# Which GBR parent do I take out?



## DigzTheBeatz (Dec 6, 2010)

My rams just dropped a nice clutch of eggs. I have heard you should pull one of the parents out, but I forget which one. I want to say the female? This is like the 12th clutch and no fry survive long. Maybe 3-4 days, then they disappear. Not sure if it's the parents or something else. Any advice?


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

You take out the one you see eating the eggs. If both are guarding, leave both with the fry. 2 parents are better than one when they are good parents.


----------



## bchbum16 (Jun 21, 2011)

Digz! my rams finally spawned!!! i just found it today! I hope yours stop eating theirs!


----------



## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

a little something that has always helped me with parents raising fry...
with rams it should be a separate tank with no one to threaten the eggs or fry....temps should be around 84-86F...disturb the tank as little as possible...don't worry about water changes...2 good fine pore sponge filters....
when parents are guarding eggs or fry feed them 4 or 5 times a day....same thing after fry are free swimming...feed both fry and parents at least 4-5 times a day...


----------



## DigzTheBeatz (Dec 6, 2010)

I used to have the rams by themselves in a 29 tank. Then, added some lampeye killis and a couple otos. Read somewhere that some dither fish might help. Well, it didn't make a difference. Removed the killis, but left the otos today. 

The last batch of fry, we cut the leaf the eggs were on and put them in a breeder net in that tank. All seemed fine, they hatched and turned to wigglers. All of a sudden, they completely disappeared. No sign of them at all and there was a lot. Still confused about how they all disappeared. Maybe the parents ate them through the net somehow is the only thing we can think of.

This current batch, we rescued about a dozen and put them in the breeder net, but in one my fry tanks. Currently, we are working on moving them into a small floating tupperware in my other fry tank that has a bare bottom. Keeping my fingers crossed that these will survive. The rest of that batch has disappeared today. I'm guess the parents ate them again or possibly moved them like they usually do. We will see.

The parents are strange. They fight for a short while after the fry turn to wigglers. The male gets very protective and wont let the female near them. They even fight. In a day or 2 after the fry disappear they are fine. This is why I think I need to remove one of them, probably the female. They also seem less attentive to their eggs. They don't watch and fan them as often. I started using malachite blue to help, but the hatch rate has gone down a lot. 

With their next batch, I will make sure to hold of on water changes. I just know you are supposed to keep the water as clean as possible with frequent water changes so I would attempt them. Now, I will hold off until the fry are at least free swimmers. I'll do a water change close to when the female is supposed to drop her next clutch and then let it be for a bit. 

I think I will give them a couple more chances before moving them into my community and moving my other rams into the 29 gal and seeing if they will pair up. We will see.


----------

