Ok a quick question !!!

recently purchased a lovely pair of german blue rams and am very interested in gettin them to breed ..... At the Moment they are in my community tank and of course due to the amount thats goin on in there , i have more chance of becoming president of the United States than i do of gettin them to breed in there .

So i have set up a small tank with the intention of moving them over . Now after doin some reading on the net I have one problem . Is a 40 litre tank too small to breed one pair of German Blue Rams ????

Any help would be gratefully appreciated

martin

Allow them to pair up firstly in the community tank,you will know when they are pairing off with one another,the display is impressive as are the colours.I increase the temp in my tank to around 28c (just make sure your other fish will be ok with these temps esp corys etc.). Similarly leave a slate or flat rock for the female to spawn on.Mine are in sand substrate and will also dig a pit sometimes,usually next to the slate. If she does manage to spawn leave a night light on in the room (not necessarily the tank light) as the other fish will devour the eggs if they get near them,so if the tank isnt pitch black the parents will defend the eggs Ive found. If your community tank is big enough then you will ok re aggression.
Normally the eggs hatch after perhaps 2 or 3 days depending on temp etc.. Dont worry if the parents eat the eggs initially, they may need to spawn several times to get it right. Once the eggs hatch, they are at the wriggler stage, often the parents will remove the wrigglers to another more safer part of the tank,this is great to watch as the parents pick up with their mouth and spit them out then! (and yes you will freak initially thinking they are eating them,which indeed sometimes they will Im afraid!).Ive also found on occassions that the parent may fight with one another or that one gets overly protective and guards the fry on their own.(the male in my case when its happened).
When the fry become free swimming,the parents will continue to watch over them however they are always at risk from the other community fish in the tank at this stage, particularly tetras who tend to be zippy when it comes to snatching fry. Feed the fry infusoria at the beginning as they will still be too small to eat brine shrimp. Also microworms work well. Be cautious of chilling which can kill the fry also.
It will take a few attempts to get it right, if you can get the fish to pair up first (they are monogamous) you are on the right track, as JohnH said,make sure the breeding tank is spotless as the eggs will fungus otherwise.

Best of luck with it.


Gavin