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!