Cherry Barb Just Laid Eggs.

[crago1990]

Today i turned the light on in my comuntiy tank and my cherry barbs were going crazy. Then i noticed one of my males chasing the female non stop. She then started laying eggs in the corner with the male just behind her. My other male cherry barb went nuts and then chased off the breeding male. All the eggs im guessing got eaten by all my fish. But it got me thinking about breeding them. Ive breed guppys which as everyone knows is no great achievement. I also have a spare 95Litre tank sat there empty because i was going to sell it seeings ive just upgraded. I do have room for some more fish in my tank aswell so its got me thinking about giving it ago. To me breeding is one of the best things about having fish.

Now for some questons...

How long till my female is ready again?

I will seperate the males and females, isit best to have 1 male and on the other side 2 females? dont want the other male eating all the eggs again.

How do you tell when there both ready to mate again?

They will produce more then i can have in my tank, because ther not livebearers will shops take them off me and possibly for money?

If not is it best to just feed them to my main fish as a little treat?

Thats all for now i think. Im going to doo some reading on the internet but your guys help would really be usefull. Thanks.

 

[Curiosity101]

Having never bred them before I'm going to go with a big cop out here and say

This seems to be a very thorough explanation of how to breed them

It seems quite straight forwards which is good. It's just that 95l seems a bit of an overkill to me for raising fry... However you could do something like on that site, but once they've spawned (hopefully on the java moss), move the moss into a breeder net and allow the fry to hatch in there. You'll be able to keep a closer eye on them whilst they can still benefit from really good quality water.

 

[crago1990]

I just read that online seemed to be a pretty good guide. I dont think i can do it in my main tank because as soon as the barb was laying the eggs my other fish was eating the eggs. So i think the only way i can do it is if i put them in a different tank.

 

[Curiosity101]

I mean 95l is a bit overboard but it really depends how many fry you have. If they laid alot of eggs and you had a good hatch rate then 95l is great. Bigger the better. It's just trying to care for such tiny fish and make sure they're well fed would be a nightmare in such a large tank unless you turned the whole thing into an infusoria factory... but then I don't know if that would have a negative consequence... so yah know.

If I had such a big tank empty and tried to breed egg layers like cherrys I'd definitely try to section of a bit close to the top so I could keep an eye on the fry. When I had harlequin rasbora fry I kept the eggs in a 1l clear margerine type tub with an air stone until they hatched. The only downside to that was the lack of water flow. Instead I did 3 x 80% ish water changes a day replacing the water in there with fresh water from the main tank. I did only have 2 fry to deal with though...

If it were a mature empty tank rather than an empty and presumably dry tank then I'd be tempted to say put loads of moss along the bottom. Let the parents spawn. And then pretty much leave the fry too it... With light and plants and a nitrogen source in the water I'd bet that they'd find enough to eat for awhile anyways. But it's risky and you'd spend a long time looking at an 'empty' tank before you had any idea if there were babies.
So perhaps... hatch them in a tub and count how many you release into the main tank if you're going to do it that way lol.

 

[crago1990]

Yeah it is quite big for fry. I was thinking after them laying the eggs taking the water level right down so mite be easier to see and make sure there eating or once the eggs have been laid use a partition so only have maybe a 3rd of the tank for fry.

My filter for my 95 is actually in my bigger tank aswell as my external so it could easily go back into my other tank ready to use but i think it would suck up the fry. magerine tub lol i supose it made it easier though.

 

[Curiosity101]

You could drop the water level down... can't believe I didn't think of that lol. I've been away from these boards too long...

You could always DIY a makeshift sponge filter from the pads in the 95's original filter? Doing that with a strong airpump and lowered water level might give you the right amount of filtration...

Thinking back it wasn't a magerine tub, it was the top of my API master test kit that I canibilised for my use as a hatcher. I made two holes and stuck a spare heater clip through them so I could sucker it to the tank wall. Then I popped an air stone in. It worked pretty well, just that the un even base was a pain to keep clean.

Edit to add: If you did go down the partition route rather than lowered water level then you'll have to be very very sure that the partition is flush to the glass otherwise they'll be straight past it. But that would give you the option of spawning the parents again whilst the first batch are growing.

 

[crago1990]

Haha gota love a bit of DIY!I was thinking about getting a new powerhead of my new tank for when i sell my old tank with the filter. Maybe i can find a way to attach the sponge to it? good idea thanks.

Yea sounds like a pain to keep clean lol, done the job though by sounds of it.

Might have to take a trip to fish shop tomoz and see what i can get.

 

[crago1990]

So i moved 2 females and one male cherry barb into my spare tank. I left them over night and the next day the male was chasing both females and both of them laid a few eggs. So i removed the fish back into there comunity tank and left the eggs alone. I read that it takes about 48hrs to hatch? Its been 3 days now and i still havent seen anything. I know there small and hard to see at first but i dont think i have any alive. A few did get eaten but quite a few did land in the gravel. Im going to give it another 2 or 3 days and if i cant find anything try again? I have 4 females all looking quite large. But its my males i have a queston about. If they try and breed with the females is he defentaly ready to fert eggs or will he still try even if hes too young? Because both my males are quite small. My biggest one is the one i used, which is the one i saw breeding in my main tank. Hes not the brightest red barb ive seen. When i got him couple of weeks ago he was quite pale. He has coloured up a little but nothing great. My other male is quite abit smaller but is a much brighter red colour. Could they both be too young or should i try it with my smaller but brighter colour cherry barb?