Breeding Barbs?

[octopus44]

This is my first time breeding fish ever. I just put a female barb (whose stomach looks rather large so i assume that she's got some eggs stored up) and a colorful male who has been chasing around the female into a 10 gallon tank to breed.

I have a shallow bed of larger gravel a large flat rock and a plastic plant.

So i have two questions:

First, since this is my first time doing this is their anything in particular that i should know and is this an appropriate set up?

Second, I don't have a filter to spare for this tank (and my car broke down so i cant go get a knew one). Seeing that they will only be in their for a few days, will the fish be fine if I just do partial water changes frequently and add new water from their larger home (since this water is already cycled)?

[cocoa_pleco]

are you sure shes pregnant? how much do you feed the fish per day? she might just be a bit chubby from overeating

[octopus44]

I'm not 100% sure. How do you know for sure? Her belly is pretty big; much larger than the six other barbs that i have in the tank. And there is one barb (the most colorful in the tank) that chases her around and tries to keep the other males from getting to her. I took this as a sign of courtship (or whatever you call it) and a good indication that she was pregnant rather than fat.

[Drumachine09]

Water doesnt cycle. You need to read up on the cycling process.


Spring rains stimulate barb breeding, so you need to hook up a spray bar to a power head and run it for 2 hours 2x a day.

[octopus44]

Sorry i said that wrong. I understand that the water doesn't cycle. What i meant was that since the water in the other tank already has the ammonia that is in the tap water cycled out, i could just do a water change fairly often and add that water rather than tap water.

[gm72]

She might be pregnant, not sure. They are egg layers, so a flat rock-like structure is a great idea. You definitely need a filter though, I think you know that already.

[octopus44]

How long does it usually take the female to lay the eggs if she is pregnant?

[gm72]

Good question. Not sure though, depends on how far along she is.