Breeding Project: Cherry Barb

So I haven't updated this in a little while but that's because I hadn't much time to do any updating. On October 24, I left to return home for my reading week that happens every October. I was originally intending to take the young with me down as I would be able to feed and care for them, however, due to time restraints and the difficulty in attempting to net the young, I left with the adults instead.

I figured, since the larvae were taking so long to mature into fry, they would have a better chance at surviving by their lonesome with the yolk sac and a potential array of bacteria and microorganisms that may be prospering within the tank. Also, the parents being my lone breeding pair will come useful in future spawns as well. Speaking of which, on the 28th, peculiar behaviour was noticed. Upon further inspection, the pair were breeding quite readily, without conditioning or prompting as well. This could possibly mean that Cherry Barbs may readily breed under proper conditions but the young may never propagate due to egg and young predation.

With such short notice, marbles were thrown into their 1 gallon desk tank in an attempt to save the eggs by being out of reach for the parents. Marbles are a wonderful choice to being a method of egg collection for scatter spawners, in my opinion. This is because a layer of marbles provides large enough crevices that allow for the eggs to slip inbetween but not allow the adults to be able to get at the eggs. Though some breeders use two to three layers of marbles, I feel that one layer is sufficient enough.

Hopefully the move back to school with the adults as well as the eggs become successful and have this second, unexpected spawn propagate more than that of the first spawn.

Breeding Project: Cherry Barb

I really need to update this more often.. but I can never bring myself to doing it! So on the 19th, eyes became developed as the young started to wiggle more. Two were noticed to enjoy hanging in the upright position (nose pointed upwards where the tail was pointing down to the ground). They seem to be developing on track, which is definitely a positive! The lack in numbers, however, is a bit worrisome but that is, on my part, all my fault. That is why these steps will be taken to further improve my capabilities for future spawns as I will now know what to expect.

October 20th; the yolk sac has gone down quite considerably and they are finally starting to resemble traditional fish larvae seen in books and other such sources. This is obviously a good sign, as the two out in the open are developing at a steady pace. Hopefully the addition of a heater in a couple weeks will aid the growing process. Still, there are currently only two being actively noticed as they sit in the open day-in and day-out. I'm hoping for a few more hiding in the filter sponge and within the najas.

Although today is the 21st, and in the morning, I most likely will not end up updating my finds later on tonight when I usually do most of my observations. I am leaving the city where these fish are staying at for a week, and I am heavily debating on whether or not I should take the young with me so I could care for them on my journey. It probably is in their best interest that I take them along, as I could be able to provide them a few more necessities. We'll see.

Breeding Project: Cherry Barb

So I figure I should update this more often so that the dates would be proper, but I get lazy and nobody's perfect. =P
In any case, some of the eggs had fungused over (partly because some of the saved eggs from the 1 gal parent container had bits of food with them, which most likely was the catalyst to the fungus), leaving the remaining eggs (a much smaller percentage of it) to slowly develop. The lack of a heater in the tank is quite bothersome, so I will definitely be bringing back one when I return home next. With this cool temperature (I like my room to be crispy cold), the eggs have taken a much slower developmentational route - as expected.

The larvae were seen 2 days after the eggs have been laid on October 17. In the early mornings of the 18th, movement was noticed, but since it was so early I simply passed it off as seeing things instead. Now that it is the 19th, furious wiggling was witnessed after discovering that the larvae had moved positions from the night prior to them hatching out as larvae. The eggs are clear, almost fooling one into believing that they are just blanks and not fertilized. The larvae are no different, being clear and very round themselves - however, they look like eggs with a tiny bulb on the top and a stringy end behind the bulb. This signifies the head and the developing spinal column and body, demonstrating that Cherry Barb egg yolks are not famously colored in tones of yellow or red like many other species of fish.

The larvae generally remain motionless and attached to whatever surface they hatched on. The occassional mad wiggling only occurs uncommonly as the eyes don't even seem to have developed yet. At this point in time, I've only seen about 10 of them - 4 larvae for sure. Their clear bodies make them hard to spot, on top of the fact that some tend to enjoy lying motionless amongst plants. In a couple days, they should be expected to have moved onto the next stage of life: the fry stage. This point in time is where everything kicks into gear as I want to wait a couple days after they become free swimming so that they can be prolific enough to withstand or hide from the current of the filter.

An important note I forgot to add to the last blog entry was the tidbit about my amazing roomate. He was a major driving force behind this project and even kickstarted a flame within me again that made me focus on this as a part of my life. He even went as far as to buying some bloodworms for me as to condition the fish (as I didn't bring any up with me at the time). So it is he whom I owe this spawn's success and perhaps the next couple spawns as well!

As a side note, one of the females died within the time frame of this blog and the last blog. She was the lone female from before (not the jumbo breeding pair). The diagnosis behind her death was unknown, although I had noticed a decrease in feeding and activity behaviour, often swimming somewhat abnormally for a Cherry Barb. Within the last day before her death, internal bleeding was thought to have occurred. This hypothesis came to be after observations of a red patch developed near her heart and stomach region. This worsened in the final hours of her life and after death as well as a few parts of her body - especially by the organs such as the swim bladder and upper stomach - became dark in coloration, almost reminiscent of that deep blood maroon-red. I buried her in the garden outside under the prettiest flowers still in bloom. May she now have eternal peace.

Breeding Project: Cherry Barb

Well, well, well.. What do we have here!
So I'm back after a nice long absence! A little more grown up and a little bit more crazy from when I was last here! (I'm sure I still have the bad grammar, if not worse!) My current project has led me back here, what I would consider my base journal for all projects regarding with fish. I was originally going to have posted a couple weeks earlier, but the constant school work just made me push it further and further behind until this point!

Today, well more-so October 15, was the day of Project: Cherry Barb. Finally, after so long, have I commenced my breeding project of Cherry Barbs that I have dreamed of so many years back.. The lone male I had after the previous female died was joined by a much younger female that I had picked up from the local fish store shortly after. Since then, the male has died and the same female has stayed with me, further joined by a pair of interestingly jumbo specimens. From these three fish, the foundation to Project: Cherry Barb will be built upon.

After almost a month of conditioning, the selected jumbo pair (the "original female" did not show signs of egg developmentation and was therefore, not included for this spawn) was left alone in a 5 gallon tank. I am perfectly aware that this is not an optimum size for breeding, but it is currently all that I have. Along with this tank comes a power filter and a handful of Najas. I know that the power filter isn't the best filter for breeding, but once again, it is all that I have and I will have to make do.

The pair was placed together in the morning of October 15, at approximately 5 am. This was due to the rumors that these fish have a tendency to breed in the early morning. As I left for school a couple hours later, the room was left dark with the blind pulled down to stretch out the dark-twilight period that would be seen in my room. This was due to the lack of a layer of marbles as substrate to ensure that the eggs would be safely protected in case the parents should feel the need to feed. Upon returning from a day of classes at about 3:30 pm, the pair was seen to have already commenced spawning. This was followed by various confirming actions and the eggs were seen to scatter to the bottom while being slightly adhesive in case they came into contact with the plants before the bare bottom.

The filter had mysteriously stopped working after the pair was placed in the early morning and had remained motionless all day. This is slightly worrisome as proper filtration is necessary for proper growth of the larvae and fry, not to mention a good aeration would be quite necessary for the eggs as well. This was later fixed in the night at around 11 pm, after the pair had been removed from the breeding tank at 10:45 pm. They were then placed within the small, confined 1 gallon temporary holding bucket alongside the lone female. The female at the time, had decreased in spawning behaviours and started to get increasingly hungry, so they were moved for the safety of the eggs.

Spawning behaviour, however, continued well into the night even after being placed in the small 1 gallon. After noticing some 50 odd eggs, I decided that it would be best to have collected these eggs and placed in the 5 gallon with the rest so that they had a better chance of survival. After the filter had been fixed (problem was that it did not want to start while the impeller was full of water..), it was turned on to provide aeration for the eggs. However, the powerful current made many of the eggs fall into the suction of the filter. Luckily, I had placed a filter sponge earlier to prevent unfortunate events such as these. The sponge, however, was quite porous with large holes - adding to my plate of worries. The decision was then made to turn off the filter and only turn it back on after a couple days of being free swimmers. I felt that this would be the best chance of survival as they would be more prolific at swimming and be strong enough to withstand the current.

After the pair was removed, speculations of having around 100 or more eggs was made, but the filter made quick work with dwindling the numbers. After adding the eggs from the 1 gallon, the numbers now seem to have perked back up to a near 100. The additional eggs were found after proding the sponge a bit and the eggs presented themselves. Hopefully the eggs will not succumb to fungus and hatch successfully. They should hatch by tomorrow or the day after according to various sources.

The male is wrapped around the female here in mid-spawn.

To clear up any confusion, Cherry Barbs are egg scatterers. This means that after fertilization, the eggs are dropped wherever the parents were and fall to the bottom. The barbs like to spawn inbetween the plants, especially in tight pockets made by the plants. This would mean that many of the eggs would fall on the plants, and being slightly adhesive, would stick to the plant - increasing egg survivability in the wild as they would not succumb to fungus or egg predation by various predators.

Various sites had stated that these barbs laid their eggs on threads attached to plants. This information is incorrect! They did, however, mention a truth - the barbs were noticed to release a few eggs at a time. 7 eggs being released was the maximum noticed, while no eggs were also witnessed. The typical amount that was observed the most was an egg range from 4-6.

The pregnant female that was selected.
*Note: The large belly full of eggs compared to the other female.

Probably the spawn-inducing behaviour as he would chase her around the tank, following her in such an exact position until they shimmied amongst the plants.

The two caught at the point of sperm and egg release.

The end result of such hard work for the pair. I definitely should have removed the flakes from the bare bottom though!