Hatching can take from 24 hours to several days depending on the type of barb.
A good breeding tank would be around 2 feet long and a minimum of 8 to 9 inches wide and 8 inches deep. In essence a small tank. Put real fine sand at the bottom: 1/2 to 1 inch deep. Rinse it well and make sure it is clean of foreign material.Using a mix of rain water and tap water is best (skew towards rain water). Keep the temperature around 78-80 degrees. The pH should be lower than 7.00, preferably around 6.7 to 6.8 The hardness should be around 2 meq/l or 5.6 dKH or 100 ppm.
Put many well-cleaned plants in the tank. Long ones are preferable on the extremeties of the tank and short ones in the middle section. Insert them in the sand so they remain well in place. Plants that clump are excellent.
The males and females should be kept apart. When time for a spawning effort comes around choose a female with a U-shaped belly and a real nicely colored male. Place them in the tank you have prepared making sure that no ammonia and or nitrites are present.
Keep the tank heated. Light conditons should be low to moderate.
When moving the fish do so at night when only a few hours of low light are left. This allows the fish to get to know each other so to speak. They can then settle in the tank before darkness sets in. The Next day the pair should be ready to court each other. If not in one day, certainly on the second one.
The pair can be seen in courting mode soon and trembling of the fish is normal and a real good sign. As the fertilizing begins, the courtship will continue until the female has expelled all her eggs and the male has had a chance to fertilize them all.
The eggs look like a dull air bubble and can be real small. They are not shiny. There are literally hundreds of them in most species. Normally you should see some semblance of fry within 12 hours after that (all you will probably notice is that the eyes are developing). Keep the water clean by not feeding and removing any pollution that settles on the bottom sand.
About 24 hours later real small fry will be visible and will be attached to plants or hanging underneath the leaves. They are real small and of a color that is often difficult to see unless the light waves break on them and you see the reflection. This can be simulated with a flashlight.
The first feeding should be infusoria and a lot of it (once in the AM and once in the PM: about 12 oz of them mixed in water). Adjust the tank water level as needed. After a week go to nauplii of Daphnia or Cyclops, using larger and larger sizes as the fry grow. Watch the water quality as the addition of the food may require water changes. Keep the same ratio of rain and tap water (2/3 1/3 is suggested).
