Isabella

Oh my God, God, God ... folks, you won't believe what happened !!! You've GOTTA help me quickly !!!

I've got a plant order today (another one still to receive on Sunday - but that's not what's important now), and as I was removing my old Vallisnerias from the tank, I thought I saw some tiny aquatic bug with the corner of my eye. I leaned over the tank and looked closer ... and OH MY GOD !!! It was a TINY LITTLE BITTY Cherry Barb female! God, I am so excited !!! I've never seen a fish this tiny! It's a miracle I spotted it, and it's a miracle it survived in my tank! The fact it survived is virtually impossible.

I knew my Cherry Barbs were fooling around (I've got adult 3 males and 3 females), but I've never actually thought the babies would ever make it in my tank, as all my other fish would eat them right away. I've got 2 Angelfish so not to mention, they'd be the first to eat fry as tiny as that of the Cherry Barbs.

But, "lo and behold" I found one today! Once again, I have NO IDEA how she made it. She is still so small that she'd fit into her own parents' mouths right now. That's how small she is. Maybe 1/10 of an inch? I tried to take a picture, but it's IMPOSSIBLE to get her in a photo as she's way too small. So all the pictures bellow are terrible quality. But yet you can see it's a beautiful Cherry Barb female I wonder how she escaped the powerful Rena Filstar XP3 canister filter There is NO WAY she could resist the suction of the filter's intake tube, that's how tiny she is.

Now, please tell me HOW DID SHE MAKE IT!? I never even saw her so I never fed her. What did she eat? I never saw her come out for food. She was hidden among the Vals, as I've discovered today. Besides, fry need perfectly clean water, and my water always has 5 - 10 PPM Nitate. So, how did she make it?

For now, I caught her in my fish net and it hangs like that over the tank, submerged in the water. I will run to my LFS tomorrow morning to buy a breeding net and I'll put her there.

Folks, WHAT do I feed her with? Will crumbled flakes be enough? Or should I buy baby brine shrimp?

Now, how will I perform my water changes in the tank with the breeding net hanging over it? The water level will go below the breeding net when I do my water changes. What do I do?!

Should I move her to my 10 gallon Q tank? The pH in the Q tank is 6.8 - 6.9, and the pH in the tank she's in right now is 7.8 That's a huge difference in pH. Could the difference kill her if I transferred her?

Please help me and my tiny bitty lonely survivor Cherry Barb!

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	Baby Cherry Barb 2.JPG (384.4 KB, 32 views)

Allie

We found a miracle diamond tetra fry months ago...we just kept it in the tank. It's now alomst the size of it's mom...it's a female

Isabella

I'm so happy for you Allie Diamond Tetras are gorgeous fish

I guess I am so excited because I've never had any fish that are egg-scatterers reproduce in my tanks. I only raised Angels myself, and the rest of fish never reproduced. Or if they did, the fry didn't make it. I am so happy to see this little survivor!

purple_phoenix

Rather than a breeding net, I bought a floating betta display box. At least then, water levels don't affect it. Your cherry barb's so tiny (and cute) !!

Butterfly

Congrats!!! She has probably been nibbling on little bits of hidden algae, or the critters that naturally grow on plants and rocks. she probably been hiding it the plants, its amazing how determined to survive fry can be sometimes tiny crished flakes should be fine.
Scoop a bowl under the net, take it out, then do your water changes Keep us posted!
Carol

Isabella

Thank you Carol and Purple Phoenix And I am determined as well to help her stay alive and grow! Looks like I'll have 7 Cherry Barbs, lol.

Phoenix, like a floating breeding net? That would be GREAT if I could find it at my LFS. This way, there would be no problems with water changes If I won't find it, I'll buy a regular breeding net, and during water changes, I'll do what Carol has suggested

Thanks for your quick help!

Butterfly

WOW!! We were all typing at the same time! LOL
Carol

purple_phoenix

I'll describe it to you... I would do a quick picture of mine, but I'm too scared to go downstairs and get the camera cos it's nearly midnight + I'd be in trouble

I's basically a clear plastic, topless 'box', and handles on the side which trap air between the tops of them and the water, making it float. There are little slits in the side and everything, so water's always passing through to be filtered. They usually have an insert if you want to put pregnant fish in there, so that the fry fall to the bottom, and the adult can't eat them. If you're still interested, I can sort you out a picture tomorrow morning, but it would probably just be easier to go by Butterfly's idea with the bowl and breeding net.

Hope it all goes well for you!

Isabella

LOL, yes I know! It's all the little Cherry's fault! You should have seen my face when I realized I was looking at a baby Cherry Barb in my own tank, lol. If my jaw were detachable, it would have been dumped right into the tank, lol.

Phoenix, no, please don't bother with the pic But thank you for trying to help I know what the nets look like, more or less

Barbrella

I remember it was my niece who saw the two baby cherry barbs in my tank. I was just as excited as you are.

It's such a thrill to find unexpected fry. Yours is too cute and looks like it has colour already so probably a boy!

I would do as suggested and keep it in the same tank in the breeding net with a plant to make it feel secure from the other fish.
Cherry barbs are very hardy and I'm sure that baby will be fine.

Isabella

Thank you Barbrella You think it's a boy? I thought it's a female because of the vivid black stripe along its body. Plus she shows orange color, like that of the Cherry Barb female's. But I've never had Cherry Barbs this small, so maybe you're right, maybe it's a male?

Kevin

i just got a good idea, get a feeding ring, and put some of the breeding net material/pantyhose around it, and let it float around
...hope i'm not to late

Butterfly

what an excellent idea!! You could use the instructions in DIY for the bigger feeding ring and attach a net like kevin suggested.
carol

Kevin

thanks...every now and then i seem pretty smart

Butterfly

yep I know what you mean
Carol

Allie

I am excited for you. It's been really cool watching our little one grow....now I have my kribs to watch.

Isabella

Kevin, that's a GREAT idea! THANKS!

Folks, any idea how fast Cherry Barb babies grow?

voiceless_kat

Congrats, I can feel your excietment. He is adorable. Hope you keep us posted with updates and pics. I am excited now too...LOL! Val

Tom

Congrats on the fry. I am surprised that the eggs even survived with the CAE in the tank. Hope the little one does well. I noticed my b.neons and my harlequins all doing the little dance with a few other fish when I turned on my lights, so I might be expecting some little ones in the next few days. But this isn't about me, it is about you and your fry.
Tom

Isabella

Yeah, the dance! I see my Cherry Barbs all the time swimming in circles, flaring their fins, and sort of wigglig their tails. LOL, that's so cute

COBettaCouple

congrats on the beautiful miracle fry! .. yea, if you can have a secure netting that the fry would be safe in - that would be best.. otherwise i'd do a super gradual drip acclimation to the Q tank's water & temp.

we've not had any barbs yet, so i wish i had more advice on their fry to give, but i think you've got the situation in hand and will give that fry the best it can have.

Isabella

All righty, I already have the breeding "equipment" I bought a breeding net that is attached to the trim of the tank, and also a bought a floating breeding box. The baby will be in the breeding net all the time, and during water changes, it will be in the floating breeding box I've also bought baby brine shrimp because the baby's mouth is so small I don't think it can eat flakes yet. I mean, it probably can eat finely crushed flakes, but it's still a baby so it needs more nutrition than just flakes. I think frozen BBS should be OK. After all, I've raised healthy Angels on it.

Now, that I know for a fact that my Cherry Barbs are actively breeding, the breeding equipment will come in handy if I ever find some survivor(s) again The one I have is only one survivor. I wonder how many didn't make it so far

Allie

Baby brine shrimp is best for most baby fishies, especially ones that eat "meat". IMO.

Isabella

Hey Allie I actually don't know if Cherry Barb babies are supposed to eat BBS ... lol. But I know my adult Cherry Barbs like brine shrimp, so I figured it would be good to give baby brine shrimp to the baby Cherry Barb I think I'll name her "Survivor" haha . By the way, she appears to love the BBS

Here are some pictures of the breeding net and the baby. Sorry once again for the poor quality, but as I've said before, she's way too small to photograph, unless one has camera lens for photography of tiny objects (my lens is very regular, so it can't take pictures of objects this small).

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	DSC_0011.JPG (196.3 KB, 12 views)
	DSC_0010.JPG (144.4 KB, 6 views)

COBettaCouple

do you think hikari first bites would be good and/or a little bit of egg yolk and/or crushed thawed frozen pea? (for variety)

Isabella

No idea ... but that sounds interesting I'll try to prepare these foods But ... first tell me how, lol Boiled or raw egg yolk? Boiled peas? From a can, or freshly bought? Do I mix the egg yolk with the peas, or what? Then you freeze the mix? Never heard of fish eating egg yolk, lol.

Butterfly

The egg yolk has to be boiled - hard. the just put a tiny bit in the tank. But it can foul the tank very easily. I had better luck with the Hikari first bites. I was too messy with the egg yolk.
Carol

COBettaCouple

oops.. yea, i should've specified it should be just a little bit of crushed boiled yolk.. and it is messy.

Isabella

All right, the yolk and peas, and Hikari first bites if my LFS has them Thanks

P.S. What kind of food are these "first bites"? What is this food made of? I have Hikari's frozen brine shrimp, baby bs, and bloodworms. Never heard of Hikari's "first bites".

EDIT: Never mind, I'll google it (Carol, you know what I'm talking about, lol . I just realized I'm doing it too!)

COBettaCouple

first bites are made from the first bite that adult bettas take out of other fish. it's all dried and ground up for a yummy food.