[AZGuppyGuy]

Hey guys! I was wondering if anybody has kept cherry barbs, and why a majority of them are hiding in my tank? Please let me know, because I can't find any answers online, and my LFS doesn't have an explanation either.

 

[MoreliaViridis]

How long have you kept them? How many do you have? They were pretty outgoing for me until some of them jumped out.

 

[bigbadjon]

Mine were pretty visible. Do you have male and female? If you haven't had them long they might just be getting used to things.

 

[AZGuppyGuy]

I actually can't tell the difference of the genders 😂 but I have a total of 6 and 3-4 of them are out and about with my guppies, while the other two (a dark red one and one slightly less red, more round stomach one) just hide out in my water wisteria unless it's time to eat.

 

[ichthyogeek]

How well planted is your tank? I think I remember you saying you had just added some, so give it a week for them to get acclimated.

 

[Plinkploop]

When I've kept cherry barbs it has taken them a week or so to settle in then they are little terrors lol. They can get nippy and jumpy. I'd suggest a lid if you notice them getting rambunctious.

 

[MoreliaViridis]

I actually can't tell the difference of the genders 😂 but I have a total of 6 and 3-4 of them are out and about with my guppies, while the other two (a dark red one and one slightly less red, more round stomach one) just hide out in my water wisteria unless it's time to eat.

More deeper pronounced red one is male.
More fatter and more orange than red one is female.
Give them some time. I think they'll do well.

 

[AZGuppyGuy]

4 of them are already schooling (2 newest ones and 2 of them that I got a few days prior). It's just the other two I'd bought that keep hiding in my heavily planted tank. I have huge bunches of water wisteria, pennywort, & moneywort in my left back corner, with dwarf hairgrass beginning to carpet my tank floor, 2 bunches of dwarf sagittarius in the right front corner, and one Utah Ice rock in the back right corner, naturally hiding my sponge filter. They keep hiding in the forest that is all my water wisteria, but only emerge for split seconds just to catch and eat any brine shrimp, TetraColor flakes, or any leftover "Hikari" Fancy Guppy food that happens to fall in front of their "zone".

 

[Plinkploop]

4 of them are already schooling (2 newest ones and 2 of them that I got a few days prior). It's just the other two I'd bought that keep hiding in my heavily planted tank. I have huge bunches of water wisteria, pennywort, & moneywort in my left back corner, with dwarf hairgrass beginning to carpet my tank floor, 2 bunches of dwarf sagittarius in the right front corner, and one Utah Ice rock in the back right corner, naturally hiding my sponge filter. They keep hiding in the forest that is all my water wisteria, but only emerge for split seconds just to catch and eat any brine shrimp, TetraColor flakes, or any leftover "Hikari" Fancy Guppy food that happens to fall in front of their "zone".

Lol at least they're behaving themselves. Mine used to play nip each other in the tail all the time. After watching them jump out because of it I put a screen lid on it, made a cover part of the set up for every cherry barb tank after that 😂 good luck with them!!

 

[AZGuppyGuy]

The 4 of them school with my guppies, surprisingly. And no fin-nipping, either!

Thing is, they were kept with some cichlids at my LFS (don't know why they did that).

 

[Plinkploop]

I have seen some very odd combos at pet stores. The thing with barbs and juvenile sa/ ca cichlids is they are hardy enough to take a beating and give it back. I've had to remove tiger barbs from cichlid set ups because they were harassing the cichlids into hiding 😅 fish are funny like that.

 

[AZGuppyGuy]

Thing is, they were HUGE.

 

[Plinkploop]

Thing is, they were HUGE.

Lol, maybe they knew better ?

 

[AZGuppyGuy]

idk tbh 😂

 

[AjMtz985]

I've had plenty cherry barbs and they were life of the party. Harassed any and everyone.

 

[AZGuppyGuy]

I've had plenty cherry barbs and they were life of the party. Harassed any and everyone.

So from experience, are they naturally shy?

 

[AjMtz985]

So from experience, are they naturally shy?

Maybe at first? Mine weren't shy and got use to seeing me pretty quickly. Were easily the most charismatic fish I had. They also love sand substrate. They'll hang with cory cats and feed on the bottom sifting sometimes.

 

[Aquascaper1]

I have had qty (5) Cherry Barbs in my Live Planted 30 Gallon tank for nearly 11 months and they are doing fine. I also have a Dwarf Gourami, (2) Honey Gouramis, (4) Corys, and (5) Oto catfish, (1) Clown Pleco and recently added a male Beta. They all get along reasonably well. It most likely helps that the plants are thriving and different fish have hiding places from time to time if they desire space.

 

[jmohr820]

I've got a dozen or so cherry barbs in a tank that will chase each other around the tank but never bother any of my other fish. It always amazes me how people can have such different experiences with the same type of fish just dependent on tankmates and tank setup (and the individual personalities of the fish of course).

 

[AZGuppyGuy]

I've got a dozen or so cherry barbs in a tank that will chase each other around the tank but never bother any of my other fish. It always amazes me how people can have such different experiences with the same type of fish just dependent on tankmates and tank setup (and the individual personalities of the fish of course).

Exactly!