Pregnant mama cherry barb

[J-T-T]

I am not intentionally breeding my cherry barbs so this is more of an info question than any thing.
I have a mama that has a huge tummy that she seems to have had for a super long time. Is there any way to know how long she is going to hang on to her eggs? Second, does it cause her issues that she is holding them for so long and what looks to be so much?
I'll try to get a picture for you
Thanx!!

[J-T-T]

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by J-T-T

I am not intentionally breeding my cherry barbs so this is more of an info question than any thing.
I have a mama that has a huge tummy that she seems to have had for a super long time. Is there any way to know how long she is going to hang on to her eggs? Second, does it cause her issues that she is holding them for so long and what looks to be so much?
I'll try to get a picture for you
Thanx!!

The good news is that she is not pregnant. In order to be pregnant, there needs to be a fertilized egg in there which she does not have. The correct term is that she is "gravid" which means she is carrying eggs. Since the eggs don't get fertilized until they are out of her body, she cannot be pregnant. Hope that clarifies things for you

With that all being said, she can go a lifetime without spawning and releasing her eggs. If you have a male in there with her however, most likely, after a water change, she will spawn with him and the eggs will either be eaten by your other fish or by the parents themselves so don't be surprised. IF you are lucky enough to have an egg or fry escape notice until it becomes free swimming, you can consider yourself lucky because that doesn't happen often. If you do want to breed them on purpose, feel free to PM me for instructions


Hope this helps

[J-T-T]

Thanks very helpful info!!!
I kinda knew about the egg thing but wasn't sure about the proper terms so thanx again. I will keep an eye out as we have quite a few males. Started with just 4 barbs 1 male and 3 females about a year. A few weeks after I got them home I started freaking out that I had tiny worms in my tank. : ) come to find that they were fry. Had no clue at the the time what the deal was and every pet store I called told it wasn't possible cause they are supposed to be eaten up. I have about 15 cherry barbs now. The males out number the females. But am afraid to get more females because they are stocking my tank for me and don't want to get to many for my tank. If any survive this time. I may have to set up a tank just for my barbs!!!!

[Scottyhorse]

Uh-Oh... I've got 5 Gold Barbs, one male and 4 females... I don't think the other fish would appreciate having 15 of those little buggers swimming around.. LOL

[J-T-T]

Lol. They are really not supposed to survive. Apparently they are 'good grub' for everyone in the tank. I must have gotten lucky with all the plants and stuff in my tank, they found lots of places to hide out and stay safe. Pretty cool experience though. My son thought it was the best thing ever and watched them grow up from tiny little things.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by J-T-T

Thanks very helpful info!!!
I kinda knew about the egg thing but wasn't sure about the proper terms so thanx again. I will keep an eye out as we have quite a few males. Started with just 4 barbs 1 male and 3 females about a year. A few weeks after I got them home I started freaking out that I had tiny worms in my tank. : ) come to find that they were fry. Had no clue at the the time what the deal was and every pet store I called told it wasn't possible cause they are supposed to be eaten up. I have about 15 cherry barbs now. The males out number the females. But am afraid to get more females because they are stocking my tank for me and don't want to get to many for my tank. If any survive this time. I may have to set up a tank just for my barbs!!!!

Or sell the overage back to the pet store

[Scottyhorse]

Originally Posted by J-T-T

Lol. They are really not supposed to survive. Apparently they are 'good grub' for everyone in the tank. I must have gotten lucky with all the plants and stuff in my tank, they found lots of places to hide out and stay safe. Pretty cool experience though. My son thought it was the best thing ever and watched them grow up from tiny little things.

It would be pretty fun to save some, but I don't think I would be able to get the eggs away in time Lol

[J-T-T]

See and that was just it. We understood how nature should have worked and had the life cycle talk as they can get eaten for awhile until they get big enough to fit in. But every one we found survived with absolute no help from us. We feed them baby food of course and did a lot of yelling thru the tank at the adults when we saw them hovering LOL. But they all made it they and now some are bigger than the 'originals'. I would say if you do notice a few. Give them something to hide under ( with a window for you) and maybe one or two will survive! It is pretty cool

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by J-T-T

See and that was just it. We understood how nature should have worked and had the life cycle talk as they can get eaten for awhile until they get big enough to fit in. But every one we found survived with absolute no help from us. We feed them baby food of course and did a lot of yelling thru the tank at the adults when we saw them hovering LOL. But they all made it they and now some are bigger than the 'originals'. I would say if you do notice a few. Give them something to hide under ( with a window for you) and maybe one or two will survive! It is pretty cool

Very true and you were very lucky. It looks like there is a wealth of plant life and/or hiding places that the fry had to go to and be safe. Also, live plants tend to harbor infusoria cultures so they must have fed on that until they were large enough for you to see. Time to "accidentally" breed some more