Blue Ram Spawn Diary: Day 3

Well, bad news. I came home from work tonight and all the babies are gone. I'm guessing the female must have eaten them, because they are nowhere to be seen. I was afraid something like this would happen. Usually when the female is ready to spawn again she will eat the fry, even though it's only been about a week and a half since she must have laid the eggs. Either that or since it was her first spawn to hatch maybe she just doesn't know better yet.

Some other aquarists have pointed out that usually the male is the one who takes care of the fry once they've hatched. It's kind of odd that the female even took care of them at all, so maybe that's why they are gone. Maybe she killed the father? He didn't look very beat up, so who knows.

Either way, this has once again inspired me and I'm going to see if I can find a healthy male ram tomorrow. These fish truly are wallet drainers. Just when you get fed up with them, they give a little bit more and offer a glimmer of hope. Then when something doesn't go according to plan and you're thoroughly excited for baby rams, you have no choice but to spend more money to keep it going. Eventually I'll get there...

Blue Ram Spawn Diary: Day 1 & 2

I never thought it would happen, after trying time after time, but my Blue Rams have spawned and the eggs have hatched! I noticed when I came home lastnight the female was in the midst of a cloud of little bug like things. Ignore the algae and sorry state of the tank, the female ram hasn't let me clean anything up or trim since she first spawned, attacking my hand or whatever else I put in there. Now I know why!


Unfortunately, a few days ago I lost the male. When that happened, I pretty much resigned and said no more, after 4 out of the 6 of these fish I've ever bought have died. Of course, as soon as I give up, I have baby fish everywhere. I didn't even know they had spawned again. They hid the eggs very well. It's such a shame the male died though, he was such a nice fish! I guess these are his legacy. Hopefully some will survive.


I'll keep a journal on here as to their progress. So far, they're just little tiny things with big eyes. They stick mostly around their mother, who feverishly scoops up stray babies in her mouth, cleans them off, then spits them back out into the school. It's very entertaining to watch. The babies are quite strong swimmers and can hold a school pretty well. The big issue now is if they find something small enough to eat. I have baby fry food but it's too big for them yet, so I'm hoping there is enough food in the tank in the form of infusoria (miscellaneous little bugs). The mother attempts to feed them by chewing up her food and spitting it towards them, so maybe that will work.

This is so exciting! Forget all my algae woes, I've got a family to feed!