# German Blue Ram Fry feeding question



## bchbum16

ok so this morning when i went to feed my GBR tank i noticed that they were acting a little different than normal. They had been hanging out in this one spot where i had strategically placed a nice flat rock on and this morning i found eggs on it! It then struck me that i was not prepared for them and had no idea what to do. I've been researching and talking to my LFS owner all day and now i just wanted to ask a question. My LFS sold me some brine shrimp eggs and helped told me how to hatch them and such, but when do i start feeding the fry when they hatch (if they get to that point)? Do i feed them as soon as they have hatched? or when they are free swimming? Also if you have any other pointers and hints for me i'd be glad to hear them!
Thanks!
PJ


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## emc7

Don't feed until they are 'free swimming", that means a little cloud, not hopping, or rocking, or stuck to a rock. Live brine is a great food, so is microworms. Live is best, but unpredictable, so have a back up plan. A fine powdered food and/or frozen bbs or daphnia.


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## bchbum16

I have frozen PE mysis shrimp that i could cut into small piece while it's frozen, i've done this many times to feed my fish normal cause they aren't big enough for the whole thing. When i do it i see a cloud of shrimp that is smaller than i could cut. Would that be small enough? i mean it's pretty tiny... if that doesn't work though then i could always fun to my LFS to get more stuff, it's only a 2 minute drive so.


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## DigzTheBeatz

Let me know if your fry make it. I'm on batch number 14 and so far nothing. Never make it to the free swimming stage.


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## bchbum16

Woke up this morning to nothing  i guess i'll have to wait til next time... We need more luck Digz!!! haha


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## lohachata

bchbum...PM me your address..i will send you a couple of samples of fry foods.....

if one is planning on breeding a species of animal ; the first thing they should do is prepare for feeding the young with the appropriate sized foods with the proper nutritional values....you can try to crush up flake food but you may not be able to get it fine enough...and most likely it will not have the right nutrition for fry..
good for adults..but not fry..


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## DigzTheBeatz

Make sure you send lohachata your address. The samples I got are awesome! My other fry love it and have been getting so big. Thanks again! I'll be hitting you up or checking aquabids for more soon.


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## bchbum16

Hey i really appreciate it! I'm so excited right now!!!


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## DigzTheBeatz

How are your ram fry doing? Still alive or did the parents eat them? If alive, they make it to free swimming? All the ones I left with the parents are gone.  Thankfully, my partner rescued a dozen and they are doing well. Started free swimming today!  We have them in a small tupperware floating in one of our fry tanks until they get a bit bigger. So happy we actually have some ram fry that have made it this far.


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## bchbum16

mine never made it to the hatching stage  they were all gone the next morning... hopefully they'll make it farther next time. I've only had my girl for a couple weeks so i'm going to assume that it should be about 2 maybe 3 weeks until the next drop. but i could be wrong haha we'll see and i'll make sure to let you know! Good luck on your fry that you saved!!! let me know how they do


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## mpfsr

There is much info on spawning and raising Rams..you will need some fairly specific water conditions for the fry to make it and very very small foods as there mouths are very small for the first 2 weeks til they can eat baby brine shrimps...heres a link to get you started on the path to spawning and raising the fry...

http://breedtropicalfish.blogspot.com/2007/03/how-to-breed-and-raise-ram-dwarf.html


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## DigzTheBeatz

My water conditions are fine. They have been spawning almost every week or other week like clock work. They hatch, start to wiggle, then the parents move them and they are never to be seen again. My problem is the parents eating them. That is why we rescued some and they are doing great. I have lots of different food for the new fry, finely powdered, bbs, daphnia, and a friend is working on a micro worm culture for me. Thanks for the link. I'll be sure to read it and see if there are some extra pointers I can get from it.


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## bchbum16

Thanks for the link that's awesome! Question though how many pairs can you keep in a tank successfully? it says 4 in a 30 long but that seems to me like a lot (just based on my pair) I have a 72 gallon bowfront and i had been thinking about trying to get another pair do you think that would be fine? 
My water parameters are also good and this was just their first time so i'll give them a few more chances before i take digz's approach.


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## mpfsr

i would not try to add another pair if you have a pair now..I think the link was talking about raising then in a group to pair off like you do with angelfish..I have 8 growing out again as I lost my breeders a few months back.

Digz I know I read a few of your posts awhile back..can you tell me what else is in the tank with them? what size tank? Is it a high traffic area in the house? all these things will matter if you want them to do it on there own. When I had my GBR breeders they would always eat the fry just before they went free swimming..then I made a fish room and moved them downstairs and BAM they did it. 30+ fry the first time and they averaged 60+ after that about every 4-6 weeks. But they were "store bought" Rams. This time I got from a breeder and hoping for better turn outs on the fry.


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## DigzTheBeatz

Currently, there are only 2 otos in there with them (I'm about to add my platies temporarily, 3-5 depending on if I can catch them all. There is a reason behind this I will explain later). 
For the first 4 months they were alone in a 29 gallon with low light T12 colormax day-max lamp (replacing in the next couple months), planted, HOB Whisper TRIAD Power Filter 3000, top fin heater, and flourite / gravel mix substrate. Water conditions are where they should be. I'll test again tomorrow night to double check. 
It is a fairly high traffic area in my living room. I live in a 1 bedroom apt so my options are limited. I have tried to stay away from the tank except for feeding and just to check on the fry. 
Now, something happened in my community that may change things a bit. I was hoping to start a new post about it. My partner just noticed that a pair of fish in our 45 gallon community tank has a group a free swimmers around them. This is why I am removing the platies from this tank. They are not to be trusted with fry. The remaining fish in the tank I don't think I need to worry about it. See my new post to talk about my new fry if you haven't already.


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## bchbum16

So new batch already i'm excited!!! I hope this time goes better than the last but we'll see. fingers crossed!


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## bchbum16

well... a new batch started yesterday, and it made it until about mid-day today, which is better than the last batch so hopefully we'll be getting to the hatching stage here in the next couple of weeks lol


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