# OH MY GOD THEY HAD EGGS!!!



## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

not to panic but... EEP! THEY HAD EGGS! ALREADY! I introduced these two gorgeous little gold rams on saturday night, and today... not even a WEEK LATER they've already had a TON-O-EGGS!!!!

Ummmmm now what? I'm gonna need a separate tank for fry, right? is a 10g enough? When do i separate... HOW do i separate?! there are cory cats in the tank with the rams (the rams are being good protective lil parents and have them in this very secluded corner where i can barely see them).... do i need to worry about this? how long until i can offer them for sale or get them to a LFS?

oh, btw... here is.... I think this is a VERY deflated momma hanging over the eggs







lol rchan you were right, she WAS chubby. lol.


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## psychofish (Jun 5, 2004)

Yes your 10 gal tank will be enough for them.

Just wait until they are free swimming to seperate them.

You could use a net or gravel vaccume to transfer them


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

hmmm not sure if this batch is gonna make it. the parents seem more interested with chasing each other than fending the cories off the nest.


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

Put the cory somewhere else.


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

no where to put them.... grrr. i didn't bring the spare 4g.


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

How about putting him in a breeder net?


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

rchan11 said:


> How about putting him in a breeder net?
> [snapback]851835[/snapback]​


yeah i don't have a breeder net.... i wasn't exactly prepared for this so soon. and anyhow, there are FOUR cories. three 1.5" paleatus and one 2" nepoensis.

I mean i guess its okay if this fails, i don't really NEED ram fry as is, but at the same time, it'd be nifty to see if it works, y'know?


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

whoa. i take it back. the momma fish is IN CHARGE. she just kicked the butt of one of the paleatus and they're bigger than her (mass wise).

... what about lighting? on? off? dimmed?


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

If you've a spare pump and heater, put the corys in a bucket. You can always sell the fry back to the LFS or I'm sure alot of the P-Fury members would love to have one.


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

Good deal! Use your normal lighting cycle.


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

rchan11 said:


> If you've a spare pump and heater, put the corys in a bucket. You can always sell the fry back to the LFS or I'm sure alot of the P-Fury members would love to have one.
> [snapback]851843[/snapback]​


i've a spare filter. thats abooooout it. and my room is COLD so thinking they'd be just okay without a heater is a definate no, considering the tank they're in is about 84* right now.

oh, no bucket either. this is college living my friend.... i've got a 1 gallon milk jug that i use to refill the tank. thats all.


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

As long as momma fish is defending her eggs, they'll be fine.


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/rams.htm okay this site says maybe a light as they're notorious egg eaters? they also say put paper over the tank but honestly they've got a highly secluded corner. so i'm prolly just gonna turn out all the lights and hope for the best. gah i really gotta get to bed. its 2:30am and i have to get up at 7am to drive home by 8am..... uuuuuuugh.

oh. food. liquifry okay? pulverized flakes?


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## rchan11 (May 6, 2004)

Liquifry and pulverized flakes are fine. Get some sleep!


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

well, there are still eggs there. no idea if the numbers are reduced or not, but mom & dad seem to have settled their differences and are BOTH valiently guarding the nest.

what the heck am I gonna do with a hundred or so baby ram fry for the next feew weeks? lol.


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## 6Fish_Pimp6 (Jan 3, 2005)

Tinkerbelle said:


> well, there are still eggs there. no idea if the numbers are reduced or not, but mom & dad seem to have settled their differences and are BOTH valiently guarding the nest.
> 
> what the heck am I gonna do with a hundred or so baby ram fry for the next feew weeks? lol.
> [snapback]851953[/snapback]​


you can always move the cories into the ten gallon the fry are going in....then put the fry in the 1 gallon, move the cories back to the larger tank and put the fry into the 10 gallon....?
Buy some plastic like 50 gallon...bucket like things for like $5-10 at walmart. That's for the fry.....(you could get smaller too....that's if you want to grow them to like 1-2 inches....)


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## Fresh2salt (Jul 16, 2004)

CONGRATS ON THE FRY.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Here's my honest opinion;

relax.

I have had this happen with more cichlids than I can remember. You have a pair, they will breed again. Often the first or second breeding bout something goes wrong (they're young parents), so be ready for that.

Also, you can let them raise them up. Separating them is for getting maximum fry output, which you aren't ready for yet. Watching them raise their fry up is one of the coolest things for an aquarist to watch. You'll know when they're getting tired of the kids. Also, they help feeding them at these small sizes.

In summary, I'd say just watch and enjoy and learn from these guys. Congrats!


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

acestro said:


> Here's my honest opinion;
> 
> relax.
> I have had this happen with more cichlids than I can remember. You have a pair, they will breed again. Often the first or second breeding bout something goes wrong (they're young parents), so be ready for that.
> ...


.....whew

that is THE BEST advice i've gotten yet. I honestly was NOT ready for these guys to have babies. one or two survivors is really all I can handle at the moment. I think i'm gonna go with letting the parents raise them... They're doin a pretty good job thus far.


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

That's so cool!!!

From what I understand they are hard to breed, but not for you.

CONGRATS!!!!!!

keep us updated (not that you won't)


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Tink, hurry the f*ck up before they hatch and do this.

Remove the parents from the tank temporarily, and siphon the eggs into a small cup. Then seperate the eggs from the waterby pouring through a paper towel. Take one salted cracker, spread the eggs over cracker and eat with a glass of red wine. Salmon roe is delicious this way, and I would imagine Cichlid could be rather tasty as well.


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## syd (Nov 6, 2004)

wow thats crazy arent you glad you got rid of them damn bettas good luck


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

elTwitcho said:


> Tink, hurry the f*ck up before they hatch and do this.
> 
> Remove the parents from the tank temporarily, and siphon the eggs into a small cup. Then seperate the eggs from the waterby pouring through a paper towel. Take one salted cracker, spread the eggs over cracker and eat with a glass of red wine. Salmon roe is delicious this way, and I would imagine Cichlid could be rather tasty as well.
> [snapback]852478[/snapback]​


WOW that ACTUALLY made me nausious. geeeeeeee thanks there twitch.


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

traumatic said:


> That's so cool!!!
> 
> From what I understand they are hard to breed, but not for you.
> 
> ...


lol whats sad is this is so typical for me. with bettas it was like WHY WONT YOU GUYS HAVE SEX ALREADY?!

and now with the rams i'm like okay, have sex, but ummm i don't really want babies anytime soon so please just eat the eggs or something before i find out or just don't have sex. yes. abstinence. gooooood fishies.

i guess my fish weren't listening or they didn't use a condom


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

so i'm guessing the eggs are 24 hours old by now? ummm how do i know if they're fertile or not?

updated pic:


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Haven't seen a lot of Ram eggs but they look kinda infertile to me (very pale after 24 hrs). They'll start fungussing (is that a word?) soon if they are infertile. Naturally there may be a few fungussed even with fertile eggs.

She probably just couldn't wait for his lazy ass. I'm sure he'll shoot something besides blanks next time. How is their behavior with each other?


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

oh they're great together now. at first she was like MY eggs you great oaf! go away! and now they're sharing care great as can be. she hovers over the nest, he chases off cory cats, he hovers over the nest, she grabs a quick bite to eat. its all very cute.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Judging from behavior alone, sounds like you might see babies. I just looked at a pic of Rams with eggs and they looked like yours, should be fun to watch. Do you have live plants/algae in there?


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

yup, some java fern, 2 varieties of wendtii, a large sword, and some sort of red crypt. i'm gonna be feeding with pulverized flakes and mostly letting the parents do their thing.

i have a question, i have weekend feeders for when i go home or visiting another friends college. ummm what do i do about those with the fry. will they work?


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

What I've always done is leave the light on 24/7 if I can't feed them myself. The fry will pick at algae (and what's in algae). I'd start the light cycle for a few days before leaving. You kind of saw where I was going with the plant question, didn't you?

I'm not a huge fan of weekend feeders but they can't hurt... I wouldn't leave the fry for the first weekend or two if you really want survival but fish will always surprise you (especially with the light left on trick).


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

the light thing will encourage algae growth... is that what you're saying? lol i'm so confused. this is seriously all new to me. yeah i'm gonna try to be here for at least 2 weeks straight so these guys get good care (well as much care as they can get in a 10g community tank with their parents).

okay some much more basic questions. i missed a water change because the male went berzerk this morning when i went to dip the pitcher in. he even went after the syphon tubing i tried instead. he's insane i tell you. 
should i try again and just let him try to kill the plastic tubing or wait until the fry hatch.... or will he be WORSE then?


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Leave them be, unless your tank is really densely populated (I don't think it is). You actually want those 'nutrients' for the algae growth. Also, disturbances make parents nervous and more likely to just give up and eat the eggs. It's funny, you can often tell who ate the eggs because the other parent beats the snot out of them for a day or two!

I just do the algae trick because I don't have plants. They may be able to find nutrients around the plants you have. If you're sticking around, you really don't have to keep the light on. It's an old trick that makes feeding young fish easy (as well as leaving the parents in).

When you really want to crank babies out you'll need to do stuff slightly different. But you're just enjoying your fish, so keep doing so! (and sharing it with us). Kinda funny how these guys get cranky just like their 2 and 3 foot long cousins!!!


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

i'm amazed too. the cories uprooted a java fern (dammned if i know how but they were sorta all converging on it to eat and up it came) and i very stupidly dipped a hand in to replant it.... on the OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE TANK from the eggs. out zipped tigger (the dad) and started headbutting and biting at my hand! sophe just cowered on the nest and once the threat (me) went away he went back to her side.

by the way... look at them getting along so well







eggs are now 36ish hours old i think. maybe. who knows really lol.


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## User (May 31, 2004)

I'm sure you'll keep us updated with progress.








Hope everything goes well for the little guys.


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

They look rather infertle to me. Very white. After 36 hours Id imagine you would see eye spots forming. Anyway, I know jack sh*t about rams though. Look for little black dots on the top side of the eggs. If they are infertle dont eat them with red wine. Eat them with Grey goose vodka instead.


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

well the flash kinda screwed with it.... they DID have dark spots.... but today I looked and they disappeared. the parents are inhabiting the OPPOSITE corner now so I don't know if they moved them or what. I can't see the corner they're in so.... grrr. no idea. maybe fry, maybe not.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Parents will move the fry a couple of times throughout parenthood. Probably a good sign. I'd bet you have wrigglers (non-swimming fry) somewhere in there!

btw, if they're not fighting I'd almost be sure of this.


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

acestro said:


> Parents will move the fry a couple of times throughout parenthood. Probably a good sign. I'd bet you have wrigglers (non-swimming fry) somewhere in there!
> 
> btw, if they're not fighting I'd almost be sure of this.
> [snapback]853828[/snapback]​


well, they're not fighting. they're hanging very close together still. they've also seemed to rearrange the gravel. maybe there are fry hiding in the depressions. well, one can but hope.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Tinkerbelle said:


> well, they're not fighting. they're hanging very close together still. they've also seemed to rearrange the gravel. maybe there are fry hiding in the depressions. well, one can but hope.
> [snapback]853833[/snapback]​


That's precisely what they do, set them up in little 'pits'. The yolks will feed the fry for a few days so don't throw any food in yet (if you're planning to).


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

Some of those eggs look pretty damn white to me









hope they hatch. good luck


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## Fido (May 21, 2003)

GOod luck, i will be breeding fish soon as well..


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## Gordeez (Sep 21, 2003)

elTwitcho said:


> Tink, hurry the f*ck up before they hatch and do this.
> 
> Remove the parents from the tank temporarily, and siphon the eggs into a small cup. Then seperate the eggs from the waterby pouring through a paper towel. Take one salted cracker, spread the eggs over cracker and eat with a glass of red wine. Salmon roe is delicious this way, and I would imagine Cichlid could be rather tasty as well.
> [snapback]852478[/snapback]​












COngrats on getting thse fockers to...ummm...lay eggs?


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

i dunno whats happening in my tank anymore. there might be fry in there, there might not.

if anything they'll probably lay more in a week or two.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

I've been surprised before, you never know.


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## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

Tinkerbelle said:


> OH MY GOD THEY HAD EGGS!!!, NOW WHAT?!
> [snapback]851804[/snapback]​


You go clean their dicks.








Couldn't resist that one.


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## Gordeez (Sep 21, 2003)

crazyklown89 said:


> You go clean their dicks.
> 
> :rasp: Couldn't resist that one.
> [snapback]860163[/snapback]​


CK That was totally Immature!

But it was f*cking funny man!


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

crazyklown89 said:


> You go clean their dicks.
> 
> :rasp: Couldn't resist that one.
> [snapback]860163[/snapback]​


wtf is wrong with you childish idiots?


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## crazyklown89 (Aug 28, 2003)

Tinkerbelle said:


> wtf is wrong with you childish idiots?
> [snapback]862223[/snapback]​


I'm childish? You won't shut the f*ck up about how my video sounded like a "bad porn" movie. Pot calling the kettle black...


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## Seany B (Dec 12, 2003)

That's awesome having them breed for you so soon. You must be doing something right.


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