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Cherry Barbs Anyone?

10K views 52 replies 13 participants last post by  ADJAquariums 
#1 ·
Well, i can't say im proud... I went to my LFS specifically looking for another Angelfish and instead came home with 6 cherry barbs. This was a complete impulse buy on my part and i was not planning on this, but i got them, 3 males and 3 females. Anyone have anything that i should know about these guys? I know that someone here has a really good wealth of knowledge about keeping these.

Still No camera :(
 
#2 ·
I think they are one of the most underrated, and best, community fish available. When they mature and settle in, both the females and the males are stunningly beautiful. You will enjoy them. I generally try and keep them in a 2m/4f ratio, but you should be fine with what you have.
 
#3 ·
The lady at my LFS also said that they are highly underrated community fish and that was what put me over the edge, also the reds on the males are absolutley stunning and the females are a really nice amber color, i think it was a better pick than another angel would have been
 
#6 ·
Well they are continuing to acclimate as this is going on and so far i like them, my angelfish is being a pain and screwing with them in the bag but it should be better in a bit when they get into the tank, doesnt seem to bother them much
 
#8 ·
Jealous! They're beautiful fish in heavily planted tanks. And they're easy to breed- makes for a fun project.
I'd like to set up a tank one day using them as the centerpiece.

Have you seen long-fin cherry barbs? Pete Mang of Lotsoffish has them for sale on occasion. I've never won an auction for them but they're next on my wishlist!
 
#9 ·
Jealous! They're beautiful fish in heavily planted tanks. And they're easy to breed- makes for a fun project.
I'd like to set up a tank one day using them as the centerpiece.

Have you seen long-fin cherry barbs? Pete Mang of Lotsoffish has them for sale on occasion. I've never won an auction for them but they're next on my wishlist!
I've seen The long finned ones but my LFS didnt carry them, it was sort of a bummer but i am very happy with the regular ones, they add a lot of movement to the tank which i like very much. If i get a 20 up ad going one of these days i will probably do just cherry barbs as my schooling fish in the tank, i think that would look really cool
 
#11 ·
Yes, I agree a very underrated fish for planted tanks. I had 16 outside for the summer. When I brought them in the color intensity was unbelievable. Very deep red on the males the female were a deep coper color. I put 2- trios in my 40. The most dominate male got a goldfish color patch on his nose when the females were gravid. I've had one spawn in the tank that I'm aware of and I have one, now 1" female that survived.

I offer Seaweed sheet strips 1 or two times a week. I get them 16 in a pack from PetCo but they look suspiciously the same as Nori sheets for Sushi. :icon_roll

They are living with Cherry & Amano shrimp without issue. I'm sure they pick off the Amano Zoe and the occasional baby Cherry shrimp. I al;so have a SAE and a few Neon Gobys...no problems there either.
 
#12 ·
I keep cherry barbs. In the beginning when I first started my main tank I put 6 of them in there and every month or so a little fry would appear out of nowhere. As I redid and redid my system the males perished and I was left with 2 females. As I was wandering around petsmart one day I noticed that they had them on sale for $1 so I picked up 2 males and 2 females and put them in the quarantine tank, thinking that the females would appreciate the company. One week to the day I see a crap-ton of fry swimming in the java moss. So I scooped the adults out and put them in the main tank. I now have 40+ cherry barbs almost ready for market!

Love the little suckers.....
 
#16 ·
now to breed these little guys how should i go about it?
Should i take them out of my larger tank and set up a 10 gallon and put in say a male and 2 females, java moss the heck out of the tank? Also what should i do to trigger breeding behaviors?
 
#17 ·
good food and clean water will trigger behavior. They are egg scatterers, and will voraciously eat their own eggs and fry. Because of this it is best to set up a breeding tank, and have another tank available fro either moving the fry, or the parents.
I put latchhook mesh in a u-shape in the bottom of a small breeding tank (5g). I put a lot of moss on top of the mesh. This way, as the barbs drop the eggs, they fall through the mesh. It is easy to lift the mesh to see if there are eggs, and when there are, the parents can be removed, and the mesh lifted out to raise the fry.
 
#19 ·
msjinkzd, I would love to see a picture of that latch hook if you have one. I mean in the tank - when you say U-shape is it upside down? Or...I'm just trying to get a visual on it. I have plenty of cherry barbs! HELP! But I was thinking toward the future. I'd like to breed some flag fish.
 
#20 ·
I dont have a current picture, so i made a REALLY fancy drawing (laugh away, the tank lights are off).

I put moss int he middle. Having it in the "U" shape gives the fish swimming room and allows for the eggs to fall through. Building a false bottom out of mesh works too, but this is SUPER easy to remove and poke around to check for eggs
. Rectangle Font Mesh Parallel Drawing
 
#23 ·
I dont have a current picture, so i made a REALLY fancy drawing (laugh away, the tank lights are off).

I put moss int he middle. Having it in the "U" shape gives the fish swimming room and allows for the eggs to fall through. Building a false bottom out of mesh works too, but this is SUPER easy to remove and poke around to check for eggs
. View attachment 58588
You missed your true calling!
 
#25 · (Edited)
The pre-historic days, in the time before laptops & lattes, we would condition the female(s) in a tank with marbles covering the bottom. When the female(s) were gravid the males were added. After the spawn all adults were moved out. The eggs that fell between the marbles survived.

The downside today is no one under 50 even knows what a marble is. I think all the marbles we had as kids must be in museums.

In my 40 I have patches of Taiwan Moss growing at the base of my crypt patches. Just enough cover for baby shrimp and the occasional fry. I do take a Darwinistic approach to that tank. :smile:
 
#28 ·
Cherry barbs are one of my favorite fish. I recently lost all of mine, I have horrible luck with them. I'm guessing it my LPS's cherry barb supplier, as that's where I got all of mine, about six months ago. The females dropped like flies, some for apparently no reason. The boys all schooled together in the end, and I was going to set up a species tank for just them, so I moved them all back to the QT tank, and then they all came down with ich and died within a day or two.
I miss them, they were such awesome fish!
When I find another supplier, I'm going to snatch more up!
 
#29 ·
i was reading this thread and all the info is good i was wondering how many i should put in a 7.9 gal or should i go with a smaller type of fish entirely i just had an ammo spike and lost all my rasboras and am looking to restock with some barbs all your opinions would be grate currently there are two ottos and a molly im getting rid of the molly tuesday
 
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