Fishumentaryâ„¢

I’ve been keeping a close eye on the behavior of the two pairs of Cherry Barbs I selected for this breeding project and so far the pair in tank #2 have become progressively more timid. The female spends the majority of her time hiding behind the sponge filter and the male is usually hiding in a clump of Java Moss. At this point I’m more concerned with the wellbeing of the fish than whether or not they decide to spawn. I’ve moved the female from tank #2 into tank #1 and the male into the 55 gallon tank. Hopefully the company of additional fish will make both of the relocated a little more social.

To this day I have not had an aquarium in which some type of algae did not pop up from time to time but it’s been a long time since I’ve had to deal with green water. From the photo above it’s easy to see that the 55 gallon tank has fallen victim to a rather significant algae bloom. When looking straight down into the water you can’t even see the bottom.

My fist step was to reduce feedings from twice daily to once daily until this clears up. I’ve also been doing 25% water changes daily to try and reduce the amount of nutrients in the water. Vacuuming the gravel is not really an option since 90% of the gravel area is planted but I have been lightly vacuuming the open areas that are not planted. I’ve discontinued the use of Flourish for the time being and I’ve switched off one row of lights; reducing the total wattage from 260W to 130W or roughly 2.4 watts per gallon.

Above is a photo of the revised breeding tank setup. I’ve added a layer of plastic mesh to the bottom of each breeding tank to allow any loose eggs to fall safely out of the reach of their hungry parents. This should also provide a place of refuge for fry. The mesh is suspended about an inch off of the bottom by six tiny clay pots I got from the local craft store (Michael’s Crafts). I used a few polished river rocks to hold the mesh in place. Rather than go to the trouble of cutting a hole for the sponge filter I decided to just put it on top of the mesh.

Now the waiting game begins.

I did a small water change today in each of the breeding tanks. I’ve read that this can also serve as a spawning trigger but in this case it was more to remove the bits of uneaten food that had collected near the sponge filter.

As I was siphoning out the water and uneaten food it hit me that I have no idea what the eggs of a Cherry Barb look like. The eggs of the Corys I have bred in the past are easy to spot, but the body of a Cherry Barb is considerably smaller than that of an adult Peppered Cory so I would expect their eggs to be much smaller as well. I’ve never seen a photo of Cherry Barb eggs so I really don’t know what I’m looking for.

As a precaution I’ve decided to install a plastic mesh an inch or so off the bottom of each tank to allow the eggs to fall to safety should the fish decide to spawn. I’ve read other success stories with such setups.

Now that the parents-to-be have had a day to settle in they seem to be much more active and all appear to be in good health. One of the most common spawning triggers for Cherry Barbs seems to be lowering the water level; at least according to the various articles I’ve read. So today I lowered the water level in both tanks by a few inches. Whether or not it works remains to be seen.