Gold Barb (Barbodes semifasciolatus)
From The Aquarium Wiki
Gold Barb
Barbodes semifasciolatus
45 Litres (12 US G.)
7.1-7.9cm (2.8-3.1 ")
Freshwater
6.5 - 7.5
23 -27 °C (73.4-80.6°F)
6-16 °d
1:2 M:F
3-5 years
Family
Cyprinidae
This animal is available captive bred
Contents
Additional names
- Gold Barb, Golden Barb, Goldfinned Barb, Neon Barb, Chinese Barb, Sachsi Barb, Schuberti Barb, Half-banded Barb
Additional scientific names
- Puntius schuberti, Barbus sachsii, Puntius semifasciolatus, Barbus schuberti, Puntius sachsii
Origin
- These little fish come from the Red River Basin of Southeast China.
Sexing
- Males have more black patches along their sides and have a more pronounced vertical stripe than females. The females are larger with a more rounded belly.
- An egg-scatter, adult barbs will spawn around a hundred eggs. This breeding occurs at the first light in the early morning.
Tank compatibility
- A shoaling fish that should be kept in groups of 5 or more. Can be kept with other peaceful, but robust, community fish. Do not keep with slow-moving long-finned fish such as Angelfish. Like most barbs, can be a bit nippy, and probably should not be kept with long-finned fish. Their fin nipping tendency is worse if there are less than 5 in the group.
Diet
Typical small omnivore, will eat most types of food that slowly sinks including pellet and flake as well as live/frozen food such as brine shrimp and bloodworm.
Feeding regime
- Feed once or twice a day a small quantity of food.
Environment specifics
- This Barb should be kept in groups of five or more. They will need an aquarium with lots of middle level horizontal swimming room. Provide tall plants for cover.
Behaviour
- These are school fish that do best in groups of five or more. Groups of smaller size tend to be more aggressive fin nippers. In any size group they like to nibble on aquatic plants.These fish are enthusiastic eaters and will feed on just about anything they can get in their mouths. They spend a good amount of time rooting around the substrate looking for bits of food.
Identification
- Often mistaken for a Tetra-like fish when small, these golden yellow fish have red-tinted fins, a highly reflective upper body with black patches along their flanks with the males having a more patchy line.
- The popular gold strain available to the hobby was developed by hobbyist Thomas Schubert of Camden, New Jersey in the 1960s through selective breeding.
- Other colour strains that have emerged include albino, discovered in the 1970s by Dennis Wilcox in USA, pure gold with no black markings, first observed by Stanislav Frank in late 1960s/early 1970s in Eastern Europe, pink/white (flesh) with black markings, this appeared in the 1990s, and tri-colour, head and caudal peduncle have white/pink (flesh), while the back is in the original normal gold with black speckle markings.
Pictures
Video
External links
- Fishbase (Mirrors:
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