# My German Rams



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Ive had these guys for about 10 days and they all ready laid eggs! i hope there good parents but i doubt it since their new to the job lol.. Im also new here lol i hope i did this right.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Welcome!  Grats on the eggs!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

thanks lol i finally figured out how to add pics, had to resize them and stuff but i got em up!


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## _Green_ (Dec 30, 2008)

Lovely fish hope they hatch the eggs for you and welcome to the site.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Beauties! If you get any fry I will almost certainly buy some.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Very nice . They have very nice coloring.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey thanks all, they lay eggs like once every 2 weeks or so somtimes more often, but im trying to get them to be good parents so their fry can learn and i can establish a bit of a colony of breeders with different rams and more brilliant colours, though its a bit of a project im hoping it goes well. Untill they stop eating their eggs and actually mature to be good parents im gona leave the eggs with them so they do get to learn. I hope lol.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Well i thought id bring this one back since im starting to Hatch the eggs myself soo heres a few pic of my setup and eggs. If u have any tips id appreciate it .


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Well This morning i woak up and i see little wigglers all over lol, i have had about 100 or so hatch. Question to all those breeding egg layers that remove the eggs, How do you keep the wigglers from wiggling off the breeding wood or stone, do you use a dish?


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Well i thought id throw up a pic of what im holding them in atm, lol its a clay spoon from when i was in school, it does the job i guess haha.


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## simsimma (Aug 3, 2008)

haha thats cool, 
truly spoon fed


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Well day 2 of Wiggler stage and they have left the spoon lol, i found them scattered everywhere on the bottom of the tank. Heres an update of what they look like, took it while i cleaned the tank.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Well day 3 since they hatched, a few of the fry are attempting to swim with some skill at least lol not just quick spurts all over the place, so im guessing in the next day or 2 ill have some free swimmers and i can start feeding them.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Might be tough without the parents, but good luck!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

lol no kidding, in the end i still plan to have the parents eventually raise them on their own. these guys will hopefully be insurance.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

lol...looking good. Will be great to see them mature.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Day 4, Well i got home from work and i seen all the little guys chowin on the young cyclops in their, and about 80% are free swimmers now lol woot. tried Hakari first bites with a bit of success, a couple guys ate that, and i have bbs coming soon. I think the cyclops should hold them out for a while though as their was tons in their. You can see them picking them off the glass and then the random chases lol.. looking gooooodddddd.

haha definatly riceburner, ill have another set of eggs to hatch next week also, by that time ill move these little guys to the 20 gallon if i find they are of size.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Sorry for delay, GRats kelly!!! 

Keep us updated!


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## XbrandonX (Nov 22, 2007)

wow that's incredible.. My bolivians ate them at 'wiggler stage' EVERY time.. good job scooping them and doing it this way!

Good luck and big congrats... I heard that they grow sssssslllllllllooooooooowwwwwww... lol


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

lol yeah thanks, my German blue rams first few tries were actually really good.first try three days after i bought the male they spawned and at the time i was going to treat the male for worms so i did and he couldnt take care of the eggs so it was just the female but she thought it would be a good idea to put them on a 80degree piece of wood and they unfortinuatly fell to their deaths since she couldnt find them. Second try they got to wiggler stage and the male became super aggressive so i took the female out and when i did that the male disowned them and they died. not sure sure why he droped them. as far as growing goes i see a difference in some but i think thats because they hatched about an hour a part for a few. as of day five they are all free swimming and constantly looking around for food. I also compaired sizes of an adult cyclops to a bbs and their basicly the same. the cyclops young are Much tinyer then bbs. anyways i cant wait to see them next week. ill definatly notice a difference.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Well here is a few pictures of their progress, about 10 of them total and they are doing Very good. Their bodies are starting to assume a more full looking shape.other than that Uhh pretty much just eating like crazy and starting to school a bit also.


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## zenkeri (Jan 17, 2009)

congrats and thanks for posting all the pics and info. it is really helpful makes me want to try some german rams myself. currently I'm breeding some turquoise rainbows, it takes forever to grow them out especially when you"re not at home to feed them every few hours. good luck w/ the progress


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Its my pleasure Zenkeri, now that i actually have a bit of a system for breeding the rams i just have to get their survival rate up. besides from obvious mistakes though its been pretty good. I gotta say German rams are one of my favorite fish to keep now because of their behavior and their looks. I plan to get another pair and try to get them to spawn naturally so i can see the full process but for now i have to grow the fry myself. 

Ive never kept rainbows but i always thought they were neat. Their body shape is really different from other fish.


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## zenkeri (Jan 17, 2009)

I'll give u a pm when the rainbows are big enough, maybe trade u later  they are really easy to keep and when they are happy the colours on the scales changes kind of flickers its really neat. But the german rams are just super beautiful. later


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Sweet well day 11 since the fry hatched if i am correct, and i got a real nice photo. So i thought i would throw it up. The dorsal fin is much more visible now compared to a few days ago. They are also getting some darker markings i believe to be their "bone" structure.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

*Parents and the Fry's!!!*

Well update again This is day 14 of Fry i think. at least if my camera is keeping track of the time lol... I thought i should add an update of the parents considering these are the fish i have been using to spawn. The fry are doing Great and i have 2 that are half the size for some reason lol.. but they are eating well also so they will workout hopefully. I got a second pic of the male because he was a bit blocked by the female. I also am expecting a spawn in the next 2 weeks, so their will be another bunch that i will hatch out properly and hopefully get 100+ Fry out of it.


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## xr8dride (Feb 24, 2009)

I was looking at some of these today, how can you tell the male from the female??


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

One very Clear marking in Mature Females is the Pink belly. Also they are more Round. their are also a few other ways but the pink really explains it.


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## xr8dride (Feb 24, 2009)

Tropicana said:


> One very Clear marking in Mature Females is the Pink belly. Also they are more Round. their are also a few other ways but the pink really explains it.


Thank you, I will pick up a pair tomorrow.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

uhh just look for a pair w/o any deformity's or parasites. Barries BA's is full of parasites. also expensive. 
Also they are 99% of the time Males. lol


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

day 17 since hatched. They have developed good and they have a bit of white on their dorsal fin. not a disease or anything but heres a pic of one with the white colouring. also eating like machines i feed them 4 times a day with bbs.

lol i have 2 little guys still, the runts of the pack . you can see one to the right.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Woot well They have spawned again looks like another chance at even more fry now. They have about 200 eggs. I will remove them sometime tonight i think.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

cool. i think I'm going to save my next spawn of whatever....


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

haha thats cool Riceburner I really enjoy watching the young fish develop. every individual fish looks different  .So Update for the young fry. Day 21 i think and they are doing well, They have developed a few slight iridescent looking scales on their sides i thought it was pretty early for shiny fish but they have started to show something. Well i ran out of live BBS also so i have to wait a couple days for it to hatch so they are trying Frozen Adult BS and they have ate it but they are very picky it seems, No luck with anything dry currently. 

As for the Spawn from a couple days ago i didn't have time to get the new setup going as i had to buy equipment which i couldn't get so the parents of course ate them. But i do expect the female to lay next week probably and i will be ready .


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Excellent work kelly!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

WOO! well i got my other fry tank setup and JUST in time They Have Spawned Again!! It seems i can get a spawn every 7 days Which is wicked. I just have to wait until they are big enough then i will have the 30gallon tall grow out aquarium setup and ready for them then.


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## redclove (Feb 26, 2008)

great article on keeping and breeding rams, and how to sex them

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=751


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

haha indeed, i have read almost everyone on the net so far including the one you posted redclove Thanks though . 

Alright well i snagged a few shots not the best quality but they are looking good, eating well considering they have been eating frozen food for 5 days. since i had a run of bad luck with bbs. But i hope to hatch some in 30 hrs so there fav food will be back soon .


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Phew, well FINALLY i was able to get some bbs hatched and all the fry have HUGE stomachs after their feast. i feel a lot better now too haha. i gotta say bbs is a guaranteed food for fry that can eat it.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

*The fry are a bit older.*

Well tonight i got a quick shot of the grow out tank and one of the fry but he was in the dark so its not the best quality atm. i will get better shots later when i have time .


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Alright well The dominant German Blue is starting to show some colour only being about a month and a half or a bit more old. hes getting blue on his/her anal fin and his/her dorsal fin/tail is getting a tint of red on the edges. Also his/her black spot is developing iridescent's around it. its surprising because they are still so young.


Edit: Added pics one has a flash but shows the fry's colour/iridescent scales coming in. second if of a fry chillen by some roots. 3rd is a blurry fry near some driftwood with javafern i planted on it.


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## shaneo (Aug 11, 2008)

how many do you have now?? (I'm just curious about the losses)
hehehe, and also, purchasing!


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Ahh well with my cave man methods of hatching myself without any anti fungal meds and without micro worms just BBS i have a total of 14. 5 are from a hatch i didnt really pay attention too but i scooped them for the hell of it and the other 9 are from my first hatch aka the cave man method lol. since then i have been letting the parents practice.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

New batch of fry in the hatchery ;p. i counted at least 100 so i hope i will get a large survival turn out compared to my last few attempts. here is a pic of them checkin me out lol..


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