Ummmmm mysterious fry in my 1100 gallon tank

KansasSunfish

Jack Dempsey
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Mar 11, 2018
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So, I walk into my fish room this evening to feed my 1100 gallon tank, and I see what appears to be guppy fry in it. Here’s the thing, there has never been a guppy in this tank. Currently the stock is around a dozen tinfoil barbs, and four small channel catfish. I don’t see whiskers on the fry, and I’m not sure how they survived to this point because they are big enough to eat flake food… anybody have any ideas???
 

pops

Alligator Gar
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Nov 24, 2013
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maybe little tin barbies for you.
 

fishhead0103666

Alligator Gar
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May 14, 2018
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Have tin foil barbs been bred in the home aquarium before?
 
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pops

Alligator Gar
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no ideal never had them, but I do not see why not.
 
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pops

Alligator Gar
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read the part about a really big tank.

The Tinfoil barb is an egg scattering species and the female Tinfoil barb can produce several thousand eggs per spawning. Sexing Tinfoil barbs is a bit tricky, since there are no obvious difference between males and females.

Since Tinfoil barbs grow so large, they are not easy to breed in captivity. According to unverified sources, a public aquarium has managed to breed Tinfoil barbs in captivity at least once, but as of 2006, no public aquarium has published any details regarding how to breed Tinfoil barbs. If you want to go about breeding Tinfoil barbs, you will need an outdoor aquaculture in a tropical climate or a really big aquarium.

Since the Tinfoil barbs are egg scatterers, they will not care for their eggs. Chances are high that they will eat egg and/or fry if kept together in the same aquarium. If you plan to breed Tinfoil barbs, it can therefore be a good idea to arrange a separate breeding aquarium where the offspring can be raised without the presence of adult fish. If you instead want to let the offspring stay together with the adult fish in the large aquarium, you can promote a higher fry survival by including a lot of plants in the set up. Java moss will for instance produce plenty of hiding spots for young Tinfoil barbs since Java moss produce and abundance of bushy leaves. Tinfoil barb fry will instinctively seek shelter and try to stay away from adult fish in the aquarium, just like they would do in the wild.
 

fishhead0103666

Alligator Gar
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Glad to see that you didn't just dissappear after this post lol, updates are good :).
 

tlindsey

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Aug 6, 2011
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So, I walk into my fish room this evening to feed my 1100 gallon tank, and I see what appears to be guppy fry in it. Here’s the thing, there has never been a guppy in this tank. Currently the stock is around a dozen tinfoil barbs, and four small channel catfish. I don’t see whiskers on the fry, and I’m not sure how they survived to this point because they are big enough to eat flake food… anybody have any ideas???

Yes the Tinfoil Barbs are spawning in your large aquarium. Congrats!
 

skjl47

Goliath Tigerfish
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May 16, 2011
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hello; Some years ago I had a metal stand with a 20 gallon long on top and an empty ten gallon under it. I started siphoning the 20 gallon water and some gravel into the empty ten gallon. I had been siphoning into a 5 gallon bucket but changed for reasons I do not recall. I would replace the gravel I had siphoned out of the 20L with cleaned gravel.
Eventually I got around to doing something with the 10 gallon and noticed some fry in it. A couple of zebra danioes and a white cloud MT.
My take is fish spawn often in our tanks. They also eat the eggs and any fry that they can find. Being in a constricted space most eggs and fry get eaten before we can notice or they can get any size.
Good for you having some fry.
 

tlindsey

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Aug 6, 2011
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hello; Some years ago I had a metal stand with a 20 gallon long on top and an empty ten gallon under it. I started siphoning the 20 gallon water and some gravel into the empty ten gallon. I had been siphoning into a 5 gallon bucket but changed for reasons I do not recall. I would replace the gravel I had siphoned out of the 20L with cleaned gravel.
Eventually I got around to doing something with the 10 gallon and noticed some fry in it. A couple of zebra danioes and a white cloud MT.
My take is fish spawn often in our tanks. They also eat the eggs and any fry that they can find. Being in a constricted space most eggs and fry get eaten before we can notice or they can get any size.
Good for you having some fry.
Absolutely
 
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