Although they have historically been one of the less common species of cichlids, German blue rams are steadily increasing in popularity due to their beautiful colors and lack of aggression as far as cichlids go.
Being a dwarf cichlid species also helps to get people interested in the species as they can do well in smaller tanks helping to keep your costs low.
After a number of popular social media influences within the fish keeping hobby recommended German blue rams as one of their favorite fish species to breed at home, we have noticed more and more people asking about taking care of German blue ram fry as they plan to breed their own fish at home.
Now, you have to keep in mind that the majority of people who breed any type of fish species are unlikely to make a profit so you should not breed your German blue ram just to try and earn money as most people will actually lose money.
German blue ram fry are usually easy to take care of as they tend to thrive in any aquarium setup that has been optimized for adult German blue rams.
The general rule of thumb is that if the aquarium is good enough for the adult fish to breed then it is highly likely that the tank is good enough for German blue ram fry too with the parent fish often caring for their fry rather than eating them.
How Do You Care For Blue Ram Fry?
German blue ram fry are easy to care for as many aquarium setups will require minimal input from you to support the fry once they reach the free moving stage.
In some setups, you may have to add food sources to your tank for your German blue ram fry to feed on initially with something like fish fry krill being a quick, easy and cheap option.
Depending on your aquarium setup, you may not have to add any type of food for the fry though but if you are new to breeding your German blue rams then we would recommend that you add something to supplement their diet.
Creating a full, self-sustaining, micro-ecosystem in your aquarium is more difficult than most people think and it is usually only done by experienced fish breeders.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult to get your German blue ram fry past the wriggler stage and if you do notice that you are consistently having problems with getting your fry to the free swimming stage, check your water parameters.
Use a decent water test kit to check your water parameters too as many people use the cheaper kits that are inaccurate so they think that their water parameters are fine for fry when in actual fact they are far from it.
Can You Keep German Blue Ram Fry In A Community Tank?
You can keep German blue ram fry in a community tank but their survival rate will always be much higher in a separate breeding tank where they fry are supported by you and kept away from other predators.
Although many German blue ram parents will not eat their own fry, some do and other fish can see the fry as an easy meal.
It is common for people to set up dedicated breeding tanks that only exist for the adult fish to spawn in and to raise the fry but this is not a realistic option for many people due to their budget or available space.
This is why many people end up having to keep their German blue ram fry in their community tank but thankfully, there are a number of things that you are able to do to help increase the chances of survival for your fry in a community tank.
The cheapest option that can help to increase the survival rate of your German blue ram fry is to add a breeder box to your community tank and try to keep your fry in there until they get larger.
If that is not possible then adding some temporary fish fry hideouts to your community tank can also help improve the survival rates of your German blue ram fry.
When Should You Start To Feed German Blue Ram Fry?
Most people will try to start feeding their German blue ram fry as soon as they become free moving.
Depending on your tank setup, the fry may not actually eat the food that you provide them until they have been free moving for a number of days but it is usually best to make sure that there is food available for them from as soon as they become free moving.
In some tank setups, you may not have to intentionally feed your German blue ram fry due to there being plenty of food sources in your aquarium already.
As a general rule of thumb though, we would always recommend that you do add something for the fry to eat such as fish fry krill unless you know for a fact you have an ecosystem in your aquarium that can support your German blue ram fry.
Technically, if you are experienced with raising fish fry in your tanks you are able to supplement the diet of your fry during the wriggler stage but this can just be a waste of money for most people.
At this size, German blue ram fry can be very picky with what they eat or they may not be physically large enough to eat what you offer them so most people just wait until the fry are free moving before they feed them.
What Can You Use For German Blue Ram Fry Food?
Some of the best food options for Germany blue ram fry include fish fry krill, vinegar eels, and microworms with there being a number of other mix food fry options available on the market.
Although baby brine shrimp can work, it is usually only used for older German blue ram fry and many fry that have only been free moving for a couple of days will not be able to eat baby brine shrimp.
In this day and age, many people will choose to go with fish fry krill due to it being widely available and cheap with it also working well with German blue ram fry.
If you have no problem with having live food in your home then live vinegar eels or live microworms are technically better options for German blue ram fry.
We have seen some people on social media suggest live daphnia as a food source for fish fry but they are far too large and the vast majority of fish fry will not be able to eat them.
You really do need a small creature such as krill or a microworm species for your German blue ram fry to eat.
Will German Blue Rams Raise Their Fry?
Many German blue ram breeding pairs will do a decent job of raising their fry with minimal issues and they will often try to protect their fry from other potential predators in their tank.
Some breeding pairs can eat their own fry when they start to prepare to spawn again though so it is usually best to put your fry in a breeding tank or breeding box.
As we covered earlier in the article, there are a number of ways that you are able to keep your German blue ram fry in your main community tank and keep their survival rate as high as possible.
If you don’t want to add temporary fish fry hideouts to your tank then pretty much any type of live or fake aquarium plant can help provide cover for the fry until they grow larger.
The more times a breeding pair of German blue rams have spawned and had a chance to raise their fry the better they tend to get at it.
This is why many people new to breeding German blue rams often report that they had issues with the parents eating the fry or ignoring them and letting other fish in the tank eat them but in time, they do tend to get the hang of it and become great parents.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over how to care for German blue ram fry to an end. We hope that we have been able to help as many of our readers as possible get a better idea of how they should be going about caring for their own fry. Provided you have a little experience within fish keeping and are able to maintain steady water parameters, the German blue rams are a great place to start when it comes to breeding your own fish.
