Spawning Rams

[Lawrence H M Fung <lfung@itsa.ucsf.edu>]

Hi all,
	I have a pair of Blue German Rams that I bought about a month
ago.  The great thing is that they've spawned twice so far (about 100+
eggs each time) and look like that another spawn is going to occur
sometime in the next week, which is on track for a spawning every 15 days
or so.  The problem is that I cannot seem to find any fry lasting past the
third day after spawning.  On the last occasion, I saw the eggs (darkened
from development) on the morning of the second day after spawning but by
that afternoon, all I saw was a bunch of empty shells where the eggs were
laid on the rock. 
	The pH is 6.8-7.0, temp is 76F, and a 50% water change is done
every weekend.  They are the only occupants in a no-gravel-bed 5 gallon
tank with a Tetra sponge filter (rated for 20 gallons) and "powered" by a
Whisper 300 air pump (which I do not feel is overkill for filtration in
the tank, although some out there may disagree), two small gravel-filled
clay pots (one with dwarf Saggitaria and the other with A. crispus), one
flat rock for spawning, and several huge clumps of Java Moss.  The male is
1.5 inches and the female is about 1.25 inches.  And the tank is lit for
five hours with a desk lamp located far enough away so that the water
doesn't overheat.  Feeding is three times daily with Hikari Cichlid Staple
in the morning before I go to work, and twice in the evening with either
bbs, frozen glassworms, or frozen adult brine shrimp with occasional
feeds of freeze-dried tubifex.   
	So here goes my questions...
	I've been told that it is common for the young pair to eat their
eggs, at least the first two spawns.  So does that mean my chances improve
for the third spawn not being eaten by the parents?  8-)   And since I've
been seeing empty egg shells on the second day and my literature readings
indicate that hatching of German rams takes 2-3 days, does that mean the
pair are removing the fry from the egg shells before they are hatched?
I've never heard of that happening before.  And if they do remove them
from the eggs, what do they do with fry that can't swim and have to absorb
a yolk sac?  Move them to a pit dug in the gravel, I'd assume.  Yet, I
can't seem to find them in the tank but I know that I'm scrutinizing every
part of the tank (even the gravel pits they dig in the pots with the
plants).  Short of pulling the fry out, is there any way that I can
improve my chances of not seeing another spawn go down?  I'd really like
to see the spawn being taken care of by the parents but this, in the end
may prove unlikely.

Lawrence




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