AlaskaFishGirl
- #1
Female cherry barbs seem to be the only fry surviving in my tank. This is not a big deal to me as I'm not trying to breed them on purpose. I'm just curious. Just one or two have survived for maybe four breeding cycles. I started off with 5 males and 3 female cherry barbs (it was a mail order and I couldn't choose the sex). At first, I was worried about too many males but it hasn't been a problem. My tank is planted with lots of other fish and the male barbs do a little chasing but that's about all. So, I'm wondering 1) is this just random and the females are the only ones surviving by chance or 2) are the adult males identifying the baby males and eating them? The female stripes seem to be present when they are teeny tiny. At first, I thought maybe all the fry had stripes and grew out of them as a possible form of protection. But nope...they all grew into adult females. I know only a few cherry barb fry will likely survive anyway. I have corys and cardinals and honey gourami who would probably eat the scattered eggs. Again, I'm not trying to breed anything, I'm just curious. I know I'll have to get rid of some of the barbs for space issues, which I'm not worried about either. (Note on breeding: Anyone wanting to breed cherry barbs, I'd suggest the floating guppy grass, the little fry hang out in there. Also, no surviving cory fry anymore once I introduced the cherry barbs.)