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I’ve freed up one of the breeding tanks by moving the 2 Cherry Barb fry into a spare 2.5 gallon tank I had setup so I’m going to put another group of White Clouds in it and see if I can get them to breed again.

Day #1 (1/8)

I’ve selected 2 females and what I believe to be 2 males to make up the breeding group. I would have preferred to have 4 females but from the looks of things, the 2 White Clouds that died recently were my other 2 females. This group will have to do for now. I’m going to buy a few more females later this week to start rebuilding a larger group of breeding candidates.

I kept the existing sponge filter in the breeding tank and replaced the old water with 10 gallons from the 55 gallon tank where the White Clouds had been living in an attempt to reduce the stress of the move.

Instead of just using a large clump of Java Moss like last time I’ve attempted to keep things a little more controlled by creating “bunches” of Java Moss with lead plant weights. This way the moss should stay in one place and can be moved much easier if necessary.

Day #2 (1/9)

Perfect timing! When I went to feed the White Clouds in the breeding tank this morning I noticed that both females looked significantly thinner than yesterday. I knew one of the females was close to laying her eggs when I put them into the tank because she was huge but I wasn’t sure about the other. I quickly netted the 4 fish and put them back into the 55 gallon tank.

There are dozens of eggs all over the bottom of the tank and the Java Moss. Luckily I knew what I was looking for this time and the parents didn’t have time to eat their eggs like the last group did. I’m anxious to see how many actually hatch in a few days.

Day #3 (1/10)

Today brought with it a little disappointment. It appears that many of the eggs have succumbed to fungus already. In fact almost all of the eggs that are on the tank bottom are covered in a fluffy white film. Based on some quick research it appears that there are several preventative measures that can be taken such as this one described by Robyn Rhudy. Unfortunately in this case the damage has already been done.

Day #4 (1/11)

Nothing to report yet. It’s still a little early to start seeing fry. If all of the eggs were not overtaken by fungus fry should start appearing tomorrow.

Day #5 (1/12)

I spotted 4 fry this afternoon.

Day #6 (1/13)

I only spotted 3 fry today, they are not free-swimming yet.

Day #7 (1/14)

2 of the fry are free-swimming. I’m feeding them Wardley Small Fry a few times a day.

Day #8 (1/15)

Not much to report… I still only see 2 free-swimming fry, not sure what happened to the others.

Day #11 (1/18)

I noticed a 3rd fry scooting around at the water surface this morning. Other than that everything seems normal. As normal as I can tell anyways, this is only second attempt I’ve made at breeding these little guys and all five of the fry from the first attempt have died.

Day #21 (1/28)

Only one of the original 3 is still alive. He/she has been moved into the 2.5 gallon tank with the Cherry Barb fry.

Cherry Barbs - Day 31

Both of the Cherry Barb fry appear to be in good health. They are active although I’ve never seen them venture to the surface when I feed them. The photo above was taken yesterday (Day 30).

White Clouds - Day 23

All five of the White Cloud fry are extremely active and are constantly darting around near the surface (just like their parents). They are still very small and are growing much slower than the 2 Cherry Barbs.

I spotted 4 White Cloud fry this afternoon. They don’t move much, mainly sticking to the glass which is normal based on what I’ve read. I had a heck of a time getting my camera to focus on any of them because they are so small but I did manage to get a few decent photos. The fry in the photo above is about 3/16 of an inch long.

The 6 White Clouds have been moved from the breeding tank to the 55 gallon tank as a precaution just in case they have not eaten all of their eggs yet.

Below is the current population of the 55 gallon tank:

Cherry Barbs: 14 (9 female, 5 male)
White Clouds: 10 (2 of the original 6 are missing)
Otocinclus: 6
Siamese Algae Eater: 3

Total: 33 fish

Update: 12/20/2006
One of the male Cherry Barbs in the 55 Gallon tank has died

Update: 12/21/2006
Two of the female Cherry Barbs have died. All water parameters are normal, not sure what’s going on.

Update: 12/22/2006
Another male Cherry Barb has died. I’m starting to get a little worried at this point. All of the other fish, including the remaining Cherry Barbs are behaving normally and show no signs of disease.

Update: 1/2/2007
Another female Cherry Barb has died.

Update: 1/5/2007
Two White Clouds have died.

Update: 1/8/2007
Added 10 juvenile White Clouds and 2 rather large Otos.

Update: 1/13/2007
One of the Otos has died. It wasn’t one of the new ones.

Update: 1/17/2007
Added 2 Otos and 6 Rasbora Espei

Update: 1/22/2007
Added 6 more Rasbora Espei

Update: 2/9/2007
Added 4 more Rasbora Espei

Update: 2/16/2007
Added 6 Golden White Clouds

Total: 61 fish

It looks like the White Clouds have spawned. Yesterday the males were darting around the tank next to the larger females with their fins fully displayed. Today the bellies of the two largest females look considerably smaller than they did yesterday evening. So far I have not spotted any eggs.