Breeding Project: Cherry Barb
Breeding Project: German Blue Ram

After all this time, the tank was never cleaned and ridded of it's algae occupants until last night. I felt that it was time for a good cleaning and the juveniles were large enough to be handled. So, I took the old tank water and filled it into a 1.2 gallon desk tank and began moving the juvenile into their new home. Of course, I'm aware that they would soon outgrow this, but until now, it will serve as a grow out tank for them. Thusly, my 5 gallon would be free to continue on with other things.

During the move, I made sure to catch every young there was and although I had an updated original thought of having only 15 juvenile, the count was once again modified as I now proudly own 17 Cherry Barb juveniles. Guess I wasn't as big a failure as I had originally thought I was! Of course, some of them seem to be selectively smaller than a few which makes me wonder if any of the eggs I had moved from an accidental spawning hatched or not. They seem to be a couple weeks away in developmental stages, making it quite the possibility!

Another thing I noticed about the young is that they are now beginning to possess coloration in their fins. The dorsal and tail fin of the young now have an orange tint at the base of the fin. They are also have a very streamline and torpedo-shaped body, exactly like those found in the adults! It's only a matter of time before they begin to look identical with the parents. Now its only a matter of size that time will continue to contribute to. Once the young are large enough to stay out of the female's mouth, they'll be able to stay with mommy.

On a side note; there was another reason why I so abruptly decided to clean out the 5 gallon. During the weekend, I had purchased a gorgeous looking pair of German Blue Rams I had seen in one of the two fish stores I visited that day. Of course, they were a tad on the more pricier side but they are quite large and spectacular in coloration! The store sold three sizes of the Rams, the tiniest being the size of a thumb, the medium size being reminiscent of my old pair, and the largest size being a couple stone throw's away from the maximum size of 3 inches.

Naturally, I bought the largest considering the coloration found in these fish were evident, demonstrating some good genes I'd say! Also, I had found in the tank a couple of females with males whereas the medium sized fish had males only, at least to what I could see. They were also demonstrating that they were of a longer-finned variety than normal German Blues. The tiniest had the tank with the most females. In fact, I could hardly even pick out a single male! They were also mixed with young Gold Rams too, which were predominantely female as well. Maybe if they are still there the next time I visit that store, I will pick up a pair of the Gold Rams!

Since the move in, the two seem to be constantly sending each other signals. Normally, I'd welcome such behaviours with open arms but considering they are currently housed in a tiny 5 gallon tank, I'm crossing my fingers that nothing becomes of it within a month. Also, since I picked out a pair that had already paired off within the tank, these two MIGHT be that pair! This would mean that they are already past the courtship stage, greatly increasing the need to breed speed. Happily though, Blue Ram breeding seems to be within my foreseeable future! =D