Bolivian Rams Have Spawned

[chesterjohn]

I came home from work last night and noticed that both of my rams were much more brightly coloured than the day before. Then I fed them and only one of them went for the food (not so surprising as they are only just getting the courage to go to the top).

Then I saw the female going for a gourami as it was eating some food near them, which they've never done, all the nipping was on the first day between themselves. So I looked around where she was staying and noticed a load of eggs

I hadn't expected this at all, they've only been in there a week.

I'm not really expecting any fry to make it this time. I would have thought the parents will get bored soon, but no idea what I'd do with them if any did survive.

 

[M.R Otter]

Congrats!!
If the fry had survived you can simply sell them or give them to a friend it's not that complicated!!

 

[chesterjohn]

Congrats!!
If the fry had survived you can simply sell them or give them to a friend it's not that complicated!!

I thought selling them might be fairly hard as they aren't that popular and don't cost a lot to buy from a LFS. I don't know anyone that keeps fish, so no option of that...

I was planning on adding 2 gold rams in the next week or so. Is that a bad idea with having a spawning pair? I don't want the new ones to get bullied by the pair, and I don't want to disturb as they must be happy to have spawned so soon.

I was also hoping to put in some cardinals this week, but would it be better to wait until the rams aren't in protection mode, or would that still be ok?

 

[meguro]

whats the dimensions of the tank and current stock?

the rams will most likely devour the eggs before they hatch (at least for the first few tries). they will also take it in turns to eat food when protecting eggs/young.

 

[chesterjohn]

whats the dimensions of the tank and current stock?

the rams will most likely devour the eggs before they hatch (at least for the first few tries). they will also take it in turns to eat food when protecting eggs/young.

It's a Juwel Rio 240, although from my measurements, there's only about 200L of water you can get in there

so it's 4' x 1.5' footprint I think.

I expect them to do that the first few times, and I'm not too bothered. I just think it's interesting to watch them when they're breeding, and I also know they're happy that way.

My biggest worry is if I got 2 golden rams, they would get ganged up on to protect the future babies.

 

[kaivalagi]

That tank is nice and big for rams, I wouldn't worry about adding more fish, they'll soon find where they can and can't go without serious agro

Let your bolivians do their thing too, if it works out then great, if not then so be it. The only concern would be if the fry get to a point where the parents aren't looking after then anymore but there are fish big enough in the tank to eat them at that stage...that's when ideally you ought to have a second smaller tank to grow the fry in without predators.

 

[chesterjohn]

That tank is nice and big for rams, I wouldn't worry about adding more fish, they'll soon find where they can and can't go without serious agro

Let your bolivians do their thing too, if it works out then great, if not then so be it. The only concern would be if the fry get to a point where the parents aren't looking after then anymore but there are fish big enough in the tank to eat them at that stage...that's when ideally you ought to have a second smaller tank to grow the fry in without predators.

I'm not too worried if a few fry get picked off. It sounds cruel, but I'd like a few more fish to start eating the guppy fry lol. Any ram survivors is a bonus, but I think that will be a long while away yet...

 

[chesterjohn]

They've now moved from the cave where they spawned and moved to one of the several holes that the male has dug in the gravel. Inside the hole are lots of little wriggly things

No idea where they go at night though. Neither parent stays where I've seen the babies. Do they move them? Possibly back to the cave?