Sumatran barbecue fish has been very popular with aquarists for a long time. It is quite unpretentious regarding water quality and nutrition. In addition, watching a flock of tiger barbs is a pleasure, they are constantly in motion. Quite willingly reproduce even among inexperienced aquarists.
Habitat
In the wild, the Sumatran barbus lives in the reservoirs of Southeast Asia. It is found in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia. Of course, he is in Sumatra. That is why the fish got its name.
In European countries, these pets began to start from 1935. A decade later, they reached Russia.
Description
The barbus belongs to the family of cyprinids. In an aquarium, its length reaches four to five centimeters, although there are individuals seven centimeters in size. Female Sumatran barbs are larger than their companions of the opposite sex.
The body is flattened laterally, elongated. They have no antennae. The tail is bifurcated. The eyes are round with large black pupils.
Color
The classic color of the Sumatran barbus is presented in the form of light scales. There are four vertical stripes of dark color on it:
- The first strip passes through the eye, merging with the pupil.
- The second is located near the pectoral fins.
- The third passes right behind the dorsal fin, which is also painted in black, but has a reddish edging.
- The fourth is located in front of the caudal fin. She is the shortest.
Stripes are placed on both sides of the fish. It is in this color that it is often called tiger. The front of the head is a reddish tone. The fins are either red or transparent. Representatives of aquariums have a more saturated coloring than individuals living in a natural environment.
Breeders were bred individuals of other colors. Green barbs look very nice. They also have four vertical stripes. But due to the fact that they are painted in a dark green tone, they are almost not visible on the greenish scales. The fish resembles an emerald. You can also find gold, scarlet and other colors. There are also albinos. Their body is pink and the stripes are white.
Aquarium
Good conditions for keeping the Sumatran barbus require the acquisition of their flock. Therefore, the aquarium should be at least sixty liters. It is better to put dark colored soil at the bottom, as they can adapt to the environment. With light soil, they will turn pale, which will adversely affect the beautiful color.
Water should have a temperature in the range of 20-26 ° C, in terms of hardness - soft or medium, acidity - 6-7 units. Lighting will be moderate. Water should be constantly filtered, provided with oxygen. A moderate fluid movement in the tank is also required.
It is necessary to replace up to 25% of water daily. If this is not done, nitrogen compounds will accumulate in it. This will increase the risk of infectious diseases.
Under good conditions, Sumatran barbs will live for about six years. However, these indicators are average, according to various sources, life expectancy varies from three to seven years.
Plants
In the photo, the Sumatran barbecue is often shown at the bottom. It does not hurt to place several plants on the surface. This will create shaded areas in the tank that are necessary to increase comfort.
You can pick up all kinds of plants, depending on the wishes of the owner of the aquarium. It is worth placing densely growing stands along the walls of the tank, and in the center leave a place for swimming. You can put driftwood, pieces of wood at the bottom.
Behavior features
Fish actively and cheerfully swim together at the bottom and in the middle waters. They like both dense thickets and free space. Therefore, the tank must have both. It happens that one Sumatran barbecue beats off the group and becomes inactive. Do not immediately sound the alarm, they consider it the norm.
Nutrition
The tiger barbus feeds on all kinds of feed. This is good, but leads to frequent overeating, which subsequently causes death. They can be given bloodworms, brine shrimp. From the vegetation, chopped lettuce leaves are suitable. It is preferable to feed your pets with specialized dry food.
Because of their greed for food, they often tinker around the feeder. As a result, fast and agile individuals eat more, and slow fish often remain hungry.
How is the breeding of the Sumatran barbus going?
Breeding
For spawning, a couple of fish or two males and one female should be planted. Professional breeders prepare fish in advance. From the age of five months, they are separated by sex and kept in water at a temperature of +22 ° C. Feed them once a day. The menu is different each time. Future manufacturers should not be obese.
Then, females that have a swelling in the front of the body are selected. The male Sumatran barbus should be active and colored brighter than others. It is better that the couple was from different family lines.
If all the fish lived in the same aquarium, they should be separated from each other for at least a couple of weeks. Next is spawning.
A tank of six to fifteen liters is enough for one pair. The soil does not need to be placed. It is necessary to lay the separator screen on the bottom. Eggs will fall under it. Also in the tank you need Javanese moss. Replace it with a synthetic washcloth. When forming a spawning, it is extremely important to maintain cleanliness. The inside walls and all synthetic components should be washed with baking soda.
The tank is filled with water, which should be half of the old aquarium and a quarter of fresh, but settled. The last fourth part of the spawning is filled with distilled water. The temperature in the tank should be + 25-28 ° .
The fish is placed in the spawning evening. In the morning, breeding should begin, which will take two to three hours. Stimulating the process will help adding to the tank water that was taken from the spawning of another pair. However, more than a day should not pass, otherwise this liquid will not work.
In spawning, pets do not need to be fed. The process looks as follows. The male chases after his “lady” and knocks eggs out of her abdomen with short strokes. The process of reproduction occurs several times with an interval of one week. Between spawning, both sexes should be kept in separate tanks. If a female carries caviar, she should sweep it. Otherwise, cysts may form. Neoplasms are formed in the event that the female did not sweep all the eggs. The reason for this may be a low activity partner or close spawning. The female dies in most cases.
You can fix the situation yourself. To do this, the female must be removed from the tank, laid on wet cotton wool and decanted, making gentle movements with the fingers along the abdomen. Of course, this business is unsafe and requires incredible patience, but otherwise the fish cannot be saved.
Caring for the young
For one spawning, the female lays four hundred to eight hundred eggs. After that, the parents are seated. And in spawning, the third part of the water is replaced with a standing one. It is recommended to tint it with methylene blue to a bluish tint. Then the tank is shaded. It is important that sunlight does not get on the eggs. Water needs to be aerated. If there is a lot of caviar, aeration should be maximum.
The incubation period takes one to two days, depending on the temperature of the water. The appeared larvae hang on the walls of the tank for several days. They feed on the yolk sac. When it resolves, they begin to swim. Then they need food. For starters, "live dust." After a week, you can add micro-feed to the diet. Water should be replaced by a third every day. Then young growth will grow more intensively.
At the age of two weeks, fry grow to one centimeter. Vertical stripes appear on their body. The color of adults will appear in them in one to two weeks. Feed the young must be plentiful and varied.
Young fish reached puberty by eight to twelve months. Interestingly, albinos breed worst of all. One of the parents should be with the usual color. As a result, only 25% of all offspring will be albinos. Most of them die at a young age due to the slightest deviations in care.
Compatibility
In order for tiger barbs to peacefully coexist with each other and with the other inhabitants of the aquarium, there should be six to twelve individuals in a flock. Then they will calmly swim, knowing that they will fight off a possible threat. If there are about five fish, conflicts within the group will begin.
The Sumatran barbus, whose compatibility is considered, does not apply to predatory ones. But fry is another matter. Representatives of cyprinids will hunt for the young, until they catch everyone. Therefore, spawning in a tank with these minkes is not worth it.
All slow veiled fish species are not suitable for them as neighbors. A flock of barbs will make them uncomfortable with their playful behavior. They also like to bite the tips of long fins and mustaches. Therefore, goldfish and gourami will not be pleased with their company.
They should be settled with the same active non-aggressive fish.