Breeding Rams

Hi all

Google is my friend, and I have searched this question a few times, and most of the sites say the same thing. So what I would like to know is the following:

When the fish select a pair, how will I know?

As I have the two golden Ram males, and a normal German Blue Ram Female, this morning I woke up the a three way duel!!! The female kept protecting the one male, and eve giving the other male a Go! Will this be seen as a “Piar�

Then the site keep on saying the female needs to be placed in an isolated tank, so that you can start to condition her:

Is this really needed? As I have some people get it right in a community tank?

Anyone on TASA had any success with Rams?

TIA

Vez

 

@Vez:Thanks for asking this questions,I will befollowing replies closely.
What beatifull cichlids are the rams hey?

 

Howzit Vez, i had 3 rams in a tank with some other small fish like neons and stuff, i noticed when they paired off, because they use to always face off and fight, but after a while 2 of them use to stay together at the one corner of the tank and the toher use to swim all over alone, those 2 just stuck together, then they laid eggs on a piece of wood in the tank, but after while the eggs would dissapear, im assuming they would get eaten, after laying eggs 3 times with no success, they both died. i have no idea why or how they died, but this is what happened, maybe it would be good to isolate the pair once you see they have definitely paired off.

 

Hi @VezFirstly, it has become increasingly difficult to find good German rams, be it blue, the golden or even Electric blue variety. Breeders play with ph levels in wriggler stage and this way get mostly males from spawns which then get exported to us. It is very seldom that you actually find females available. The stock we get hardly ever survive past 6mths, and this has made these guys a total waste in my opinion. You will just know when you have a pair. These guys fall head over heels in love, and thus its very obvious that they are a pair. You dont need to remove the female but can just leave her with the male, feed them well, give good water and they should spawn easily. Raising the fry is another problem. If you get a pair, they will most probably eat spawn after spawn to your frustration. Removing the eggs could work, though I have tried with these and all fry died within 12hrs of hatching. @Nadeem, its probably nothing you did wrong. I can give you so many names op people, including myself who had the same experience with their rams. I wish we could get a batch of Wild rams, or even F1's into the country. That will go a long way in avoiding the trouble we have with modern day rams that come with a 6mth expiry date. Regards Marco

 

thanks @Marco and @Nadeem

i find that you almost never find any females, and that the females always die very soon ( as my new albino female did a day ago) :-( but the males are the ones that always do very well, both of mine are doing great! i did not buy them to breed, its nice to know they if your water and food is good and they spawn, i feel good about it then

 

In my personal experience... I had 6 German Blue Rams at one stage. I came home from work the one day to find a 3 way spawning happening!! 2 males and 1 female. The female would lay the eggs on a smooth stone, then one male would come fertilize. Then the female would lay another string of eggs and the second male would come and fertilize. This happened on more than one occasion. They are absolutely not pair spawners 100% of the time, and they can be polygamous.

 

@Marco I have found the same problem, and have given up trying to spawn them, or even trying to buy them, as they just die, and is a waste of money, pitty, cause they are one of my favourite species.

 

@HennieRoux

It is a sad state. I am with you on Rams being one of my favourite fish, I just love their look behaviour and breeding behaviour. Unfortunately, the available stock in SA leaves much to be desired as far as proper quality is concerned

Regards

Marco

 

Marco, you previously mentioned that they are all bred in captivity? Is it not possible to get some “wilds” in?

As for the fish itself, I really love them, and the remaining 3 in my tank, well they are doing very very well!!

@azurekoi can you guys get some wilds in perhaps? As I know you have a few wild caught fish at the moment? I think you will have a VERY good market!Lol

Vez

 

@Vez

Getting wilds is probably doable, if you fight for it. . . One must however remember that Wild Rams are another kettle of fish entirely. . . These guys come from parts in the Amazon that has some of the purest water nature has to offer. In parts the Total dissolved solids in the water where Rams are found borders on PURE distilled water, with an almost 0ppm solution. Couple this with a ph of 4 to 4.5, and you can start imagining how difficult it is to keep Wild Ram's alive, let alone breed them.
Not impossible though, but I would not suggest it for the faint hearted, or even to someone who has little experience fidgeting with ph and water parameter's.

I am at present speaking to a few guys and Im trying to get males from one sopurce, and females from another. It is also MAYBE possible that at least the females could be 2nd or 3rd Generation from Wild bred specimen's, which should at least make them a bit more robust concerning the commen problems we have. They will however be more needy with water requirements. Will keep you posted!

Regards

Marco

 

@Marco if you can get it right to get some of these Rams, count me in!

 

Me as well.

PS. @Marco....Selling Discus yet?

 

@Slojo

Some are up for sale. . . Not fry though, mostly 6mth to 1 year old's.

 

Male and female? Or only male?

 

@HennieRoux

I dont understand what you mean? Are you asking me if I'm selling male/female Discus?

 

Hey @Marco, stop hogging other people's posts

jokes aside, I've been following this thread since breeding GBRs was something I also attempted (I have the bald spot on my head to prove how frustrating it is). Honestly, if you enjoy your hobby then the best advice I can give you wrt breeding GBRs is dont even try. In my opinion the fish is ruined for the aquarists by the Oriental breeders. Unless you are lucky enough to get amazing stock, willing to go through the agony of getting them to breed, then staying around while they learn not to eat the eggs, then the wrigglers, then the fry, then the juveniles all the while squeezing it all into a very limited lifespan of roughly 2 years Frankly I would rather do something less frustrating like breeding rattlesnakes.

 

Sorry...only see now, you ment Discus, not Rams...haha. If you could sex discus you will be a milionare!

 

hehe

good one @jedigenie

how i see it, it like my cory's, i dont try to get them to breed, they just do it, i dont feed them any special food to condition them, and yet they still do the job. The same will go for my Rams, they are happy, and if they try and breed, Bonus! if not, still bonus!

 

Great comments from Marco.

By far and away my favourite species, not only for their stunning good looks, but particularly for their fascinating behaviour.

Poor quality stock is not confined to South Africa. Most LFS stock in the UK, is from South East Asia, and mass produced, and with it a waste of the poor fish and money. Like so many, I have bought countless nice looking Rams in the past (and not cheap) and found they die after around 6 months.

I was reading a really interesting article on the BCA website written by Big G, who mentioned how difficult it could be to get imported stock in to South Africa. He was indicating that it is possible to import wild stock, but this tended to be only two or three specific species. Maybe there is a gap in the market, for someone to grab this 'by the horns' and start up a importing business...

It makes me think we are lucky in the UK, as there are a handful of hobbyist breeders / specialist dealers here, who do Import Blue Rams from Colombia etc. I have some young Imported Wilds at the moment, and am hoping they do well. The water is a problem though, as Marco says, they come from a natural habitat that has some of the purest and softest water of all tropical fish.

I hope you guys eventually get your hands on some of the better stock, as this is truly a stunning species.

Best wishes

Mark in the UK.

 

Thanks dude,Yip, i realy need some nice stock, and on a sad note, my small male started to attack the hell out of my other male (after adding a female) do you think a 430l will be big enough for the two males?