Sara Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 After being out of the hobby for almost a year, I set up my 29 gallon this week, and added two beautiful blue rams from Nature's Corner yesterday. The tank is cycled (thanks to a sponge from another tank), with driftwood and sand substrate; the two rams are the only two inhabitants so far. After several years of fish-keeping, I was thrilled to discover my very first batch of eggs in the tank tonight - 24 hours after having brought the fish home! I don't have the time or resources right now to hatch the eggs artificially, and realize that they will likely be a midnight snack tonight. But... If by some miracle, the eggs are still there in the morning, is there anything that I need to do in the tank tomorrow? The male is diligently fanning the eggs, but from what I've read, the chance of the eggs fungusing in our water is likely. The last thing that I want is to foul up the water. Help! (Please and thank you ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 Well, don't worry about the eggs fouling the water - if they go bad, the parents will eat them. Blue Rams are a bit notorious for eating their spawn, but should this pair end up wanting to go the whole parenting route, you don't have to do a think 'til the eggs hatch. If/when they do hatch, you'll probably have between 2-4 days to figure out how you want to feed the fry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 Congrats on the eggs! Glad to see you are back :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punman Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 My Bolivian Rams recently spawned. After a week I caught some of them and put them alone in a 10 gallon and I have been feeding them hatched brine shrimp for two weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webmoose Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 Welcome back Sara! Congrats on your spawning. Moose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara Posted May 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 Thanks for the welcome back, guys! I didn't realize how much I missed all this stuff until I'd set it all back up again Anyway, I am absolutely *shocked* to see that the eggs are still there this morning, with the male still fanning away. Is there anything that I can do now to encourage the eggs to hatch (short of pulling them out and placing them in another tank)? Even if I did want to pull them it, it would be pretty impossible - the eggs are in a nook of a huge piece of driftwood that is at least a foot in diameter, and I don't have anything big enough to accommodate it. I'm going to be close to Big Al's tonight - do I need to start making a shopping list? Thanks again for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted May 1, 2006 Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 Sounds like you can just leave the parents to their job. In a day or two, they'll dig some pits, and move the wigglers when they've hatched. When the eggs disappear is when you need to think about what you're going to feed the fry (if they've lasted this long, it's likely they'll be good parents). Like punman said, BBS could be a good 1st food. Crushed NLS Grow would work, too. If you have a good clump of Java moss, toss that in too - the fry will munch on some of the microscopic organisms that live on the moss. Congrats!! :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara Posted May 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2006 Thanks, jvision...I will check to see how things are doing when I get home tonight and go from there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara Posted May 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 Well, things aren't looking too good in there right now. About 25% of the eggs are white (not in one area, but scattered throughout), which I've read means that they are infertile. The worrisome part is that right in the middle of the batch, there is a black spot - it almost looks like one black egg surrounded by beige (good) and white (bad) ones. Is this the fungus I keep hearing about? Everything I've read says that the fungus is white, not black. So...now what? The male is still fanning his eggs, and nobody has eaten anything yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 Some people add malachite green to prevent fungusing; but, I wouldn't be worried yet. This is probaly their first go at being parents... and it sounds like they'll be great at it (most rams eat their first couple spawns). Just keep the tank clean, give it another day or so. The good thing is, if this spawn doesn't work out, keep 'em healthy, and you'll have another batch in a couple weeks or less. Keep us posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara Posted May 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Well, goodbye little fungused over, infertile eggs...it was a pleasure... The timeline went like this: Monday night - some of the eggs start to turn white; a mysterious black dot appears in the middle of the batch Tuesday morning - the eggs have started to develop a white fungus overnight; my hopes of becoming a grandma fade significantly, and I turn to thinking about how I'm going to remove all of this fungused crap out of my tank Tuesday night - Being the considerate fish that they are, I come home to discover that no clean up is necessary, and decide not to feed the fish dinner because they have obviously had more than enough to eat already... Thanks to everyone for all of your help! Hopefully I'll be more prepared the next time they spawn... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Give 'em a couple of weeks - hopefully, they'll get it on the next go-round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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