Aquarium Fish Care - Barb Care Tips For Beginners

Sumatra barbs, red barbs, rosy barbs and tiger barbs are all different varieties of freshwater fishes. They are easy to maintain and breed. But the larger barbs can only be kept with big fishes. The large barbs can cause trouble in communal tanks and destroy your structured plans. They require more attention than the smaller ones and therefore the barbs have to be separated and grouped.

The purple head barb and the black ruby are from Ceylon. These fishes grow to the size of around two and half inches and live in communal tanks well. The female ones create a colourful and vibrant environment by flaunting their grey-yellow bodies that also show stripes or dark blotches. The male lot are mostly either black or brown and/or have their fronts that are vermilion red. They are not like the boisterous group of Puntius Conchonius groups and live comfortably in communal waters. They are not finicky when it comes to food and they hence eat anything. They also have no demands when it comes to the water conditions, they are best suited for natural water which is hard water. These types of fish are also easy to breed. They lay around three hundred eggs and like other barbs also spawn.

The Sumatra and tiger fish belong to the species of Capoeta Tetrazona. These come from Sumatra and Borneo and grow up to two inches. They are colourful and set off the tanks with their colours and stripes. The fish keeps changing its behaviour and because of this nature it happens to be among the most diverse in the market. This is proved as some people say the fish is mild and calming while others refer to it as the bully who terrorises the other fishes!

The Sumatra and tiger fishes need the similar water conditions as compared to other barbs. They tend to live in the practical as well as impractical alkaline water. The fish does well in salt water too. The temperature that is recommended is 78 degrees Fahrenheit. These fishes have good appetites and they are not fussy and eat everything. Breeders will benefit as barb fishes are all healthy spawns.

Female Sumatra and tiger fishes are fat and differ from the male ones who are slim and colourful fishes. The female ones are quite ordinary and plain and they breed. They however do have some bladder problems and the fins have a tendency to go rot. The water hence should be clean and spotless. The tank also should be watched over during breeding as the spawns laid by the fishes are likely to be bitten by the mutants.

Capoeta Titteya or Cherry barbs are fishes that come from Ceylon too and they grow to the size of two inches. They are normally brownish-yellow in colour or brownish red. These fishes differ from the others to look at as they consist of top to bottom dark black lines. They are good communal fishes and require the same water and feeding conditions like the other barbs. The male in these are of darker colours and during breeding they undergo change in colours which appears to be black or even cherry red but the stripes evaporate eventually.

These barbs breed like the others too and even lay up to a number of 200 eggs. The cherry barbs consist of a wide variety and the fascinating thing is that while some types feed on other barbs itself; the other types don’t do this.

Concluding if you are a beginner then to get better acquainted with tips on aquarium and fish care you can check the new Harlequins line out.