RAM Spawn - Wigglers... need fry food in a hurry

3621 Views 23 Replies 10 Participants Last post by williamsonaaron, Jan 24, 2011

williamsonaaron

Discussion Starter · Jan 17, 2011

Ok - So I had pretty much given up on this happening.

I have 5 breading pair rams in a 80G community tank and have witnessed many spawns but the eggs never made it past 3 - 4 days some fungused and most were eaten by hungry corries.

anyway today I'm about to do a water change and my favorite Male Ram(Pretty Boy - yes I named him Pretty boy..) and female had spawned on the side of there favorite piece of drift wood about 5 days ago and I notice all the eggs are gone - no biggie.. then I see that they are not gone they have just fallen off log.. and are in a mass pile wriggling around... This is AMAZING to me so I watch it for 5 mins trying to figure out what to do next.. This spawn happened in my normal tap water of ph around 7.2 temp 78..

I didn't expect any spawns to get to this stage until I set up a RO water breeding tank for them..

So now I will need some fry food in a hurry.. I'm going to order some brine shrimp eggs but they won't be here till mid week and the newly hatched fry will need something in the meantime.

so I would like some advice from you all out there on would be a good fry food that I can whip up in the next 2 days or so..

Help Please

)

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

robxc80

· #2 · Jan 17, 2011

you'll have a hard time growing them out in a community setting unless you're planning on putting them in a dedicated tank to rear them.

if you're in a pinch, there are some commercially prepared fry foods that you can get at the lfs or you can hatch your own brine shrimp naupili

Franco

· #3 · Jan 17, 2011

Boil and egg. Take out the yolk. Mix a tiny pinch of the yolk with water and feed that to them. I've used that method for tons of fry when I didn't have other stuff on hand.

mordalphus

· #4 · Jan 17, 2011

hikari first bites are available at petsmart, but they dont need it for the first 7-11 days. I would wait til then, because if they're in a community tank, they probably wont last that long.

Also, ram fry are very sensitive to nitrates, so forgo nitrate dosing while they're under half an inch

lauraleellbp

· #5 · Jan 17, 2011

Franco said:
Boil and egg. Take out the yolk. Mix a tiny pinch of the yolk with water and feed that to them. I've used that method for tons of fry when I didn't have other stuff on hand.

Use a turkey baster to squirt it close to the fry.

You might also use the turkey baster to suck up the fry and move them to a separate rearing tank if you want them to survive.

chumlee

· #6 · Jan 17, 2011

I used hikari first bites on some cichlids I had a while back. It works very well if you dong feel like preparing your own food,or need something quickly.

williamsonaaron

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 17, 2011

Awesome thanks guys..

I can't believe I forgot to mention this.

I removed them from the community tank and put them into a plastic cup divider with an airstone.

Boy were they P.o'd when I did that.

Should I change out the water with R.O water or would that possibly shock them?

problemman

· #8 · Jan 17, 2011

may shock them and you need to have a temp of 80 on them at all times and do small frequent water changes. feed 3 times a day if not more and make sure to get rid of the excess waste build up

williamsonaaron

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jan 17, 2011

yep I have them in a tank with temp around 81.

if R.O would shock them what water should I do water chanes with??

Pooky125

· #10 · Jan 17, 2011

Why not use water from the tank they were layed in? Should be relatively clean and have pretty close specs to what they're used to.

robxc80

· #11 · Jan 17, 2011

softer water would be better generally, but since they are used to the tank water, i'd try to keep params as close to that as possible and just make sure you have your nitrates in check.

williamsonaaron

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jan 17, 2011

Pooky125 said:
Why not use water from the tank they were layed in? Should be relatively clean and have pretty close specs to what they're used to.

Yep i think that is what I will do.

Already today I have one free swimming. How long before I need to put some alternate food in?

I have some Hikari first bites and can boil an egg at anytime

I'm gonna order some brineshrimp eggs tonight for when they get a little bigger.

NITRATES are at about 10ppm according to my test kit. Should I lower this if so the only thing I can do is add in some conditioned tap water I can't vaccum right now or I would lose too many of the little guys.

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lauraleellbp

· #13 · Jan 17, 2011

Just use water from the main tank for your water changes in the holding tank. I'd do small daily changes to avoid shocking the fry. Don't vacuum, just take water from the surface to avoid sucking up fry.

If you've been dosing ferts into the tank then I wouldn't worry too much about the nitrates.

Wait until all the fry are free swimming before you feed them, all their yolk sacs should be gone.

You'll be surprised how quickly they'll grow and be able to handle BBS. I'd get a hatchery going ASAP.

nalu86

· #14 · Jan 17, 2011

To start, trow some java moss or other moss in there. They will feed on that untill you have your food.

don't feed them anything else than live food! they won't eat anything that doesn't wiggle. I started with infusoria and 3 days later micro worms, 10 days later BBS and 2 months later hakari first bites mixed with tank water and flakes mixed with water, keep feeding them microworms and BBS till they are 3 -4 months.

It will be pretty hard to keep them alive in the first weeks. Don't overfeed, with that I mean, give the food that they can eat, just feed them for 5 min, little bit at the time.

Good luck!!

OverStocked

· #15 · Jan 18, 2011

Going to throw this out there... If you don't have a spare tank to put them in, what do you intend to do with them in 10 days or so when they are far to big for a cup of water? Grab a 10g tank and a heater. Warmer will promote growth.

In a small cup, daily water changes are going to be essential. Particularly with no filter.

williamsonaaron

Discussion Starter · #16 · Jan 18, 2011

over_stocked said:
Going to throw this out there... If you don't have a spare tank to put them in, what do you intend to do with them in 10 days or so when they are far to big for a cup of water? Grab a 10g tank and a heater. Warmer will promote growth.

In a small cup, daily water changes are going to be essential. Particularly with no filter.

yeah actually i have a 10 gallon for breeding purposes but its was accidentally possessed by Rainbow fry. which are still growing out in there so yeah I need to figure something out.. either a divider or something or just move the rainbows into the main tank although they are still on the small side or get another 10 G...

The accident happened I was setting the ten G up to be strictly for Ram breeding then I moved over a prefilter from the main tank.. well I guess that pre-filter was holding some Rainbow eggs so few days later I had about 10 rainbow fry swimmining around - didn't want to just discard them and figured my ram spawning project could wiat a few months.. also I have two sponge filters in the bredding tank so once all fry have hatched they will get one of them...

nalu86

· #17 · Jan 18, 2011

williamsonaaron said:
yeah actually i have a 10 gallon for breeding purposes but its was accidentally possessed by Rainbow fry. which are still growing out in there so yeah I need to figure something out.. either a divider or something or just move the rainbows into the main tank although they are still on the small side or get another 10 G...

The accident happened I was setting the ten G up to be strictly for Ram breeding then I moved over a prefilter from the main tank.. well I guess that pre-filter was holding some Rainbow eggs so few days later I had about 10 rainbow fry swimmining around - didn't want to just discard them and figured my ram spawning project could wiat a few months.. also I have two sponge filters in the bredding tank so once all fry have hatched they will get one of them...

Get a plastic container 2 gal (walmart or dollar store) and let it float in your tank. Put water from the main tank in there, with the moss (they will feed on the infusoria in the moss) .

williamsonaaron

Discussion Starter · #18 · Jan 20, 2011

ok - so progression over the last few days..

3 days ago I thought they were all gonners or mental idgits or something as they swam in mindless direction and dragged there heads around the bottom

2 days ago - to my surprise there are about 5 swimming coherently around the 3 gal cup and by the end of the day there are ten - I also started a batch of infusoria on this day.

yesterday - there are too many to count swimming around the cup and I put in some java moss and hornwart they like this and swim through it presumably eating the little parameciums etc.

Today - I have moved the rainbow babies to the main tank in a mesh compartment. Cleaned the ten G and moved some new tank water into it mixed 50/50 with dechlorinated tap water and then acclimated the 30 - 45 fry that are swimming in the cup and then lowered the cup so they could freely swim inton the larger tank which they have done. I have populated said tank with sponge filter from rainbows and hornwart, 4 pieces of camboba and a clump of java moss. I have a small pile of JM in my main tank and i will continue to move it over into the tank until my infusoria is ready.. hopefully in a couple days. i also orders some BBS eggs from brineshirpdirect.cee OOO MM that will hopefully get here by the end of the week or early next week and hopefully that is not too late.

Thanks for everyones help and suggestions and please keep them coming.. I feel like every decision I make at this point is making or breaking..

I really actually can't believe they have made it this far with my ph and hardness being what they are..

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lauraleellbp

· #19 · Jan 20, 2011

Nice work!

I'd start feeding very finely crushed flake and/or egg yolk till the BBS eggs get in. Throw a few ramshorn or pond snails into the tank to help clean up uneaten food.

williamsonaaron

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jan 21, 2011

lauraleellbp said:
Nice work!

I'd start feeding very finely crushed flake and/or egg yolk till the BBS eggs get in. Throw a few ramshorn or pond snails into the tank to help clean up uneaten food.

Really snails... .Nooooo I just got rid of the overwhelming amount that were in there yesterday before putting the fry into the tank.

what about an apple snail or could you recommend a type of snail that reproduces more slowly? or if I just put one will it still be able to reproduce?

1 - 20 of 24 Posts

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