Please share tips on raising German Ram fry

[Stitch]

Hi, experts here who have successfully raised German Ram fry to adulthood, appreciate if you could share some tips here.

Qns :
1) When the fry first become free swimming, what food do you give them?
2) When (1wk, 2 wks ??) before they can start feeding on Baby Brine Shrimp (BBS)?
3) Is it ok to let them have only egg yolk diet (i.e. no BBS)?
4) How to feed the egg yolk to them?

Pardon me if this qns below sounds stupid. Just curious to know...
Will the parents not feed the fry/bring food to them? Just curious how the fry would survive in the wild.

[ciaossu]

hmm... i'm not a expert though and didn't raised any german ram fry though.

1 & 2) i think when they fry is free swimming you can start feeding them BBS.
3) hmm, i wouldn't recommend egg yolk as egg yolk clouds your water very easily and i believe the fry would prefer live food as in the wild they mostly feed on micro organism.
4) if you really want to feed egg yolk, you have to use hard-boiled egg yolk then crush into powder like form then feed it to the fry.

i think the parent will somehow feed their fry by chewing on the fish food you gave them and split it out. well, at least that's what my apisto caca did. i don't know whether this applies to german ram so ya.

my 2 cents comment

[patpl1977]

Hi, i'm not an expert but i will share my experience.

When the fries first hatched they seldom move around, at this period of time i feed them with liquid food that can be purchase easily from any LFS. Once they are strong enough and swim around actively i start feeding them with BBS at small amount initially then increase when they grow bigger. I don't feed egg yolk as it will mess up the water condiction in the tank. When they reach about 2cm in size i will slowly replace BBS with normal dry adult food.

The parents will protect the fries at the early stage but i will seperate them when the fries start to swim around actively just to prevent them from eaten up by the parents one day.

Hope this little experience sharing is useful to you.

[Stitch]

Thanks for the sharing Patpl1977 and Ciaossu.

Patpl1977, some more questions seeking your advice...
1) so you seperate the fry from the parents once they become wrigglers?
2) How do you feed the liquid food? How do you know that they eat? (mine all died on day 9 or 10, not sure if is because they didnt get the liquid food I put into the tank or some other reason?)
3) So you mean once the fry become free swimming, they are big enough to eat the BBS?

Hi, i'm not an expert but i will share my experience.

When the fries first hatched they seldom move around, at this period of time i feed them with liquid food that can be purchase easily from any LFS. Once they are strong enough and swim around actively i start feeding them with BBS at small amount initially then increase when they grow bigger. I don't feed egg yolk as it will mess up the water condiction in the tank. When they reach about 2cm in size i will slowly replace BBS with normal dry adult food.

The parents will protect the fries at the early stage but i will seperate them when the fries start to swim around actively just to prevent them from eaten up by the parents one day.

Hope this little experience sharing is useful to you.

[patpl1977]

Thanks for the sharing Patpl1977 and Ciaossu.

Patpl1977, some more questions seeking your advice...
1) so you seperate the fry from the parents once they become wrigglers?
2) How do you feed the liquid food? How do you know that they eat? (mine all died on day 9 or 10, not sure if is because they didnt get the liquid food I put into the tank or some other reason?)
3) So you mean once the fry become free swimming, they are big enough to eat the BBS?

Hi Stitch,

1) I will only seperate the fries when they are free swimming around following their parents, seperate when they are in wriggler stage will be too weak for them to survive without the parents.
2) Just a small drop or 2 to the spot where the fries gather, 2 - 3 times a day. I'm not sure if all the fries eat the food but i did saw some fries nibbling on the food.
3) Once the fries swim around freely they are ready to take BBS, initially will eat 1 or 2 BBS but appetite increase as they grow bigger. Do not feed too large amount unless the parents or other fishes in the tank eat the BBS, too much leftover will deteriorate the water condiction.

Is this the first time your ram breed? Normally first few batches of breeding will be unsuccessfull especially when both the parents are first timer, so don't be discourage.

[Stitch]

Thanks Paptl1977,

I lost the father today. He has developed dropsy after a water change and could not make it even with medication. Sob...
Will be sourcing for another male to pair up with the female.
Thought I better gather the necessary knowledge before spawning cycle begins again.

Sorry... to be more detailed,

when the fry are still wrigglers, you start feeding liquid food around the place where they gathered 2-3 times a day. Is this correct? In my case, when the liquid drop of food descends down the tank, the mother usually thought it was food for her and eats it before spitting it out and clouding my tank. Do I still proceed with the same method?

Once they become free swimming (in my case, was about 2-3days), you dish them out to seperate from the parents and start feeding BBS. Is this correct? Meaning to say, liquid food diet is the most 2-3 days?

Sorry to be so bothersome, just hoping to learn to prepare myself better. Thanks in advance.

Hi Stitch,

1) I will only seperate the fries when they are free swimming around following their parents, seperate when they are in wriggler stage will be too weak for them to survive without the parents.
2) Just a small drop or 2 to the spot where the fries gather, 2 - 3 times a day. I'm not sure if all the fries eat the food but i did saw some fries nibbling on the food.
3) Once the fries swim around freely they are ready to take BBS, initially will eat 1 or 2 BBS but appetite increase as they grow bigger. Do not feed too large amount unless the parents or other fishes in the tank eat the BBS, too much leftover will deteriorate the water condiction.

Is this the first time your ram breed? Normally first few batches of breeding will be unsuccessfull especially when both the parents are first timer, so don't be discourage.

[Apistoinka]

For me I feed daphnia to the fry as is really small... As mine I feed them on my Apisto borellii fries... They are all still doing fine n growing well... You can give it a try...

[patpl1977]

Thanks Paptl1977,

I lost the father today. He has developed dropsy after a water change and could not make it even with medication. Sob...
Will be sourcing for another male to pair up with the female.
Thought I better gather the necessary knowledge before spawning cycle begins again.

Sorry... to be more detailed,

when the fry are still wrigglers, you start feeding liquid food around the place where they gathered 2-3 times a day. Is this correct? In my case, when the liquid drop of food descends down the tank, the mother usually thought it was food for her and eats it before spitting it out and clouding my tank. Do I still proceed with the same method?

Once they become free swimming (in my case, was about 2-3days), you dish them out to seperate from the parents and start feeding BBS. Is this correct? Meaning to say, liquid food diet is the most 2-3 days?

Sorry to be so bothersome, just hoping to learn to prepare myself better. Thanks in advance.

Oh so sorry for your lost.

Yup when in wriggler stage just small drop of liquid food 2-3 times a day, as for the mother just try your best to lure her away by dropping some food for her at far end. I will remove the fries from the parents 2-3 days after they swimming freely then feed them with BBS. The fries will not eat BBS immediately when they start to swim (for my case) so at the meanwhile can still continue with the liquid food.

[Stitch]

Thanks Patpl1977 for the information.

Oh so sorry for your lost.

Yup when in wriggler stage just small drop of liquid food 2-3 times a day, as for the mother just try your best to lure her away by dropping some food for her at far end. I will remove the fries from the parents 2-3 days after they swimming freely then feed them with BBS. The fries will not eat BBS immediately when they start to swim (for my case) so at the meanwhile can still continue with the liquid food.

[patpl1977]

Thanks Patpl1977 for the information.

You are welcome Stitch.