Fiery barbus: description, types, content and breeding

Fiery barbus - spectacular aquarium fish with a bright color that does not require special maintenance. Representatives of this breed are perfectly adapted to life in captivity. Thanks to the presence of several decorative forms, even an aquarium with only barbs will definitely not look too boring. The content of a funny neon fish will be interesting, and a veil pet will give a lot of positive emotions to both beginners and experienced aquarists.

The fiery barbus needs a comfortable living environment, but it is not too sensitive to the composition of the water and feels good in both a large and a small aquarium. Even beginner aquarists who want to diversify the composition of the fish contained in the tank due to the bright and brisk inhabitants of the warm rivers of Southeast Asia can make such a pet.

Fiery barbus - a bright fish with a recognizable, characteristic color. This representative of the cyprinid family lives in the fresh water of rivers and lakes in Southeast Asia, in New Zealand, Australia, India, and is found in Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Only the classical form is found in nature - neon and veil fire barbs are the result of artificial selection.

The fish has a memorable appearance. She has an elongated body, bright eyes. The body color varies from light gold, olive in females to saturated red in mature males. Shimmering in electric light, the flakes look like flames. The back of the fire barbs has a greenish tint.

Male fish also have a red abdomen. The total length of their body usually does not exceed 10 cm. The fins are translucent, with contrasting dark edges on the edges.

Fire barbs are not the most peaceful fish in the world. They can nibble the veil and filamentary fins of other fish, but in general they are quite capable of getting along with almost any neighbors. These representatives of the cyprinid family are classic admirers of the flocking lifestyle. They need a company of 5-6 individuals.

There are three main varieties of fire barbs, differing in their external characteristics. They all look great in an aquarium, have minimal maintenance requirements, are pretty beautiful. But decorative individuals have additional advantages that breeders should know about in advance.

Fish with a reddish-gold body color, the tail has a color from sunny yellow to scarlet. The dorsal fin repeats the tone of the body, the edge is black. The pectoralis is bright red. The back has a golden hue with a green tint.

A fish with elongated fins forming a long spectacular veil. The main shade of the body is golden red, the tail is paler, almost platinum, the border is colorless. The pectoral fins repeat the overall color of the body, the dorsal is completely black. The back is almost anthracite, with a green tint.

The lightest variety of the fire barbus has a pronounced red-gold color only in the back. The pectoral and dorsal fins are golden, light. The hull has a yellowish-gold hue, the tail part is similarly painted. Fiery red blotches are found throughout the body.

In general, the neon fire barbus can be called the lightest, rather golden yellow, with a characteristic refined tint. Veil individuals differ mainly in color and fin length; their body color is almost the same as that of the classic variety.

Fire barbs are recommended to be kept in companies with the same active fish as they are. Categorically, aquarists do not advise to populate with them Lilyaus, males and the like owners of elongated fins. Slowly swimming or viviparous fish is also not the best company for a fire barbus. This category includes gastromysones, guppies, scalars, astronotuses.

Among those who are suitable for joint maintenance with fire barbs are thornsia, two-color labeos. You can add here fish who prefer a lowered water temperature - cardinals, catfish subspecies panda. They are well adjacent to zebrafish, bots, gouras and even swordsmen. There are no restrictions on the sharing of other types of barbs - scarlet, tikto, cherry.

Keeping fire barbs at home will not seem difficult even for beginners in the aquarium industry. Care consists in regular water changes, feeding the fish. But in order for the aquarium ecosystem to work correctly, you will first have to work hard. The main criteria for comfortable living conditions for fire barbs look like this.

1. Aquarium selection. A flock of 6 fish will have enough capacity of 80 liters, for spawning you will need another tank of 15 liters. The fish are quite jumping, so it is better to worry about the presence of the lid in advance. Decorations and shelters are placed inside the aquarium: caves and grottoes, driftwood, stones, plastic plants.
2. Acquisition of equipment. To maintain fire barbs, you need a filter and an aerator, the system should be selected quite powerful to create a flow in the water. At room temperature in the room up to +20 degrees, you do not have to additionally heat the environment.Lighting devices should work no more than 12 hours, it is better to close the aquarium from direct sunlight. It is better to choose a backlight that is dim and with a scattering effect.
3. Selection and filling of soil. Dark sand, gravel and small pebbles are well suited for keeping fire barbs. The more contrast the background, the brighter the color of the scales will shine. In addition, dark soil absorbs light, minimizes discomfort for the inhabitants of the aquarium.
4. The selection of plants. If, in addition to artificial vegetation, you want to add natural greenery to the aquarium, you should pay attention to their small-leaved species. For fire barbs, Javanese moss, hornwort, arrowhead, and kabomb are well suited. Placing plants is necessary on the sides and on the back wall of the aquarium.
5. Creating an environment. The optimum water temperature for fire barbs is from +16 to +24 degrees, it is better to adhere to the lower boundaries, since these fish are quite cold-loving. Acidity is needed in the range of 6-8 pH, hardness is in the range of 6-18 dGh. Substitution of up to 1/4 of the volume of water and siphon washing of the soil should be carried out weekly.

Due to the fact that these fish are quite unpretentious, their nutrition can be made as diverse as possible. The presence of live food in their diet is mandatory, as well as plant components. To achieve the desired balance will help the use of ready-made flakes, granules in combination with a tubulator, bloodworm. The pet can be given chopped greens as a top dressing - spinach, salad, Beijing cabbage.

To diversify the diet, the inclusion of dried daphnia or hamarus, shredded shrimp meat or white fish of cod species on the barbecue menu helps. As a vegetable "side dish" you can offer carrots or red bell peppers, crushed dried seaweed. You can treat the fish with egg yolk, but it is better to do this before changing the water - It strongly pollutes the water in the aquarium. A sign of an insufficient amount of green food in the diet is the interest of fire barbs in the surrounding vegetation.

The optimal feeding regimen is up to 3-4 times a day in small portions. Fish should eat the given food in no more than 2 minutes. Specialized food for barbs will help maintain the color of fish at an optimal level of brightness.

Barbecue fry need high-calorie and easily digestible food. The starting food is the ciliates, but then you can move on to a more varied diet. Its main ingredient may well be hard-boiled egg yolk. A small amount of it is kneaded, mixed with water from the aquarium. Next, the resulting suspension is given to the kids.

Degraded egg yolks are also very nutritious, and preparing mixtures based on them is much easier. You can even grind the cooked base yourself in a blender and dry it on thin parchment paper, and then add the resulting dry crumbs to water.

In barbs, the differences between females and males are quite pronounced. The fairer sex is painted in olive or yellow tones. Males are colored brighter, have an expressive fiery tint, with the manifestation of excitement, the fish turns red even more. In addition, they have a bright black spot in the tail area. Females tend to gain weight very much before spawning begins.

The breeding of fire barbs occurs in an aquarium in a natural way. It is possible to create conditions for the start of spawning by maintaining the water temperature at a level of 18 degrees for a long time. On the eve of spawning, it is raised by 1-2 degrees, a week before increasing the proportion of live food. This is how the sexual activity of these fish is stimulated.

Optionally, in the period before spawning, it is possible to separate the female from the males. In this case, you need to wait until her abdomen is filled with caviar, and then transplant a female and two males into a special spawning ground. For these purposes, a small aquarium (10-15 l) with a poured to a level of 15 cm water is suitable. A separator grid is laid at the bottom, Javanese moss is planted. Water should have a temperature 2-3 degrees higher than that which usually contains fire barbs.

The female spawns in the morning, then the producers go to a regular aquarium, otherwise there is a high risk that the laid eggs will be eaten before they reach a safe place. The incubation process in spawning lasts up to 2 days, after another 2 days the fry are already free to swim in the tank. As a starting feed, any “live dust”, including ciliates, is suitable for them.

The breeding of the fiery veil barbus, its ordinary and neon varieties, has no particular differences. All fish enter puberty from 6 to 8 months. Spawning occurs up to 3-4 years, 1 or 2 times a year.

The average life span of any breed of barbus does not exceed 5 years - that is how many pets remain active. Experienced aquarists recommend rejuvenating the population every 3 years, because over time, the physical activity of the fish decreases. The fiery barbus lives for 6 years, and after 4 years of life it is almost impossible for him to cause spawning. Decreased reproductive function is a serious problem, as offspring can only be obtained from young individuals.

About the maintenance and care of the fire barbus, see the next video.