Give Me Stepping Stones To Breeding Blue Rams

[Blue Ramirezi]

Hi everyone, ironically, i'm having trouble breeding my blue rams . I got 2 females one male and put them in a 50L tank (seemingly adequite) when to eventually started rubbing fins, trying to kill the other fish, and digging holes, I assumed they had paired off. when i had moved my female out of the tank,
the "pair" continued on there way, rubbing fins, digging holes etc. but there was one thing missing -_______-

they didnt clear either of their flat rocks !!
niether did they obsess over any spot of the tank which conserned me. the female got fat and i could see the females spawning tubes i was certain that they were going to breed
but the males "spawing tube" wasnt out and not to mention the male wasnt aggresive, to test how aggressive they were i would put two fingers in the tank, the female would nip my finger and put its fin up while the male wouldnt do anything. the male has also stopped swimming alongside the female and stopped rubbing fins. WHAT IS GOING ON!?

 

[KittyKat]

Firstly, they have spawned on the substrate for me before, although more often on gravel than sand.

Assuming everything else was perfect, it sounds like they never really paired up and the male lost interest. For best pairs, I use 3 males and 3 females in a large tank, which gives 9 possible combinations to get a pair from, whereas you offered your fish only 2 combinations.

On the other hand, there could be something wrong with their environment, so maybe the male is just not in the mood.. what are your full water parameters? What do you feed them? Post a photo of the setup, or describe it.

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

i think you're probably right, but i forgot to mention i had another male so originally it was 2 males and 2 females but the male killed it there is still a possibillity of breeding if what you say is correct, they do tend to spend a large ammount of time in their pit. the female uses her whole body to dig. it is an extremely well planted tank 29 degrees C 6.5 ph GH 4d nitrate nitrite and ammonia i have kept to 0, it is a heavily planted tank. if the female lays eggs will the male fertilize?

 

[KittyKat]

For me, normally, the females only laid eggs when the male was ready and willing to fertilise.

A 2 ft tank is too small for anything more than a pair, in my experience, so I'm not surprised that one male killed the other. If you're going to try pairing this species off again, I strongly recommend a large tank, i.e. a 4+*1*1 ft tank for 3m 3f, or to raise a batch from young in a 3 ft tank.

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

sorry im south african so i dont really no my feet and inches i go more by the rule of meters and centimeters but i have a big tank 120cm x 45cm x 46cm and its 250L, one problem it has the threat of a rainbow shark and two big firemouths, not sure if theyl be a threat but also silver dollars

 

[KittyKat]

4*1*1 ft is 120*30*30 cm. 3 ft is 90 cm, although a standard "3 ft" tank can be any 90 or 100 cm tank, depending on the country.

I wouldn't even dream of trying blue rams is a shark, I really don't think that it would be safe.

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

me niether, extremely bad news. my female layed eggs and the male ate them, i dont know if they got stuck or something but the male had a bulge on his tummy and he died

 

[KittyKat]

The male would not have died from eating eggs…

If you are going to try rams again, I recommend that you try to get a pair instead of individuals.

 

[onidrase]

Agreed. Something else must have been wrong if the male is dead, not the eggs.

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

what could it be, my female is deppressed now and wont move. shes gone all black and just sits there

 

[onidrase]

She's stressed from something. And I doubt it was the male's death. If she's going dark and lethargic, that sounds more like a water condition problem or some sort of ailment. Not depression.

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

I moved her to a different tank after it started so it cant be water conditions

 

[onidrase]

I moved her to a different tank after it started so it cant be water conditions

After what started? She's probably stressed from being moved. Whos to say the water conditions are better in the new tank? is the temperature set right? Is it being filtered properly?

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

The stress started beforw I Moved her, I research fish before getting them so I know the water parameters are, and they are right, besides I have another blue ram in there who's fine

 

[KittyKat]

The stress started beforw I Moved her, I research fish before getting them so I know the water parameters are, and they are right, besides I have another blue ram in there who's fine

Then since you know that the parameters are right, you won't mind posting the ones in the old tank that she was in and the new tank. How did you acclimatise between the two tanks? While this is not the original cause of the stress, we need to be sure that this was never a factor, which we cannot do if you don't give us numbers.

Is the second ram in the same tank as the female? Again, this could be making the problem worse.

The original cause of the problem *could* be the male dying, but in itself, this should not last for this long or be this bad.