorous side for their diets with most of the proteins being from fish or the like ..
Water matters most for rams IMO ..I set my tanks by TDS and nothing else ! I know my parameters from baseline and never test anymore ..
My tap is 7.6 pH/ 2-3 KH /9 GH with a TDS of 350+
I mix my RO [no di ] 17 TDS back to my tap until I hit 100. MAGIC WATER I have been told all too often ?
The secret is out ..