Breeding Project: German Blue Ram

Oops! Forgot to make a log entry the other day that is very crucial to the breeding project. On the same day that I made the log entry of the peculiar behaviour, on December 4th, a medium-sized batch of eggs was noted on the heavily cleaned area of the two. It was very exciting and quite surprising to see the fish being able to spawn without a lengthy conditioning period.

It was quite exciting to see the pair react the way they did, however, interesting behaviours were noted. Although it was my first time witnessing the egg-laying and fertilization of this species, there were still some things they did that caught my attention. First off, the female didn't seem to want the male to fertilize her eggs. A lot of harsh pecking was noted when the male went in every-so-often to release his sperm to fertilize the eggs with when she went in and out of the spawning site.

Already I had questions about the fertilization of the entire spawn of eggs. After a lengthy session of egg-laying and furious pecking at the male, the female began to wander the tank more and more often with the male following closely behind her (speculating that he would guard her from any other males who would want to mate with her). Once she had finished her job of egg-laying, she would periodically dart about, sometimes causing a wave of water to dislodge and brush out a couple of the eggs. She did not do a very good job at retrieval and re-placing the eggs within the spawning site.

The father, however, showed some promise as I observed him a couple times grabbing the eggs that had dislodged and placing them back within the nesting site. He began fanning overtop the eggs to allow for good aeration of the eggs and became quite protective of the spawn, slowly beginning to peck at and chase off the female from the area. I decided he might have wanted her to patrol the area more than to take parental duties of the young.

The next day, I observed a lot of pecking from the male, forcing the female to hide behind the bubble filter to avoid being seen and pecked at. I decided for her health and safety to remove her, so I placed her in a temporary 1.2 gallon desktop tank. He seemed to have concentrated more upon guarding the eggs now and showed strong aggressive guarding behaviours as demonstrated by his attacks to objects moving in close to the nesting site - such as my camera or finger on the other side of the tank.

A worrisome thought occurred to me that made me rechange my initial impression that he may become a great father. Although it is common for a few if not a couple eggs to turn white because they are infertile, German Blue Rams will often remove these from the nest as to prevent fungus which may spread to the healthy eggs. When he did not perform this function, I began to worry a bit but shrugged it off in the hopes that he would remove them at a later time.

I had been gone all day the next day, and when I returned in the evening, found the devastation to the spawn. 95% of the eggs that had originally been laid were gone, presumably consumed by the father. The remaining eggs that weren't eaten yet had fungused up. This didn't last long as the father soon made short work of them after I had returned home. It was quite disappointing to see this potentially great spawn turn to naught. However, I understand that many first-time parents are not the best at it and often eat the entire spawn so I am hoping for more spawns to occur through (hopefully with a 10 gallon by then!).

Other methods I am going to try is to see how much longer I can leave the female in the tank for. Maybe they will learn to work together and if he doesn't eat the fungused eggs, that she could possibly do so. Another method to try would be to remove the male (after the female) once I notice he is not doing his job as well and then remove any of the fungused eggs manually myself. Either way, I hope to someday see them become the great parents that I know they are.

Breeding Project: German Blue Ram

Finally, the first in a little while, its the first blog that is not entirely on the Cherry Barbs. As mentioned in the previous blog, I bought a pair of German Blue Rams and with feeding of frozen bloodworms, they've nestled themselves comfortably in my 5 gallon. With colors more fantastic than I could ever imagine, these little buggers have began demonstrating to me that it may be nearing time for them to surprise me.

When I got home today and turned on the lights, a lot of chasing around was observed. It was almost a non-stop pestering from the male as the female attempted to dart away with him pecking her when contact was made. His aggression levels have also risen quite considerably as he angrily tried pecking at me if my finger or camera neared him on the other side of the glass.

This increased aggression could also be from the signals or visual cues given off by the female. She's grown considerably plump since yesterday after feeding her a bit. With the rounder appearance, she has more of a violet-pink coloration added to her near her belly region which, in breeding females, is quite the prominant feature. Her ovipostor tube is also jutting out like a fresh splinter in someone's finger. That may quite possibly also be releasing pheromones into the water which may be driving the male as crazy as is.

Once the pair calmed down from the strenuous chasing, they were tediously pecking at certain spots in the tank. This cleaning behaviour could only lead to potential spawning sites. I was almost disappointed that they did not choose the base of the sponge filter like my original pair, simply because it would've been easier for picture taking and whatnot for observational purposes. However, the two sites they have been cleaning out also appear to be pretty good as they are easy visual access and aren't exactly hidden enough to be bothersome.

Continual feeding of frozen bloodworms will definitely be strictly followed, however, I still have to figure out the perfect amount in which to feed them for one sitting. They aren't particularly fast eaters, and I can't seem to gage very well how much they can eat for one sitting. Since they can get very sensitive to nitrate levels, its best if I just do a lot of water changes and keep low on the feeding size. If only I had a better camera which could capture their true beauty as my digicam is not of the best quality.

Breeding Project: Cherry Barb
Breeding Project: German Blue Ram

After all this time, the tank was never cleaned and ridded of it's algae occupants until last night. I felt that it was time for a good cleaning and the juveniles were large enough to be handled. So, I took the old tank water and filled it into a 1.2 gallon desk tank and began moving the juvenile into their new home. Of course, I'm aware that they would soon outgrow this, but until now, it will serve as a grow out tank for them. Thusly, my 5 gallon would be free to continue on with other things.

During the move, I made sure to catch every young there was and although I had an updated original thought of having only 15 juvenile, the count was once again modified as I now proudly own 17 Cherry Barb juveniles. Guess I wasn't as big a failure as I had originally thought I was! Of course, some of them seem to be selectively smaller than a few which makes me wonder if any of the eggs I had moved from an accidental spawning hatched or not. They seem to be a couple weeks away in developmental stages, making it quite the possibility!

Another thing I noticed about the young is that they are now beginning to possess coloration in their fins. The dorsal and tail fin of the young now have an orange tint at the base of the fin. They are also have a very streamline and torpedo-shaped body, exactly like those found in the adults! It's only a matter of time before they begin to look identical with the parents. Now its only a matter of size that time will continue to contribute to. Once the young are large enough to stay out of the female's mouth, they'll be able to stay with mommy.

On a side note; there was another reason why I so abruptly decided to clean out the 5 gallon. During the weekend, I had purchased a gorgeous looking pair of German Blue Rams I had seen in one of the two fish stores I visited that day. Of course, they were a tad on the more pricier side but they are quite large and spectacular in coloration! The store sold three sizes of the Rams, the tiniest being the size of a thumb, the medium size being reminiscent of my old pair, and the largest size being a couple stone throw's away from the maximum size of 3 inches.

Naturally, I bought the largest considering the coloration found in these fish were evident, demonstrating some good genes I'd say! Also, I had found in the tank a couple of females with males whereas the medium sized fish had males only, at least to what I could see. They were also demonstrating that they were of a longer-finned variety than normal German Blues. The tiniest had the tank with the most females. In fact, I could hardly even pick out a single male! They were also mixed with young Gold Rams too, which were predominantely female as well. Maybe if they are still there the next time I visit that store, I will pick up a pair of the Gold Rams!

Since the move in, the two seem to be constantly sending each other signals. Normally, I'd welcome such behaviours with open arms but considering they are currently housed in a tiny 5 gallon tank, I'm crossing my fingers that nothing becomes of it within a month. Also, since I picked out a pair that had already paired off within the tank, these two MIGHT be that pair! This would mean that they are already past the courtship stage, greatly increasing the need to breed speed. Happily though, Blue Ram breeding seems to be within my foreseeable future! =D