Odessa Barb

General information

Males can be black or silver with a scarlet horizontal stripe along the body and females are silver and pink and have a black spot above the pectoral fin. They can reach 3 inches. To be kept in captivity, water temperature should be between 75.2ºF and 78.8ºF and water pH should be range from 6.0 and 7.5. The aquarium should have a dark substrate, dense vegetation and open areas for swimming. It can be kept in a community aquarium with tankmates of similar size like other cyprinids. This species shouldn’t be kept with slow moving fish nor with long finned fish because it will nib on their fins. These fish are less stressed when in large groups so they should be kept in groups of at least 8,  if the group is small they will remain hidden most of the time.

Odessa Barbs are omnivorous. In the wild, they feeds on worms, insects and plant material. In a tank, they can be fed with dried, live and frozen foods.

Females are rounder and males have a scarlet horizontal stripe along their body.

These fish are egg-scatterers that exhibit no parental care. The eggs hatch in 24 to 48 hours and the fry become free swimming 24 hours after hatching. Adults should be separated from the eggs because they may eat them.

This species can be found in Indonesia.