Blue Ram Fry

[scott]

i find that my fry don't grow very well on micros alone. i mix them with live bbs or decaps and feed that solution 3-4 times daily. as tom said the bellies are very noticably round and orange after eating. i also feed live daphnia to my fry once they are around 2 weeks. they go nuts for it, chasing them around the entire tank to feed. i almost forgot, be careful to soak the decaps for at least ten minutes or they will expand in the fishes belly and they will explode. another thing i do is to do water changes every other day in tanks with young fry. i find that the smaller changes are less stressfull on the fry because of less fluctuation in temp. and other parameters. i hope this helps. its just my personal experiences in my own tanks. good luck

 

[Eric]

I apreciate all the help. My Rams are getting ready to spawn again. I will give it another try. Maybe this time I will get it right. The microworms look like they are as long as the fry. Is this normal for microworms?
Thanks
Eric

 

[scott]

i always have used micros in the early stages because they seem smaller than live bbs. the species of microworm i use is Panagrellus redivivus. i have heard that there is another similar species, maybe they are bigger,i don't know for sure, it's just that i have never thought of micros being as big as the fry. maybe when they are still wrigglers, but they don't eat then anyway. by the time they are free swimming if you can get them through the first few days they should be able to take micros, bbs, decaps, etc. Ram fry are VERY small though maybe if you are having problems in the first couple days you could try supplementing with liquifry. i have never used it for fry(i feed it to my daphnia on occaison)but i have heard it is a good 1st food. be careful to use only small amounts(1-2 drops). it can pollute the tank fast.

I just thought of something! what kind of substrate do you use? i once had a whole batch of kribs die because the gravel was to large and they would swim down into it at night and get stuck. it took me a while to figure out what was happening because i thought they were dying and then sinking to the bottom and into the gravel. I don't know if that could be your problem or not. it's just a thought. i'm not an expert by a long shot but i have made alot of mistakes over the years and learned something from each one. i hope you have better luck this time!

 

[T_om]

I apreciate all the help. My Rams are getting ready to spawn again. I will give it another try. Maybe this time I will get it right. The microworms look like they are as long as the fry. Is this normal for microworms?
Thanks
Eric

Microworms are a good first food for Rams, as are the microworm variety called "Walter worms", named for the first person to import the worms to the US.

Walter worms have four benefits over microworms: They are smaller than microworms, they are more prolific, they live MUCH longer under water, and they are near neutral buoyancy and so will float in the water column longer before sinking.

I use decap brine shrimp, Walter worms and Microworms for my Ram fry, all to good effect.

A previous poster also brings up a VERY good point. Small fry can and will become lodged in a gravel substrate and die. It is MUCH better to have your breeders in bare bottom tank... or at the very least, over a sand substrate. Gravel of any size is bad when it comes to fry mortality.

Tom

 

[Eric]

My rams are in a community tank and I am moving the rock with the eggs attached to a 10 gal bare bottom tank with a sponge filter. These rams have been spawning about every 15 days. This will be my third attempt at raising the fry. They spawned last night and this morning I moved the eggs to the 10 gal.
Thanks
Eric

 

[Alex]

161 fry thats amazing.

Rams can be very prolific, my largest spawn was 462 eggs.

http://adkins.dynip.com/media/aquaria-10gallongoldram-eggs-18-oct-2002.jpg

Alex

 

[Eric]

They are free swiming. I have about 50 fry. I tried decapsulated brine shrimp and microworms. They showed no interest in either. My decapsulated brine shrimp and microworms must be larger than most. Anyhow I hacthed some shrimp and they eat them just fine so I gues I will be stuck with them for a while. I appreciate all the help you have all been.
Thanks
Eric