# Barbs as BBA Exterminators??



## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

So, word on the street at the LFS says that barbs, specifically rosy barbs, will eat BBA... sounds like crap to me. Can anyone verify this?


----------



## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I've never kept them myself, but I've heard reliable sources say that it's true. I don't believe they do quite as good a job as perhaps an SAE, but I could be wrong.


----------



## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Its crap I have a large population of Rosy barbs in a tank with lots of BBA in the anubias. They honestly don't touch it. SAE's on the other hand, they are the cat's meow!


----------



## neonfish3 (Feb 12, 2004)

I bought Rosy Barbs to eat hair algae. I also heard they will eat BBA. I don't have any BBA, so I can't comment on that.
They will eat the hair algae if they are really hungry. 
*But I will NEVER buy them again.* 
They (mine) love to nibble on plants all the time. I can't grow Blyxa cause they always pull it up and eat it. My _H.__zosterifolia _leaves all have the tips chewed off. They are picky on which plants they eat, as not all my plants are being eaten. And I still have the hair algae.
I had 4 of them and they spawned with 3 survivors, so I have 7 now. I've been trying to catch them every time I do a water change. I have 2 to catch yet, the rest went in my pond.


----------



## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Careful with those in a pond, they seem to be very hardy.

Re: eating plants.....they seem to also develope a sophisticated palette, prefering the rare, expensive plants (bylxa and toninas) over the cheap proliferic ones (duckweed or egeria) They love thin leaved plants like Rotala wallachi or vietnam;(


----------



## neonfish3 (Feb 12, 2004)

dennis said:


> Careful with those in a pond, they seem to be very hardy.


Oh,,,ummm....I wasn't doing it to be nice to the fish ....or to try to breed them......or to eat the algae in my pond.
Bwahahaha..... I have a Large mouth Bass named Pete in there. 
He said they tasted good!!!


----------



## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

:croc:


----------



## Gumby (Aug 1, 2005)

raven_wilde said:


> So, word on the street at the LFS says that barbs, specifically rosy barbs, will eat BBA... sounds like crap to me. Can anyone verify this?


I can verify it. 100% true. I've used them in the past for this exact purpose. They also eat green hair algae. Like with any other BBA eating fish, you have to keep them hungry to make them eat it, but they will definately eat some BBA.


----------



## lljdma06 (Sep 11, 2005)

Hopefully this doesn't apply to tiger barbs as well?


----------



## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

Definately not Tigers, I have 15 of them. When I had an outbreak of Hair Algae and BBA a couple months ago I saw them maybe pick at it breifly 2-3times max. I bought an SAE and the stuff was gone within a week. IMO the tigers only touched it trying to see what it was, just like any other new thing in the tank.


----------



## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

Yeah, definitely not Tigers, I have 7 of them in my tank right now and they certainly are not doing anything to help with the algae problem that's been developing. I might actually check into this rosy barb idea... it seems like it might be the way for me to go, as I'm pretty sure SAEs will just get eaten by my bichirs... and I've also heard that they will eat java moss, and that is a primary plant in my tank.


----------



## Urkevitz (Oct 26, 2004)

Mine at BBA, but it didn't make much of a dent in it.


----------



## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

raven_wilde said:


> I'm pretty sure SAEs will just get eaten by my bichirs... and I've also heard that they will eat java moss, and that is a primary plant in my tank.


Yup, that is one thing I've noticed with the SAE's; they love moss, and it isn't limited to Java. :|


----------



## jude_uc (Feb 7, 2006)

Does anyone know if rosy barbs will destroy riccia? If not, they might be a decent solution for me.

-Adam


----------



## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

I am guessing yes. They stripped an HC covered rock in my tank in less than 5 minutes. SAE's never seem to bother my riccia and they alwo pay no attention to my moss. Now, if only I could catch the SAE's and move them to my BBA infested Rosy Barb tank


----------

