Tinfoil Barb Fish
The specific epithet is frequently misspelled schwanefeldii.
Tinfoil barb fish. This species was originally described as barbus schwanenfeldii by pieter bleeker in 1853 and has also been placed in the genera barbodes and puntius. It can be up to 14 inches 35 cm long. Tinfoil barb habitat and range.
A peaceful barb fish that s not sensitive to tank conditions and enjoys a heavily planted aquarium. The tinfoil barb sports a golden silvery body and has a blood red dorsal fin that displays a. The tinfoil barb is a benthopelagic and potamodromous species native to brunei darsm indonesia laos malaysia singapore thailand and vietnam.
It lives in large rivers as well as in streams ditches and manmade canals. They are playful and avid swimmers and enjoy exploring all levels of the aquarium in their school. Smooth swimming closeups of mature tinfoil barbs.
The tinfoil barb scientific name lat. Like other cyprinid fish red tailed tinfoil barbs are egg layers that scatter their eggs rather than having a specific breeding site. The tinfoil barb barbonymus schwanenfeldii is a tropical southeast asian freshwater fish of the family cyprinidae.
Tinfoil barb fish might be tempting to keep because of their undemanding traits. It makes a good community fish for similarly sized fish. Imagining their glistening silver scales combined with their red and orange fins swimming in our tank is a beautiful scene to watch.
The tinfoil barb is also utilized as food fish in its native region and grown in aquacultures. However a few people know that it takes several requirements to keep tinfoil barb fish in an aquarium which makes them unsuitable. Quite often the juveniles are sold on the market and nobody tells about how large the fish becomes as an adult one and as a result the fish quickly overgrows any tank of a common aquarist and then requires a really spacious tank.
This fish is not known to have been bred in the home aquarium nor is it known to be bred commercially but they have been cultivated commercially in their native countries as food fish. Barbonymus schwanenfeldii is a very large fish from cyprinidae family. Tinfoil barbs are highly attractive peaceful active community fish when young but these fish will grow rapidly and soon reach up to 35cm.
Their behavior alone arrests the viewer s eye as they zip around the tank and coast along water currents. Tinfoil barbs are docile fish whose size belies their easy care. The tinfoil barb is a fish that is often available in pet shops and sold to the beginning aquarist but it is not the best choice for those just starting in the freshwater hobby.
The tinfoil barb requires a very large tank at least 75 gallons 284 liters for one and a much larger aquarium when keeping these barbs in multiples because of their potential adult size of 13 inches 32 cm.
