GBR breeder tank

[hvuong]

I tore apart my tank and its just sitting around empty. i dont have time nor the money to start up a planted tank again any time soon so i thought id make it a german blue ram breeder tank since i already have one GBR.

which would be better for the GBRs to breed? bare bottom or with substrate?

[KC21386]

in my experience they wont be relaxed and happy enough to breed without a decently planted, safe&secure feeling tank

If that really isnt an option, I would say give it a shot with substrate some big flat smooth rocks for them to lay eggs on

...and get a mate for your GBR =)

[Bugman]

What size is the tank? They will breed in both bare bottom or substrate. If you aren't planning on any plants then I would put them in a bare bottom with some java moss in it. I have done both bare bottom and planted. and it made no real difference. I just happen to like planted so my GBR breeders are planted now. Either way go to someplace like home depot or lowes and get the smallest clay flower pot saucer they have. Turn it upside down in the tank and they will lay the eggs on that. This makes it real easy to remove the wigglers (before they become free swimming) from the tank and separate from the parents. GBR's make terrible parents. They will either eat the eggs or the fry. Just lift the suacer out and place it in the fry tank. I use plastic shoe box size containers for my fry till they are about a month old. Works great.

I doesn't take a lot of money to do this planted. My breeding tanks for Apisto's and GBR's are low light with a lot of java moss, java fern, anubias, chain swords and some easy stems. A cheap low light deal on the swap and shop will do it.

[hvuong]

The tank was a high light ADA 60-p so its ~17 gallons but algae took over it and after months of battling it i lost and surrendered. ill do your bare bottom method with the saucer. do you immediately take out the saucer after the eggs have been fertilized or do you wait a few days before you transfer them to a separate tank? also in the fry tank you probably run a heater and a sponge filter only right?

[Bugman]

do you immediately take out the saucer after the eggs have been fertilized or do you wait a few days before you transfer them to a separate tank?

No, they are too prone to fungus when first laid. I wait till I see the wigglers. They are still attached at this stage and not free swimming but this way I don't have to treat the eggs for fungus. This is usually between the 2nd and 3rd day. At the very least I would wait one full day. This will greatly reduce the chance of fungus. When I used bare bottom the saucer worked great. In my planted tank they lay eggs on driftwood and I have to use a turkey baster to suck them out.

also in the fry tank you probably run a heater and a sponge filter only right?

Basicly. As I said, I use a plastic container the size of a shoe box. The kind you get at walmart, target or home depot that come with the snap on lid. You don't need the lid. I use a reptile heater. You can get them at petsmart or petco. The are flat like cardboard and stick to the outside bottom of the tank. Come in different sizes. I just pick them to match the size of the container. By luck it is enough heat to get to around 80 to 82. I make a DIY filter. I get a pvc T. 1/2" size works fine. They have lifter tubes that attach or screw into the T. This give a little more length to T. I attach a air stone to airline tubing and insert it down the lifter to the bottom of the T. Then put a little filter floss in both of the sides of the T and then attach to a pump. The air will bubble up through the lifter and just like with a sponge filter it will pull water through the floss. When you think about it, you really don't need a lot of filtration because the fry just don't put out that much waste. I do not do water changes. GBR's are pretty finicky about water and the fry even more so. Forgot to mention, use water from the parents tank to fill the container. When you tap for evaporation use the parents water also. I usually have to do this every other day.

I just snapped a few quick pictures. The first are 3 fry containers set up. One of them currently has about 50 GBR fry that are 2 days free swimming. So small they are no more than a black dot unless I use the magnifying glass. The next is a shot of the DIY filter and the last is my 20 gal grow out tank. Just transfered about 70 fry two days ago from the container to the grow out. They are about 1 month old now. Sorry its a little fuzzy but you can see some of them.

[hvuong]

oh wow. thanks for all the help. now i just need to find some healthy GBRs

[SearunSimpson]

Not to hijack this thread, but do you have any pictures of your apisto set ups? I've been wanting to breed GBR's and apistos for a while- thanks for the pics!

[Bugman]

Not much to take a picture of with the apistos. They have all been good parents for me so I leave the fry in the tanks with the parents. You do need to pull them when you see signs of the female getting ready to lay eggs again. I have about 20 orange flash with shortened tails because I didn't pull them out in time. The male also has a shortened tail. Female apistos can be extremely aggressive with eggs and fry. In some cases you will need to pull the male out of the tank or she will kill him. Just have to observe closely.

I have used both bare bottom and planted. In the bare bottom I put java moss in the tank and the smallest clay flower pot upside down with part of the rim cut away to create a cave. That's about it. I have most of them in planted tanks. I use a standard 15 gallon, sand substrate and planted just like the GBR's. I put in several flower pots for caves.

[Rod Hay]

Originally Posted by Bugman

I make a DIY filter. I get a pvc T. 1/2" size works fine. They have lifter tubes that attach or screw into the T. This give a little more length to T. I attach a air stone to airline tubing and insert it down the lifter to the bottom of the T. Then put a little filter floss in both of the sides of the T and then attach to a pump. The air will bubble up through the lifter and just like with a sponge filter it will pull water through the floss. When you think about it, you really don't need a lot of filtration because the fry just don't put out that much waste. I do not do water changes.

Very Cool!!

Thanks for sharing this info. I've had luck w/ my Apistogrammas fry in well established breeding tanks. But failed miserably when I tried the bare shoebox for some cory eggs I pulled. ( Only had 3 fry out of 50 make it pass two weeks.) I just used an airstone, and perhaps then did too many water changes?? I think this DIY filter can help greatly next time I need to isolate some eggs.

THANKS again!!!

[Bugman]

I was having a real problem in the shoebox when I first started. I stopped doing water changes and only topped for evaporation. That seemed to make the difference.