Breeding Project: Hornwort
Breeding Project: Cherry Barb

Okay! So its been 9 months exactly (freaky! I didn't even plan for it like this!) since I've last posted. Some major updates: my female Cherry Barb has gone, presumedly from high stress levels or breeding pressures by the male, actually I don't really remember. The male Blue Ram ended up developing pop eye unfortunately and the female passed the day after I returned home from school. Guess the move was too much for her, poor gal!

Now if you're an aquarist, you would probably know that Hornwort is a plant and therefore, wouldn't technically qualify under a "breeding project" because not many people try to flower their plants so that they could pollenate and seed. Plant "breeding" is called propagation, but I don't really want to call it a "propagation project" so it'll just have to be a breeding project! Now, Hornwort is an incredibly easy plant to grow let alone trying to propagate it. However, I've selected this plant as a tester to test out a new method I've discovered on plant growing.

The Hornwort also serves a double purpose; my aunt has a pair of goldfish that she regularly feeds live plants to. Something about them having a better shine.. so anyway, I used to give her my Najas clippings but then I left for school and my parents decided to give her some without my consent. Well, they gave her a bit too much and not just as a clipping... now my Najas stock has seriously been damaged and quality has run amuck! This is where the Hornwort propagation comes in. She used to buy Hornwort after I exploded in fury after discovering an ugly Endler tank but it gets quite expensive after a while with the constant purchases. I figure, since she's such an awesome aunt and the Najas thing was so long ago, to grow hordes of Hornwort and gift it to her!

Now, I've bought the Hornwort but have yet to assemble the rest of the propagation tank. Here's to hoping that all becomes successful! I hope so as I now have a brand-spankingly new 20 gallon that will need to be filled with lush and gorgeous plants! So far, I'm thinking about adding Java Ferns as the main plant with a small thing of Java Moss and perhaps a small collection of Najas.. if the Hornwort grow beautifully, I might consider adding them to the tank as well! May be the ugliest tank in the world, but I'm no aquascaper!

So an update for the Cherry Barbs! Thanks to a busy school life, hectic exam schedule, funeral trip, moving stress, and summer neglect (well not 100% neglect!) I'm left with 3 surviving younglings. I know its my fault for not being able to be a better aquarist and keeping the mortality rate low.. but the three survivors are about 2-2.5 cm long and are developing very well! They have a similar bronzey coloring like that of their mother, however, two of them seem to be different than the one. Somehow, they almost give me the impression that they will mature into boys. Something about a slight darker coloration, especially in the tail fin.. but I suppose we'll have to see with time! Maybe I'll take some updated pictures and post them!

Speaking of the younglings, I am planning on doing another Cherry Barb breeding, but this year with a higher yield of young. I am not too happy with the way things turned out, albeit the first time and all. I would just rather a much higher survival rate, just to boost that breeder's profile. Nothing says success as the results of your breeding attempts! I would like to set things up as soon as possible, but its very dependent on when I can finish setting up the desk I have here so that I'll have room to set up the breeding tank.

I've been debating about setting up marbles on the bottom or just supplying a plethora of flora to decrease egg predation. Guess I still have a little while before I make my decision.. I'll purchase a female when the tanks are set up so that I don't stress her out by not knowing where to place her! I figure I would be able to stick the school of Cherry Barbs in the 20 gallon 'social tank' (as I call it) when they grow up.

I suppose that's all I have to say for now.. hopefully this blog isn't so darn long! I have such a terrible tendency to produce long, boring blogs. Talk about verbal diarrhea! I think I'll make adjustments where I see fit - or if I have any suggestive inputs (which will probably never happen seeing as how nobody reads this thing anyway! :D)