# German Blue Rams Breeding



## schoch79 (Nov 4, 2006)

Hello, I'm new to this forum and trying to breed some gbr's. So right now I have my rams in a 12 gallon eclipse tank and the amm, nitrites =0 and the nitrates are less than 20. The water is soft and the ph is slightly acidic. My rams have bred 3 times now and ate all of the eggs before hatch, so I just ordered a new tank online for the eggs/fry. I have read that someone has hatched the eggs in straight r/o water (uncycled). That is not my plan but the question is do I need to cycle the new tank before adding the eggs/fry? Thanks for the help.


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

Well so long as you monitor the levels in the tank frequently (at least daily) you would notice any buildup of toxins before they became deadly. 
Adding just a small amount of media from the cycled tank would provide a good start for the beneficial bacteria to start populating the surfaces of the new tank. 

Also, ammonia and nitrite would not be building up so fast anyhow since the feeding levels will be basically kept to a minimum (next to nothing) for a while.

Maybe some Ram experts will eventually chime in, but these are some good rules of thumb when it comes to starting a new tank, regardless of if its for fry or eggs.


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## Oxymoron (Sep 22, 2006)

*An un-cycled tank should be ok for the fry, as long as you keep a close eye on the water params. Put a gentle stream of bubbles in to keep the water moving moving over the eggs to keep them aerated. If the water temp is 75-80 degrees F the eggs should hatch in about 3 days.*
*Good luck! *


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## Glenn (Mar 7, 2007)

Cycling your tank would be a good idea so that the levels don't accidentally sky rocket but an uncycled tank wouldn't be too big of a problem if it is checked and adjusted daily.


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## canadianfish (Nov 4, 2007)

rams love a highl planted tank. They do better in muted light. It is hard to get the fry to live but it can be done. 

Aduts need near perfect conditions to survive ( they only licve for 2 years or so), but the fry more so. 

Put lots of live plants into the fry tank , and use low lighting ( this will reduce stress on the fish. It is weird that theparents ate the eggs, usualy this doesnt happen unless htere are too many fish bothering htem inside of the tank. Rams conduct in brood care ( they care for their young).


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## lagniappe (Jan 11, 2008)

Hi schoch79 ,
The rams are some of the easiest fish IMO to breed . I really enjoy thier crazy courtship behavier .

The way I do it is this :
I put a pair into a 10 gallon tank and place a red color stone or red slate even a piece of terra cotta . I'm not sure as to why but they really prefer red colored substrate for spawning . 
I watch my pair untill i am convinced that the female is completely depleted . I imediatly remove the slate and put it in a plastic bottle(with the top cut off) with enough water(from the parents tank) in it so that it will float in the parents tank . I also secure this to the side of the tank so that it does'nt float around and get into the filter . I add just enough methylene blue to the water to stain it and add an air stone to keep the eggs aerated .
When the fry have begun to swim on thier own I remove them with a pipett or turkey baster into thier own 10 gallon tank . This tank should be bare bottom and equipped with a sponge filter . You need to prepare some brine shrimp 24 hours before this takes place so that you can feed the fry immediatly upon thier release into the rearing tank . If you've never done this before it will be a treat in itself . Try to time it so that you have brine shrimp ready for them twice a day. And when they're little bellies are full and pink with shrimp you can siphon off the debris from the bottom of the tank with a peice of airline attached to a piece of rigid tubing .
Don't use RO water by itself . it is void of mineral salts and the osmotic pressure will be far too low. Regardless of the parameters of the water in the homes I've lived in I have always used tap water to do this . I do change 10 - 30 percent weekly and more often if there is chloromine present (as cloromine breakes down the chlorine leaves the water and the ammonia remains). My success rate has been around 85 - 95 %
If you change 10 % of the water each day no cycling is required. Just keep an eye on the ammonia levels and keep the tank clean .


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

I know that rams like planted tanks, and they are great companions with plecos, but usually the pleco will be cleaning up all of the food scraps, and the algae on the glass, and will eat some plants, the best idea is to get fast growing plants for the babies, so then when they get big enough, they should be able to eat the live plant leaves, so you don't have to worry about the plants not growing back.

Plecos - it is absolutely a must to keep a pleco in your tank. EVERY TANK! at least 1 for each tank, even my 200 gallon tank has one pleco, and it is growing fast  they will be good with sticking to the glass of the aquariums, and will sometimes sleep on the plant leaves, they like to nibble, and suck on the amazon swords, and the anubias.

what plecos don't like - Plecos hate having the aquarium light on 24/7 especially when there are live plants in the tank, plants need the lights turned off, so then they can re-generate their plant cells, and give out natural chemicals into the water.

Recommended fish with the German Ram - the recommended fishes for german rams, are plecos, German Ram themselves, South AMERICAN Cichlids, possible Bala Sharks, and Angel fishes, they will get along depending on how they behave with each other.

Continued - You want to stay away from African cichlids, because they are a lot more aggressive, and will eat fish fry, I recommend that you have experience with breeding the GBR, right now, I am sticking to tetras, semi-aggressive, and aggressive which are African Cichlids, a Sting ray in my 200 gallon, and my Spiny Eel.

Why need experience on breeding GBR:

You need to know as much information as possible, make room for your head, and stuff all of the GBR knowledge into your head, google is the best place to go too, as well as Youtube. If you want your fishes to stay more healthier, and relaxed, please please PLEASE! put in live plants.


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