Armed with a list of those so-called "beginner" fish that I had not yet tried to spawn, I set out on a day long trip of fish stores. One of the fish on the list was the Cherry Barb, a common, inexpensive, attractive and easy to keep fish. My objective was to acquire as many of these potential breeders for a bank of spawning tanks that were ready to use. The pair I eventually purchased were prime specimens and I figured spawning would be a breeze. The only unique thing about this pair was that they were albinos, rather than the normal colour.
This pretty and undemanding barb is native to Ceylon. Although soft, slightly acidic water is best, they will thrive in any water short of extreme acid or alkaline condition. In the community tank, they appreciate the security of a well planted aquarium, with a temperature between 72 and 82°F. Their preferred diet is tiny crustaceans, brine shrimp, or insects, but they will eat any and all standard aquarium fare, provided it's small enough for their tiny mouths.
Cherry Barbs are named for the colour of the males. Even in poor condition, there is a flush of red over the entire body. There are several dark brown stripes running the length of the body. The females show the same stripes, but the base body colour is a beige, where the male shows red. The albinos I had, showed the typical white body, with no brown stripes visible on the sides. Instead, the male had a pale red stripe down his side, that was totally absent in the female.
Spawning was typical for the family. I segregated the pair for 2 weeks and gave them the best foods available. At the same time, I put a double layer of marbles in a 3½ gallon tank filled with aged tap water. A clump of Java Moss and an airstone rounded out the equipment. Since my pair were albinos and sensitive to lights, I kept the tank shaded and tinted the water with a commercial peat extract. The female was put in the tank in the evening, with the male added a couple of hours later, just before the fish room lights went out. Spawning started the next morning with the male chasing the female into the moss and the edges of the marbles. He then draped his body around the female, and the eggs and sperm were released. The male was insistent but not aggressive.
That evening, the female's thinness confirmed eggs were laid, so the pair were sent back to the community setup and the tank was covered with a dark towel. The first fry were spotted after 36 hours. I knew the fry would have tiny mouths so they would only be able to handle infusorians and the finest powder fry food. For all fry tanks, I like to use mature sponge filters that are transferred from healthy established tanks. This provides a quick and steady source of infusorians, along with those found naturally in the Java Moss. The tiny white fry grew quickly and were able to take newly hatched brine shrimp after 7 days. They weren't too active, but then, the parents were not flighty either. I don't think that I lost a single fry.
Unfortunately, a disease outbreak killed my breeders after I had passed on all the fry. At present, there are only the normal coloured Cherry Barbs in the fish room, and they are giving me as much pleasure as the parents. I highly recommend them to any hobbyist, even if only to add some colour to a living room community style tank.
Copyright 2009 Durham Region Aquarium Society. All rights reserved. Last updated November 05, 2009.
