Pitch Black Rams

[jwcarlson]

Thanks everyone! I think if they're still alive tonight after work, it will be the longest they've gone with free swimmers. The parents are hyper defensive, which is neat to see. If I get close to the glass they flip out. They, of course, need a water change. But I'm not doing anything for awhile. This morning I added a little clump of java moss since there's not much cover at the bottom of the tank. They moved the fry about halfway across the tank and then the parents were taking turns going over and attacking the moss. I can't say it wasn't entertaining. The dad really thought a little piece that he broke off was going to kill them all.

[mleibowi]

If anyone has any to ship, please let me know!
Thanks
Mike

[jwcarlson]

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They seem to have taken. I think there's quite a few less than there were, but it's tough to know for sure. It's possible that it's just hard to see them. The parents sometimes have them in two groups. Babies are getting nice orange bellies (might be tough to see in the pictures). I'm a huge fan of fry that eat baby brine shrimp right off the bat.

[brewmaster15]

Looks like your pair is throwing half gold /half black fry

Congrats on the bbs acceptance.

[jwcarlson]

The fry have dwindled down to maybe 1/3 of the original group. I'm not upset by this, but am wondering if it's normal. They've grown quite a bit now and seem to be eating well. I'm enjoying watching the parents "take care" of them. They do some interesting fin twitching and it's interesting watching the parents tag team guarding them.

[brewmaster15]

Seems like alot to me Jacob. Maybe you had some losses from the food?

[LizStreithorst]

I was thinking that you may have been going too light on WC's but don't know if that's right.

[jwcarlson]

I have not been changing a ton of water. I actually see the appeal of artificially raising the fry because I can change a lot of water in certain tanks fairly easily, in others not as much. I did see one of the fry snagged by hydra. There's not a lot of hydra in the tank, but there's some. I think I might try the next batch in a fry tray just for giggles. But I really do enjoy seeing them with the parents. And honestly... I DO NOT need 200 baby rams.

Part of me thinks it's the parents predating on some of them because there are times that the parents weren't spitting out the babies that were on the lam. Wondering if it's just a matter of them becoming better parents? There's absolutely been a progression with each set of fry and this is the longest they've had.

[jwcarlson]

Pulled the few remaining fry tonight as it looked like the parents were ready to spawn.
She really out did herself here. Part of this clutch is two layers thick. Terrible picture and I am not sure they will be fertile as I had been cutting over to tap water. But I pulled them right after she finished laying.

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[Charlyc11]

In the past if I was going to artificially raise I would have the pair on tap water and remove the eggs and put them in RO with a few drops of MB.

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[jwcarlson]

Thinking about going artificial with this set, but not sure. They are in straight RO with some MB, though I feel like they look different, but it's hard to know for sure.
There were only six fry left, I put them in with some furcatta rainbow fry in my fry rack. I figure mom was going to eat them anyway, she was huge with eggs and was starting to clean the terracotta dishes.

[brewmaster15]

Jacob,

Is your hesitation to go artificial because you think its a bad way to raise fry?

al

[LGelb]

What divider are you using

[jwcarlson]

Jacob,

Is your hesitation to go artificial because you think its a bad way to raise fry?

al

In short, it's because I can raise all sorts of fry artificially... meaning I don't know that I see ram fry as being particularly different from CPDs, sterbai, furcata, etc. Not to say that their care and behavior isn't different. And to be honest, the only reason I breed any fish is just for my enjoyment anyway... being able to see the parental care and behaviors associated with fry rearing by the parents. My fry "system" is basically empty at the moment, so I can certainly raise some artificially. I probably will with this batch as it will provide me with a couple data points. Would be in my tap water and no parents to eat slowly eat the babies or whatever might be causing the numbers to dwindle. The six I transferred to tap water the other day seem to be fine. Plus regular tap water means that my ability to do large water changes isn't impeded much by having to make RO water. Additionally, the fry are isolated from the main tank in a tray, so I can drain the whole tank easily and not have to worry about sucking up fry, which is difficult when the parents are raising hell trying to kill the siphon while also scattering their fry all over because of their erratic movement.

[jwcarlson]

https://www.petsmart.com/fish/tanks-...der-69451.html

I have a couple of these. They're not great. Adult rams can force themselves through and it is not particularly sturdy. There's probably better options.