I was just wondering if a predatory fish can cause fish to want to mate. I have had 3 Cherry barbs for at least two years now, tow females one male. Any they have never had babies. They share a 46 bowfront with some other small barbs and tetras. Then a few months ago I added a Senegal because I have wante Bichirs for a long time and they were easy to get. He is around 6 inches, and the cherry barbs just had their second batch of babies, only a few at a time i am guessing, because both times i have only seen 3 babies free swimming, and never see any eggs in the plants or anything like that. The Senegal has never shown any aggression towards any of the other fish and could easily eat the fry and probably the male cherry barb if he wanted to. So can adding a predator to a tank trigger something that makes fish want to breed, like to preserve their species or something?
Can a Predatory Fish Induce Breeding?
- Thread starter dysfunctionaljd
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I would say that the answer is yes. How it works is beyond me but this sort of thing is observed in nature frequently, especially in plants.
I think it did. It some how sets off a signal that tells them that they have to preserve their species since there's a bigger fish in the tank.
I think that predatory fish will help the fish to create a closer bond and possibly breed like in your case. But you have to be careful with your choice of which fish to use. You need a fish that is large enough not to be harassed or eaten by the fish but also small enough so it doesn't eat your pair!!! The predator fish should be something that can handle the aggression of the pair but make sure it isn't too aggressive or it will be the master of the tank.