Give Me Stepping Stones To Breeding Blue Rams

[Blue Ramirezi]

the tanks were the same temp as the other tank so i didnt climatise for long, only about 5 minutes using a tub. she isnt in the same tank as the other female just another male. i dont think that this would do much but the rams current tank has a ph of 7.0 and the previous one was 6.5. the old tanks parameters were ph. 6.5 GH 4d, no1 no2 no3 0

 

[onidrase]

pH changes matter much more than temperature changes. You should have acclimatised it to the pH change as well, not just the temperature. It could be stressed from the pH change, if it isn't dying from shock.

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

could be, im more used to keeping snakes not fish so sorry 4 my mistakes

 

[KittyKat]

Aye, I agree that 5 minutes is much too fast. If there is any more than a 0.2 difference in pH or 1 degree difference in water hardness, I recommend drip acclimatisation over at least 3 hours… personally, I prefer to always acclimatise regardless of the water parameters, just to be sure.

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

wait 1 sec i was just reading my fish book and it says, "Sudden increases in hardness or dramatic alterations in ph are the change most likely to have dire effects; even natural water chemistry may prove harmful is the fishes'systems have adjusted to different conditions." so thats probably the case with the female, but what about the male

 

[KittyKat]

That book's right… if you want more details, read about osmoregulation.

What did you feed the two of them for the last week before the male died and what was your usual feeding schedule?

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

i feed them a couple high quality flakes and every 2nd day a 1/4 block tubifex it lasted long and he was my healthiest fish, left my house for 2 days hoping my parents could feed him flake food for two days, they did but....

 

[KittyKat]

Was the tubifex dry or frozen? What were the ammonia and nitrite readings on the day you came back?

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

The tubifex is frozen, ammonia was fine absolutely zzeerroo, maybe there was a bacteria frozen in the tubifex, I know its found in poo-water

 

[onidrase]

I don't mean to sound offensive, here, but why not try some fish that are a little less... Well... Fragile...? You've been having some GBR troubles, and some angelfish troubles, why not try taking a step back, a bit? I don't want to deem you incompetent, but you're still pretty young, as well. Why not some Bolivian Rams or Apistos instead?

I don't think there was really any immediate cause for the male to die so early. It's also hard to say if a fish is truly healthy or not. Sometimes stress and disease is a lot more subtle than spots, scrapes, lethargy, bloating, and lack of appetite that you see in the emergency section. Sometimes it takes a trained eye to see if a fish is on the verge of death or not.

The bacteria in the tubifex should have died as soon as it was frozen and taken away from its food source. I think, granted the small tank size and multiple issues within the tank (including when you had the firemouths with them), and the fighting with the other male to the death, it just had too much stress on its hands, and passed early.

And I know for a fact that I can't keep angelfish alive myself. I don't even want to try GBR's. I'm still sticking with tough as nails fish like convicts and firemouths and medium sized tetras, because even though I might know a lot (at least I'd like to think I do, but I also know there is still tons I have to learn), I haven't experienced a lot, and there's a big difference in between the two.

You don't seem to know all too much about fish keeping yet, to be honest. That's not to say you'll never learn, that's not to say you're stupid, but we all start somewhere. And if you start at the top, with fragile fish like GBR's, there will be issues at hand. You said it yourself, you're more used to the snakes than you are to the fish.

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

No offence taken, it seems only my larger fish thrive, and it seems GBR's are better kept in a community as one ram, like my last remaining, seemingly thriving, blue ram but I don't have long life expectancy for him, my shark silver dollars FM's, red eye tetras and my beloved red rainbow are all doing so great. now I feel my tank is maintained I feel rather guilty for trying run before I could walk, and as a consiquence fish lost their lives. But at least my firemouths are thriving, my shark is unbelievably healthy and those "viejas" that grow an inch a month have stuck far smaller than my firemouths (their actually rather small) I have also noticed that I tend to be irrational about medication, adding general aid on all sick fish (don't be angry) I got rid of my ram tank because I realized, I only need 1 tank, I'm 12 I like to think I'm knowledgable but deep inside I know I'm a begginer. Oh well I'm going to be earning about R20 000 (I think about 2200$) from a batch of 20 hatchling jaguar carpet pythons so please please please reccomend some nice (idc what price) fish

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

I may say I feel somewhat jealous, I have a friend, completely new to fishkeeping (I mean brand-new) and he's keeping a blue ram in a tank smaller than mine, the fish is thriving. I say ya I a female who has reached maturity, so we decide we'll take them 2 me, then its ever so happy looking better than it ever did then I get home and I'm feeling sooo guilty 1 second its happy next its dead. How is it that iv been going for 3 yrs he's been going for 2 months I know more about the fish and stuff but somehow the most outrageous events come into place, like an albino rainbow shark in a 25L, thriving he's now in my tank still thriving but anyway, he gets all these fish that get too big for his tank yet somehow they are happy for instance there was some kind of geophagus he got, living happily ever after, I'm not a jealous individual but this is crazy, I feel like I am completely stupid. Why is this happening!?!? He's learning to run before he can walk, and he's succeeding

 

[onidrase]

I may say I feel somewhat jealous, I have a friend, completely new to fishkeeping (I mean brand-new) and he's keeping a blue ram in a tank smaller than mine, the fish is thriving. I say ya I a female who has reached maturity, so we decide we'll take them 2 me, then its ever so happy looking better than it ever did then I get home and I'm feeling sooo guilty 1 second its happy next its dead. How is it that iv been going for 3 yrs he's been going for 2 months I know more about the fish and stuff but somehow the most outrageous events come into place, like an albino rainbow shark in a 25L, thriving he's now in my tank still thriving but anyway, he gets all these fish that get too big for his tank yet somehow they are happy for instance there was some kind of geophagus he got, living happily ever after, I'm not a jealous individual but this is crazy, I feel like I am completely stupid. Why is this happening!?!? He's learning to run before he can walk, and he's succeeding

If he's only been at it for 2 months, I doubt those fish he have will be around too much longer. I've seen "happy" GBR's and "happy" angelfish in the LFS that are found dead the next day. Like I said, sometimes it's less obvious than other times. It takes a trained eye to know if something is wrong.

For instance, I was looking to buy a very lovely angelfish just a couple days ago, it was the only angel that looked healthy, it wasn't gasping for air, its fins weren't clamped or torn, it looked healthy and happy as ever

I went there the next day looking to take it home with me, and they only had 1 angelfish left. And it was barely holding on. And it most certainly was not the healthy one I saw the day before. The rest had passed away (and the one I wanted was dead in the substrate )

I'm guessing your friend didn't bother cycling the tank before adding in the GBR, which is going to shorten its lifespan in that alone. and if he's not fish in cycling properly, I'm putting my money on it that it'll probably pass before the tank is matured. And with the geo, they like to be in groups from what I understand, and they get way too big for a 25L tank.

Your friend is what we call "lucky", not "succeeding."


What are all of your tank sizes and their stocking, by the way? (including live plant stocking)

 

[Blue Ramirezi]

Well I had a little tank about 40L or something which I kept the blues in, but I got rid of the tank to make way for a snake tank. I currently have 1 tank left and its my pride, its 120cm x
45cm x 46cm so somewhat 250L
its got 1 amazon sword and two large bunches of some kind of grass (forgot the name) and 1 fake plant

 

[onidrase]

Well I had a little tank about 40L or something which I kept the blues in, but I got rid of the tank to make way for a snake tank. I currently have 1 tank left and its my pride, its 120cm x
45cm x 46cm so somewhat 250L
its got 1 amazon sword and two large bunches of some kind of grass (forgot the name) and 1 fake plant

And What is the current fish stock of it, as well? The big tank has sand substrate and driftwood as well, if I remember the pictures correctly, right?