Q's about cherry barbs

[dixaisy930]

I saw some cherry barbs at a lfs yesterday, but decided against them since the employee said they were schooling fish. But I read that they are, in fact, not schooling fish after all.

I would like to get a male and female, but would it be better to just get one cherry barb? Also, how can you sex cherry barbs?

 

[cherrybarbbaby]

its true cherry barbs are not shoaling fish however how many to keep depends on the tank you put them in
I had one cherry barb in a tiger barb tank w/2 gouramis and she was very lonely and hide all the time.
If you are going to keep *** peaceful**** fish like mollies or platies or Gouramis, you may get away with just one cherry barb.


I now have 4 female (females tend to be lighter in color ) the one male I had never let the female eat and after he died my one female cherry barb got really lonely and depressed.

Its the male to female ratio you must look out for . My females get on fine and my single cherry barb is now eating and SHOALING w/ the other cherry barbs. They may not say they are shoaling fish but man, my girls stick together!

I would say get two females or two females and one male. But I would not recommend ONE cherry barb. They are small fish w/small mouths and tend to be very shyand do not compete for food very well.

Even if they do not get along, they will feel more comfortable knowing another of their kind is in the tank. And when push comes to shove, and one is being picked on they will huddle together and keep each other company.

So yes, please get more than one.

 

[Morrgan]

I have three female cherry barbs and they stick together. When they are said to not be shoaling fish it's only because the males can be aggressive towards each other and thus you should keep only one male per tank unless it's a larger one. It does not mean cherry barbs can be kept all alone.

I'd suggest getting at least three of them, either all females or two females and one male as cherrybarbbaby suggested.

 

[ryan]

I general rule of advice is 1 male to 2 females.

 

[Lateral Line]

I would always advocate keeping a pair or trio, 1 male 2 females.

 

[aernympha]

its easy to tell the difference between male and female because the male is bright red and the female is a paterned brown with sorta creme lines and redish fins. lol but i have kempt tow cherry barbs a male and a female they are fine they go around like a little couple, very peceful and they do have small mouths so they prefer crumbled up flake food, and also i found out that female cherry barbs find red betttas very attractive!!! lol!!! so i am guessing they aren't too smart , but they are CUTE!!!

 

[Ginger726]

I have another post about cherry barbs. I have two that have become skinny. I am thinking they are stressed or depressed or something. I have a male and a female that are fat, fine and stick together. The other two are skinny and kinda hang around by themselves. I had them in a tank with other tetras and about a week ago I moved them to a tank by themselves with two cory cats.

Is their any live food or something I may bribe them with to coax them out of their misery.

 

[cherrybarbbaby]

try frozen brine shrimp, my cherry barb came out of hiding for it
I just sprinked some of the small crumbs on the surface and she came up for food.


How many cherry barbs are in w/your cory fish. I would put atleast 2.

My cherry really relaxed once she was put with my cory fish.

** Also the male may become less agressive (like mine did)becasue the cory fish are bigger and he my not feel so bold!!! (before he died my male cherry became friends with the female he was picking on becasue he was scared of the cory fish. After that the only thing that seperated them was his death)

After my male died and before I added my new cherries -she was very shy w/the cory fish (can't really blame her) but once I took my new cherries out of observation and put them into the tank....everything was good.



My cories and cherrybarbs get on very very well.

I have new cories in w/my tiger barb and in a seperate tank w/just cherry barbs. And so far...the cory/cherry barb tanks is the best.--very peaceful and fun to watch!

 

[Gill]

I have 3 Female 2 Male.

The males get along fine.
They all school with the Neons and the WMC.
Sometimes the WMC and the CBarbs school separetly at the top of the tank, but mostly they stay with the Neons.

 

[jaywings19]

A few months ago, I put one Cherry Barb in my 6 gallon community tank with a Platy and some Corys. This mix didn't work because the lone Cherry Barb would pester the Corys nonstop... since they both occupied the lower region of the tank. I had to return the Cherry Barb after he stressed one of my smaller Corys to death.

Sounds like the others are giving you good advice... keep a couple/trio to occupy themselves.

 

[dixaisy930]

Thanks for all the help...I'll definately get a nice group of females (3 or 4). Just waiting to find a healthy batch of them now...