Hi, I have been breeding livebearers for some time now but I am interested in breeding tiger barbs,so obviously I know nothing about breeding or even sexing them so I am hoping someone out there could give me a helping hand.
Toni!
Breeding Tiger Barbs?
- Thread starter tonilee7
- Start date
Hi, I have been breeding livebearers for some time now but I am interested in breeding tiger barbs,so obviously I know nothing about breeding or even sexing them so I am hoping someone out there could give me a helping hand.
Toni!
First off, I'd suggest you provide us with some more information on your tank(s), what they contain at the moment (species and number of each), how many gallons each is, your water parameters in each tank (ie: are they cycled?) and then an indication of where you'd keep 7 (or more) tiger barbs would be useful.
As for breeding them...
You can sex them by looking at their colors as males have a brighter, deeper red on their snout and fin tips. The leucistic (the orange-ish ones) version is a little more difficult to sex because the difference in brightness is less obvious than in the wild-type or green barbs. Still, females are somewhat fatter-looking or more rounded over-all so that's a good indicator as well. If you look carefuly, when the natura-colored males are breeding or sparring, their normaly black stripes take on a mettalic green iridescence and the edges of scales on his upper body will turn very dark.
Because they are less inbred, the natural colored tigers are healthier and easier to breed than the various color morphs so I'd suggest starting with a group of at least 7 of those.
Keep in mind that tiger barbs are notorious fin nippers so may not be ideal tankmates for any community fish you may already have. You mentioned livebearers - any long-finned guppies, swordtails, mollies etc will get nipped. Having said that, the larger the barb's school, the less trouble they'll cause.
Also keep in mind that tiger barbs are very sensitive to bad water quality or fluctuations and show it (though it won't usualy kill them) and are unlikely to spawn in less-than-perfect conditions of their own accord.
The first thing I'd suggest you do is find yourself a tank you can use to keep the breeding barbs in temporarily while they spawn and then to raise the fry in. The main tank you put the barbs in should be at least 30 gallons but this 'breeding tank' can be somewhat smaller (but still has to be relatively large or you'll struggle to raise the fry to a decent size). Obviously, the tank needs a heater and a cover. Lights are optional but some weak lighting is a very good idea. Get a sponge filter for filtration and run this in the main tank for a week before you start the breeding process. This'll ensure your breeding tank is fully cycled when you first add the adults to it. Move the sponge filter into the breeding tank at the same time as adding the female. If you can keep it stable, a slightly acidic pH is ideal for the breeding tank.
Because tiger barbs are egg-scatterers and will eat their own eggs if they can get to them, it's a good idea to use the same technique employed by danio breeders and cover the bare bottom of the tank with marbles rather than your usual substrate. This will mean that, when the eggs are layed, they sink between the gaps and the parents can't get at them.
Pick a male and female from your main school. Put them in seperate tanks (you can move the female - and sponge filter - to the breeding tank now). It's now time to condition them on high quality, rich foods - frozen and live bloodworms, blackworms, brine shrimp, daphnia etc all work. You may also want to increase the frequency of feeding but make sure you increase the number of water changes/gravel vacuums at this point as water quality has to be excellent. Keep this up until the female is noticeably heavy with eggs (gravid).
The breeding tank should be at a temp. of about 78-79 deg F when you add the female. Once she's looking gravid, add the male. It may come in handy, at this point, to have left some plastic plants int eh tank for the fish to hide in if things don't go to plan. The male will, hopefuly, take on a head-down stance and display to her and, usualy the next day, they'll spawn. the parents are likely to eat a lot of the eggs - even with the marbles there - but many will survive. Soem people suggest feeding them to distract them. I would not suggest this unless you sue something like freeze-dried bloodworm that doesn't sink (or else the food will get caught up with the eggs int eh marbles, rot, mess up the water and cause your eggs to fungus).
As soon as they stop spawning, take both adults out. Then go over each marble (this is the most tedious part), checking to see if there are eggs on them. Gently scrape any that are on marbles off. Take all the marbles/fake plants etc out, leaving only the eggs, heater and sponge filter. Over the next couple of days, remove any eggs that turn white.
They'll hatch after about 2 days but you shouldn't feed them until they are free-swimming (5 or so days old). Make sure you have food ready for them at this point. They are still much too small to eat flake - even criushed flake they struggle with. Commercial egg-layer fry foods are ok but starting your own culture of infusoria, and later baby brine shrimp is better (check the betta forum for info on other small live foods as baby gouramies eat the same stuff and I think that section has a pinned article on this).
As the fry grow, powedered flake should be incoroporated into their diet so they get used to it. Later crushed flake, and finaly full-sized flake, will be possible. From the moment you start feeding, make sure you are performing water changes on a regular basis and avoid feeding too many times a day (though 2-3 times is good). When performing water changes, you are likely to suck up fry when you are syphoning. Don't worry - just syphon it all into a white or light-colored bucket so you can see the fry to return them to the tank.
A warning at this point - female tiger barbs hold from 200 to around 700 eggs. Though all will not survive, even the small fraction you'll raise to maturity is a large number. Make sure you have somewhere to put them while they grow to a sell-able size ond make sure your LFS will take them. You don't want to end up with 250 unwanted tiger barbs! Partly because of this, it's also important the breeding tank is no smaller than 20 gallons.
If you have more questions, first search the forum and keep in mind that tiger barbs are about the same to breed as most other barbs, danios or rasboras so you can use info on them as well. Also check www.google.com , the fish index (not just the tiger barbs - like I said, many fish are the same to breed) and, finaly, if you still have questions, ask in the cyprinids section where this should have gone to begin with and would have recieved more replies.
Good luck!
BTW, I'm still interested to know the answers to my first few questions at the very start of this reply
As for breeding them...
You can sex them by looking at their colors as males have a brighter, deeper red on their snout and fin tips. The leucistic (the orange-ish ones) version is a little more difficult to sex because the difference in brightness is less obvious than in the wild-type or green barbs. Still, females are somewhat fatter-looking or more rounded over-all so that's a good indicator as well. If you look carefuly, when the natura-colored males are breeding or sparring, their normaly black stripes take on a mettalic green iridescence and the edges of scales on his upper body will turn very dark.
Because they are less inbred, the natural colored tigers are healthier and easier to breed than the various color morphs so I'd suggest starting with a group of at least 7 of those.
Keep in mind that tiger barbs are notorious fin nippers so may not be ideal tankmates for any community fish you may already have. You mentioned livebearers - any long-finned guppies, swordtails, mollies etc will get nipped. Having said that, the larger the barb's school, the less trouble they'll cause.
Also keep in mind that tiger barbs are very sensitive to bad water quality or fluctuations and show it (though it won't usualy kill them) and are unlikely to spawn in less-than-perfect conditions of their own accord.
The first thing I'd suggest you do is find yourself a tank you can use to keep the breeding barbs in temporarily while they spawn and then to raise the fry in. The main tank you put the barbs in should be at least 30 gallons but this 'breeding tank' can be somewhat smaller (but still has to be relatively large or you'll struggle to raise the fry to a decent size). Obviously, the tank needs a heater and a cover. Lights are optional but some weak lighting is a very good idea. Get a sponge filter for filtration and run this in the main tank for a week before you start the breeding process. This'll ensure your breeding tank is fully cycled when you first add the adults to it. Move the sponge filter into the breeding tank at the same time as adding the female. If you can keep it stable, a slightly acidic pH is ideal for the breeding tank.
Because tiger barbs are egg-scatterers and will eat their own eggs if they can get to them, it's a good idea to use the same technique employed by danio breeders and cover the bare bottom of the tank with marbles rather than your usual substrate. This will mean that, when the eggs are layed, they sink between the gaps and the parents can't get at them.
Pick a male and female from your main school. Put them in seperate tanks (you can move the female - and sponge filter - to the breeding tank now). It's now time to condition them on high quality, rich foods - frozen and live bloodworms, blackworms, brine shrimp, daphnia etc all work. You may also want to increase the frequency of feeding but make sure you increase the number of water changes/gravel vacuums at this point as water quality has to be excellent. Keep this up until the female is noticeably heavy with eggs (gravid).
The breeding tank should be at a temp. of about 78-79 deg F when you add the female. Once she's looking gravid, add the male. It may come in handy, at this point, to have left some plastic plants int eh tank for the fish to hide in if things don't go to plan. The male will, hopefuly, take on a head-down stance and display to her and, usualy the next day, they'll spawn. the parents are likely to eat a lot of the eggs - even with the marbles there - but many will survive. Soem people suggest feeding them to distract them. I would not suggest this unless you sue something like freeze-dried bloodworm that doesn't sink (or else the food will get caught up with the eggs int eh marbles, rot, mess up the water and cause your eggs to fungus).
As soon as they stop spawning, take both adults out. Then go over each marble (this is the most tedious part), checking to see if there are eggs on them. Gently scrape any that are on marbles off. Take all the marbles/fake plants etc out, leaving only the eggs, heater and sponge filter. Over the next couple of days, remove any eggs that turn white.
They'll hatch after about 2 days but you shouldn't feed them until they are free-swimming (5 or so days old). Make sure you have food ready for them at this point. They are still much too small to eat flake - even criushed flake they struggle with. Commercial egg-layer fry foods are ok but starting your own culture of infusoria, and later baby brine shrimp is better (check the betta forum for info on other small live foods as baby gouramies eat the same stuff and I think that section has a pinned article on this).
As the fry grow, powedered flake should be incoroporated into their diet so they get used to it. Later crushed flake, and finaly full-sized flake, will be possible. From the moment you start feeding, make sure you are performing water changes on a regular basis and avoid feeding too many times a day (though 2-3 times is good). When performing water changes, you are likely to suck up fry when you are syphoning. Don't worry - just syphon it all into a white or light-colored bucket so you can see the fry to return them to the tank.
A warning at this point - female tiger barbs hold from 200 to around 700 eggs. Though all will not survive, even the small fraction you'll raise to maturity is a large number. Make sure you have somewhere to put them while they grow to a sell-able size ond make sure your LFS will take them. You don't want to end up with 250 unwanted tiger barbs! Partly because of this, it's also important the breeding tank is no smaller than 20 gallons.
If you have more questions, first search the forum and keep in mind that tiger barbs are about the same to breed as most other barbs, danios or rasboras so you can use info on them as well. Also check www.google.com , the fish index (not just the tiger barbs - like I said, many fish are the same to breed) and, finaly, if you still have questions, ask in the cyprinids section where this should have gone to begin with and would have recieved more replies.
Good luck!
BTW, I'm still interested to know the answers to my first few questions at the very start of this reply
Thanks for that info I think that covered everything, I have a 60 litre tank that is empty at the moment ( I don't know what that is is gallons) it has been running for about 2 weeks all the ph and ammonia levels are good, the only problem I have now is all my green tiger barbs( 4) I think they are all males!!! I have 2 golden tiger barbs I think they may be one of each, so I will give it a try!!! thanks toni
This got moved so it took me a while to find but anyway... 60 litres is only about 15 gallons so isn't realy enough for keeping the barbs in for any amount of time but, as a breeding tank, it might just about cut it. Good luck with them regardless BTW, if you need help sexing your barbs, if you can get them all in the same pick and all side-on (or as close to that as possible), I'll try to sex them for you. The reason I want them all in the same pic is to compare their color as, if the pics are different, it's likely the lighting/angle won't be exactly the same so the colors may vary. If you post some pics of the golden ones side on (don't have to be the same pic as color won't realy matter), I can try, once again, to tell you if they are male or female. Let me mention that I am extremely out of practice with sexing tiger barbs, not having bred them in a long time, but I'll try my best
BTW, if you need help sexing your barbs, if you can get them all in the same pick and all side-on (or as close to that as possible), I'll try to sex them for you. The reason I want them all in the same pic is to compare their color as, if the pics are different, it's likely the lighting/angle won't be exactly the same so the colors may vary. If you post some pics of the golden ones side on (don't have to be the same pic as color won't realy matter), I can try, once again, to tell you if they are male or female. Let me mention that I am extremely out of practice with sexing tiger barbs, not having bred them in a long time, but I'll try my best hello ,i have a problem seximg my tiger barbs,i have 5 of them,3 of them which i think are females( look bigger,the nosses are not as red as the other two)First off, I'd suggest you provide us with some more information on your tank(s), what they contain at the moment (species and number of each), how many gallons each is, your water parameters in each tank (ie: are they cycled?) and then an indication of where you'd keep 7 (or more) tiger barbs would be useful.
As for breeding them...
You can sex them by looking at their colors as males have a brighter, deeper red on their snout and fin tips. The leucistic (the orange-ish ones) version is a little more difficult to sex because the difference in brightness is less obvious than in the wild-type or green barbs. Still, females are somewhat fatter-looking or more rounded over-all so that's a good indicator as well. If you look carefuly, when the natura-colored males are breeding or sparring, their normaly black stripes take on a mettalic green iridescence and the edges of scales on his upper body will turn very dark.
Because they are less inbred, the natural colored tigers are healthier and easier to breed than the various color morphs so I'd suggest starting with a group of at least 7 of those.
Keep in mind that tiger barbs are notorious fin nippers so may not be ideal tankmates for any community fish you may already have. You mentioned livebearers - any long-finned guppies, swordtails, mollies etc will get nipped. Having said that, the larger the barb's school, the less trouble they'll cause.
Also keep in mind that tiger barbs are very sensitive to bad water quality or fluctuations and show it (though it won't usualy kill them) and are unlikely to spawn in less-than-perfect conditions of their own accord.
The first thing I'd suggest you do is find yourself a tank you can use to keep the breeding barbs in temporarily while they spawn and then to raise the fry in. The main tank you put the barbs in should be at least 30 gallons but this 'breeding tank' can be somewhat smaller (but still has to be relatively large or you'll struggle to raise the fry to a decent size). Obviously, the tank needs a heater and a cover. Lights are optional but some weak lighting is a very good idea. Get a sponge filter for filtration and run this in the main tank for a week before you start the breeding process. This'll ensure your breeding tank is fully cycled when you first add the adults to it. Move the sponge filter into the breeding tank at the same time as adding the female. If you can keep it stable, a slightly acidic pH is ideal for the breeding tank.
Because tiger barbs are egg-scatterers and will eat their own eggs if they can get to them, it's a good idea to use the same technique employed by danio breeders and cover the bare bottom of the tank with marbles rather than your usual substrate. This will mean that, when the eggs are layed, they sink between the gaps and the parents can't get at them.
Pick a male and female from your main school. Put them in seperate tanks (you can move the female - and sponge filter - to the breeding tank now). It's now time to condition them on high quality, rich foods - frozen and live bloodworms, blackworms, brine shrimp, daphnia etc all work. You may also want to increase the frequency of feeding but make sure you increase the number of water changes/gravel vacuums at this point as water quality has to be excellent. Keep this up until the female is noticeably heavy with eggs (gravid).
The breeding tank should be at a temp. of about 78-79 deg F when you add the female. Once she's looking gravid, add the male. It may come in handy, at this point, to have left some plastic plants int eh tank for the fish to hide in if things don't go to plan. The male will, hopefuly, take on a head-down stance and display to her and, usualy the next day, they'll spawn. the parents are likely to eat a lot of the eggs - even with the marbles there - but many will survive. Soem people suggest feeding them to distract them. I would not suggest this unless you sue something like freeze-dried bloodworm that doesn't sink (or else the food will get caught up with the eggs int eh marbles, rot, mess up the water and cause your eggs to fungus).
As soon as they stop spawning, take both adults out. Then go over each marble (this is the most tedious part), checking to see if there are eggs on them. Gently scrape any that are on marbles off. Take all the marbles/fake plants etc out, leaving only the eggs, heater and sponge filter. Over the next couple of days, remove any eggs that turn white.
They'll hatch after about 2 days but you shouldn't feed them until they are free-swimming (5 or so days old). Make sure you have food ready for them at this point. They are still much too small to eat flake - even criushed flake they struggle with. Commercial egg-layer fry foods are ok but starting your own culture of infusoria, and later baby brine shrimp is better (check the betta forum for info on other small live foods as baby gouramies eat the same stuff and I think that section has a pinned article on this).
As the fry grow, powedered flake should be incoroporated into their diet so they get used to it. Later crushed flake, and finaly full-sized flake, will be possible. From the moment you start feeding, make sure you are performing water changes on a regular basis and avoid feeding too many times a day (though 2-3 times is good). When performing water changes, you are likely to suck up fry when you are syphoning. Don't worry - just syphon it all into a white or light-colored bucket so you can see the fry to return them to the tank.
A warning at this point - female tiger barbs hold from 200 to around 700 eggs. Though all will not survive, even the small fraction you'll raise to maturity is a large number. Make sure you have somewhere to put them while they grow to a sell-able size ond make sure your LFS will take them. You don't want to end up with 250 unwanted tiger barbs! Partly because of this, it's also important the breeding tank is no smaller than 20 gallons.
If you have more questions, first search the forum and keep in mind that tiger barbs are about the same to breed as most other barbs, danios or rasboras so you can use info on them as well. Also check www.google.com , the fish index (not just the tiger barbs - like I said, many fish are the same to breed) and, finaly, if you still have questions, ask in the cyprinids section where this should have gone to begin with and would have recieved more replies.
Good luck!
BTW, I'm still interested to know the answers to my first few questions at the very start of this reply
i recently tried to breed them,and i separated them to the breeding tank,but those 3 which i think are females started to fight exactly as males do...so im a bid confused know,do i have 5 males barbs???!!!or females fight too ?
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