How can I breed my tiger barbs?

[hcgirl80]

How can I make them breed? I have a male and a female and the other fishies died so they are the only fish in the 10 gallon tank. I want to make them breed, if possible, and if I can't breed them in these conditions Please tell me.

pH: 7.2
Nitrite: 2.0(still cycling)
Ammonia: NONE!
Nitrate: 30(what!? That's what the meter said!)

 

[vato]

Well just because you have a male and a female that could in theory be mating partners doesn't mean they will. First of all tiger barbs need to be in a school to feel comfortable. They also rarely breed if they are not in a wel planted tank, but if they do decide to mate here is what will happen. The male will chase the female and kind of nudge up against her. Once she is in a densly planted (usually with plants like cabomba, or hornwart) part of the tank the female will release her eggs and the male will fertilize. The eggs will stick to the leaves, and some may fall to the ground. Once they have done this you will have to take the fish out of the tank because the fish will eat them.

 

[aquariumfishguy]

Before you even think about breeding fish, you need to let your aquarium finish the cycling process. Because you are fish-cycling your aquarium, you are seeing fish die and your water chemistry is all over the place. Wait for things to settle down first...

All I will say in regards to breeding these fish is, tiger barbs can be encouraged to breed by increasing water temperature to around 77-78* F. pH levels of 6.5 are best for the breeding tanks.

As of right now, you only have one 10 gallon... you shouldn't breed any fish until you have additional aquariums setup and already cycled (fishless cycled next time!)

 

[vato]

I second everything that aquariumfishguy said

PS-Opps I didn't see the part that said your tank was still cycling!