Well you can imagine my surprise when looking into my small tank full of random plants today and saw a little fish! It's a little cherry barb, probably a female from the colouring. They're the only other egg layer i'd been trying to breed after my prolific bronze cory's. The oddest and most surprising thing was that the adults didn't appear to manage to spawn properly in the breeding tank. Obviously at least one egg survived but has been in an unheated and unfiltered tank on a windowsill over the winter. I packed the breeding tank down before Christmas, and put all the spare plants and the filter sponge in this little tank to keep them fresh(ish). I guess what's saved it apart from it being a pretty robust species, is the tank has loads of detritus in the bottom off rotting plant matter that will have provided enough food for it, and on the window sill it is above a radiator and sometimes in direct sunlight which will have kept just enough heat in the tank for it to survive. I've only noticed one fish (well if there's more than one they're only in view one at a time) but it's encouraged me to have another go at breeding the cherry's properly.
I'm setting up the breeding tank again to put the little cherry barb in to grow it on to a better size before letting it loose in one of my community tanks. Then i'll keep it running to try breeding the adults again.
I'm setting up the breeding tank again to put the little cherry barb in to grow it on to a better size before letting it loose in one of my community tanks. Then i'll keep it running to try breeding the adults again.
excellent! You have to think up a suitable name... Hannah Solo?
