Female cherry barbs with no male, ok?

ginagv

I have 6 female cherry barbs in my tank. I took back the last male because he was relentlessly chasing them, and they were always out of breath. Since he went back they have been living calmly and peacefully. However, they are starting to get big with eggs. Will they live ok with out a male? I don't want them to be unhealthy or uncomfortable.

I just don't want to get another male and have them be so constantly harassed. I had had more than one male at one point and it was bad. So at first I took all but 1 back and the one remaining one still managed to be very assertive to all of the girls..

In the end though, I don't want to do something wrong and have them die because they are egg bound or something.

Any advice?

Gina

WaterWorks

How badly were they being harassed? I would try getting a different male and maybe a couple more females. You don't really want the females to become egg bound as this can be fatal.
Each fish has a different personality so you may find that a different male is ok. Also some chasing is fine as long as it is spread between many females. This is natural for most fish particularly barbs and tetras.
Tom

ginagv

So does that mean they cant lay unfertilized eggs, without a male present? The constant chasing affected everyone in the whole aquarium. They were all shy and hiding, almost intimidated by the movement... and all the girls were breathing hard and down in the corners or down on the substrate all the time, like they were trying to escape. The plants offered no shelter.

Gina

WaterWorks

They can lay unfertilised eggs but I would be careful as they are more likely to get egg bound without males present. Keep an eye on them and if the egg swelling doesn't go down within a month or so then I would be inclined to maybe rehome them or get a male.

fish joey

This might be a dumb question but can this happen with livebearers I took out males and birthing has stopped even tho mothers are super buldging

WaterWorks

No not usually. Livebearers can store sperm from one mating and have several clutches of fry from it. the only thing with Live Bearers is that they can hold onto their young if they feel threatened. So it may be worth adding a breeding trap or net so that the female feels secure enough to drop the fry.