Cherry Barbs Anyone?

[ADJAquariums]

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

[msjinkzd]

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.

[ADJAquariums]

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

[msjinkzd]

the females will get really red as well when in breeding dress. These are very docile, as well, for barbs. I do think you will enjoy keeping them.

[tiggity]

I have them and are my favorite in my tank. Very peaceful and hardy. With dark substrate and background along with live plants, they are a nice contrast and their color really pop.

At one point during a visit to my LFS, they had long finned variety and I'm kicking myself for not getting them.

[ADJAquariums]

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

[ADJAquariums]

Is it normal that the males will school more than the females will, i know that they arent really schoolers but...

[gabysapha]

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!

[ADJAquariums]

Originally Posted by gabysapha

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

[~firefly~]

I have 29 of these in my 120 litre. I love them. Lovely fish, really easy to care for - and excellent community nature.

[DogFish]

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.

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.

[m00se]

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.....

[gabysapha]

Originally Posted by DogFish

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.

I actually feed my fish straight up nori. It hasn't killed them, so I guess it's fine. One bite of nori for me, one bite for the fish....

[msjinkzd]

i breed the long finned ones as well

[m00se]

I used to feed nori to my marine fish. I was going to use it to feed the FW fish too but I got the hint that there's a lot of sodium in it so I decided against it. I don't know if that's a valid issue or not.