Sumatran barbus is a very beautiful, mobile and spectacular fish. For keeping in a home aquarium, it fits just fine. Barbs are schooling fish and, unfortunately, quite aggressive. They are usually kept in aquariums without neighbors and in large enough quantities. Of course, if you want at home, you can try and breed these beautiful fish. The spawning of a Sumatran ordinary or red barbus should, of course, occur in a separate container. At the same time, manufacturers should be selected as carefully as possible by the aquarist.
Spawning: preparation
Sumatran barbs live in the aquariums of many lovers of underwater fauna. However, they, of course, do not always show a desire for reproduction. In order for barbs to spawn, they need to create suitable conditions. Firstly, fish should be fed as diverse a variety of foods as possible. It is especially important to give barbs more protein food.
Secondly, for the fish you will need to purchase a separate spawning aquarium. The inside of such a container should be thoroughly disinfected. The volume of spawning should not be less than 10 liters. Experienced aquarists believe that it is best to acquire a capacity of 20 liters for laying eggs with barbs.
Soil to the bottom of such an aquarium does not need to be laid. Instead, a special synthetic fiber and separator mesh should be put in the spawning ground. Instead of artificial material, a large amount of Javanese moss can be placed in the aquarium. Next, the spawning should be equipped with a filter, for example, airlift. Be sure to install a compressor in such an aquarium, of course. Spawning water should be oxygenated.
Conditions
Thus, spawning of the Sumatran barbus is possible only with good feeding. Also, fish need to create special conditions similar to those under which they lay their eggs in the wild. The water temperature in spawning should not fall below 25-27 ° C. In this case, the level of rigidity in the aquarium should be tried to reduce to 8 dH. Sumatran barbs spawn in the wild during the rainy season. Water in reservoirs during this period becomes soft precisely because of the large amount of rainfall replenished. Changing environmental parameters also serves as a signal for the beginning of spawning for barbs.
Water for spawning these fish at home needs to be prepared, therefore, in a special way. 3-4 days before spawning in spawning, pour water from the tap (2/3) and distilled (1/3). The result is a mild environment in which the fish will certainly begin to spawn. Experienced aquarists advise, among other things, to add a little salt to the water in the spawning. It is believed that this improves the fertility of eggs. You need to add a little salt to the aquarium - 1 tsp. for 10 liters
There is no need to pour too much water into the spawning grounds. A level of 20-25 cm will suffice. Blow water with a compressor before spawning barbs should be at least 3 days.
What you need to know
Feed barbs before spawning should, therefore, animal, rich in protein foods. However, care must be taken to ensure that the water in the aquarium is not too warm. Otherwise, the fish may gobble up. This will ultimately lead to the fact that they will not spawn at all. Of course, for the same reason, you can not keep fish on a protein diet for too long. In a normal period, the content of Sumatran barbs in the aquarium involves the use of a sufficiently large amount of plant food.
When spawning occurs
Before spawning of different types of fish, aquarists often plant males and females for some time. This can be a good incentive for spawning. Of course, Sumatran grannies can also be planted. However, according to experienced aquarists, this is not necessary. With suitable water parameters and good feeding, these fish will most likely not refuse to spawn without jigging.
Of course, barbs in spawning will spawn only if they have already reached puberty. These fish are usually ready for breeding at the age of 5–9 months.
Which manufacturers to choose
Sumatran red and striped barbs - schooling flocks. However, group spawning at home is usually ineffective. Therefore, for breeding, the owner of the aquarium will have to choose two of the healthiest and most beautiful producers - a male and a female. It is believed that rather fast, but not too aggressive, medium-sized barbs are suitable for spawning.
You can, of course, try to breed these fish in a group way. In this case, spawning should ultimately end up with 50% of females and 50% of males.
Of course, weakened Sumatran barbs, sick, too small, with developmental defects, should not be allowed to spawn. From such fish it will be impossible to get high-quality caviar. In addition, fry from such producers subsequently hatch sick and non-viable.
Useful advice
If the spawning of Sumatran barbs is not group, but paired, special attention should be paid to the choice of a female. In this case, experienced aquarists advise taking only “fluid” individuals for breeding. In such females, when pressed on the abdomen, small droplets of caviar stand out.
At the same male barbus, the testes and testicles should be enlarged. With a little pressure on them, such fish also produce milk.
How spawning occurs: milestones
To get caviar from Sumatran barbs, the water in the spawning needs to be warmed up in the evening. Next, the fish themselves are launched into the aquarium prepared in this way (after adaptation). It is not necessary to feed manufacturers. Spawning should be placed in the apartment in such a way that in the morning the sun's rays would fall inside.
Barbel spawning usually begins in the morning. Males at this time actively pursue females. Further, in the thickets of moss, the fish, closely clinging to each other, lay eggs. At the same time, each pair leaves behind 6-8 eggs. The laying of caviar at Sumatran barbs usually lasts 2-3 hours. After this time, the fish should be removed from the spawning grounds to a separate aquarium. In total, a small group of barbs usually lays several hundred eggs in spawning.
Important
After spawning, the female Sumatrans barbus should definitely squeeze the remains of caviar. To do this, you need to stroke the fish towards the anus, gently holding it with two fingers. If this procedure is neglected, the female may subsequently develop a cyst, which will make her incapable of reproduction.
Of course, it is sharply impossible to transplant barb-producers from a spawning ground into a common aquarium. The fish must first be adapted to other environmental parameters in a standard way. The temperature in the general aquarium is usually lower than in the spawning ground.
What to do with caviar?
After the fish are transplanted, the water in the spawning should be partially replaced with more fresh. At the same time, its level should be reduced by about 10 cm. Also, a little methylene blue should be added to the aquarium. Next spawning should be a little shaded. It is imperative to remove the Sumatran barbs from the depositor after masonry. Otherwise, they will subsequently necessarily try to eat caviar or fry that have been born.
12 hours after spawning, you can remove the net from the aquarium by first shaking off the adhering eggs from it.
Caviar yield
Barbuses - fish are quite prolific. The yield of fry from their eggs, depending on the parameters of the water and the quality of the producers, can reach 50-90%. Unfertilized fish "eggs" from the spawning aquarium in any case will need to be removed. Such caviar differs from fertilized white. After adding methylene blue to the water, it will become clearly visible.
It is imperative to remove unfertilized eggs from spawning, at least partially. Otherwise, a fungus begins to develop on it. And this, in turn, can lead to infection of fertilized eggs and the death of fry.
Hatching
The fry of the Sumatran barbus begin to be born the very next day after spawning. Subsequently, for 3-5 days (depending on the temperature of the water) they hang on the plants and glass of the aquarium in the form of small transparent sucker larvae. Spawning at this moment turns into a jailer for the fry of the Sumtaran grandmother. During this period, the larvae still do not eat anything. They get nutrients from the yolk sac.
After 3-5 days, fingerlings begin to swim and eat. The best food for them at this moment is considered to be Artemia. You can also feed fry with special dry food and egg yolk. Young animals acquire a characteristic coloration of Sumatran barbs 2 weeks after hatching.
How to distinguish a male from a female
For a beginner in the aquarium, all ordinary and red Sumatran barbs look like each other. And indeed, these fishes do not have obvious sexual differences, as, for example, in the same guppies. But still it will not be too difficult to distinguish a Sumatran male from a female. Even a beginner can easily cope with this task. A photo of the barbs of the Sumatran male and female can be seen below.
Striped boy barbs:
nose, snout, edges of caudal and upper fins are red;
a slender and elongated body.
In females:
In addition, striped barbs are usually much larger than boys. Before spawning, the abdomen in females becomes rounded. You can distinguish male barbs from females by their behavior. Such fish behave much more aggressive.
Approximately by the same signs one can distinguish both males and females of Sumatran red barbs. The body shape of the males will be more elegant and longer, the color will be brighter, and the sizes will be smaller.
Stimulation in a common aquarium
The content of Sumatran barbs is a very interesting matter. But those aquarists who decide to start breeding such fish, among other things, should start to take care of the health of the females. To prevent the cysts from forming, the temperature of the water in the general aquarium needs to be raised from time to time to 28 ° C. To create such conditions in a tank with fish should be about 2 days. This stimulates the spawning of Sumatran barbs. Caviar fish in the future, of course, eat. But a cyst will not develop in the females that have swept it.
Sumatran barbs spawning in the general aquarium should be stimulated approximately 2-3 times a year. Water needs to be replaced at this time in a slightly larger amount than usual.