Barbs not have good reputation due to their fin-nipping behavior. But cherry barb have there own level. These are peaceful social fish. This two inches schooling fish have mild manner and moved with the other community fish. The cherry barb fish belongs to the Cyprinidae family.
The scientific name this tropical water cherry barb is Rohanella titteya. The another name of the fish is Puntius titteya, and are found in the rainforests of sri Lanka and an island country of southern tip of india.
Moreover, this is a popular aquarium fish due to its vibrant color. This fish is important in aquarium trade, but always threatened by the excessive collection and loss of habitat.
Vibrant color and appearance
If we talk about their appearance they are of vibrant red colored. The male fish are bright cherry red color and female fish are tennis red color. Both have black horizontal lines running down to the sides of the body. Some cherry barbs are tan to dark brown color having highlights of red and orange.
Few people think that cherry barbs are aggressive. But no its not true. This is an free and easy fish which is good for home aquarium.
Aquarium set up for cherry barbs
The fish habitat is tropical stream with a lot of plants that drop their leaves and stick to the water tank. Rohanella titteya lived in the wild range of water conditions. The water level should be top and mid-dweller. Moreover, the ph level of water should be soft to hard and in between 6.0 to 8.0 level. The aquarium or tank size should be 25 gallon. And if you want the crimson coloration set up the planted aquarium for full greenery. This will improves the environment and give them the place to take shelter.
The aquarist should know about the suitable tank mates of their fish. Their tank mates includes some other barbs species, such as rosy barb and black ruby barb. For splash of color you can add tetras fish in your tank. The common tetra species are neon tetra and buenos aries tetra.
The cherry barb is from tropical climate and their natural habitat is more shaded, shallow and clam thank tank or aquarium water.
Cherry Barb Breeding
Cherry barbs is easy to breed, for egg layers. Interesting thing here is that the adult fish eat their own eggs and fry, there should be dense plants for the survival of the fry. If you need better results should use separate tank for mature breeding with a mesh to protect eggs. Keep the water warm with a sponge filter and with slightly acidic to neutral pH level. Eggs will hatch with in 2 weeks and begin to swim shortly. Feed them the powdered food until they large enough for brine shrimp.
Difference in Gender
During breeding, male fish color become bright red, whereas female fish color remains normal and lighter. At the time of breeding the horizontal lines on their bodies remains prominent. Female cherry barb fish body changes to rounder during fertilization, whereas male stay slim. Besides breeding, the difference between the gender is less noticeable.
Cherry Barb Feeding
When it comes to feed a cherry barb, eat mix of insects, worms and algae. To meet their nutritional meet they should be provided with varied diet of frozen, dry and live food. As they have small mouth so nano pellet, spirulina flakes and other tiny food works well. Some foods are used to enhance their color so it is prefer to give them the red ingredients for example krill flakes and also specialized fry food.
In the last… Cherry barbs is a peaceful, tropical and vibrant color fish. They are native of Sri Lanka rainforest and best for community tanks. Male fish of this specie are bright red and female fish are lighter in color with black horizontal lines on it. They inhabit in planted tanks which are full or greenery with normal pH level in water. The Rohanella titteya or Puntius titteya are easy to bred, they can eat their own eggs. So it is suggested to use dense tanks for protection. As this fish specie is omnivores, the feed of this fish is algae, small insects and prepared food. It is preferred to provide them the red food for good color and health.
Read more at PawFile.