Tinfoil Barb one of the largest barbs in the hobby, usually sold without disclosing the maximum size they can grow to a foot long, also an inexpensive fish which kind of demands little more than what one is prepared for. The video is aimed at providing as much information as I can to help you take care of this amazing fish.
Firstly, like any other fish a little information of their natural habitat will help setting up a tank for Tinfoil Barbs. These fish are native to South East Asia, which includes Indonesia, Thailand, Malayan peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo, some are introduced to other places like Singapore. Natural habitat includes rivers, streams, flooded areas and streams. Mainly herbivorous this fish feed on vegetation submerged under water, insects, small fish and crustaceans. There is no reliable source confirming them breeding in an aquarium nor I have attempted it yet. Males are distinguished with females by the shape of their bodies, females are more round bodied than male tinfoil barbs. These are egg layers.
Tin foil barbs can grow around 12 inches and live up to 10 years, so you would need a big tank. I'm raising these 2 inch tinfoil barbs in a 50 gallon tank and they are growing fast.
Scientific name is Barbonymus schwanenfeldii just in case you wanted to know,.
In the video you would see Albino tinfoil barb and red tail tin foil barb both are about the same size, In case you are thinking of getting tinfoil barbs for your aquarium, you might have to consider tank size, filtration and tank mates.
Tank size - 100 gallon or bigger as these fish are aquarium giants, average size is around 8 to 10 inches and these are schooling fish, they must be kept in a group of 4 to 6 at least.
Tank decoration for tinfoil barb - They are fine with just gravel or sand at the bottom, however you can add rocks, driftwood and allow lot of swimming area. Plants wont work, not even thick leafed plants like anubias or even java fern.
Filtration - Bio-load is high, you would need good filtration, like over head filter, sump filter, canister and even consider sponge filter as back up for them. They are voracious eaters, every time I feed, food is consumed in 30 seconds quantity does not matter with tinfoil barbs, they are always hungry and never stop feeding. This gets the next topic picking tank mates for tinfoils.
Tanks mates for tinfoil barbs -
In the video, you can see Garra Rufa, Clown loach, Pleco, there is also red tail shark, feather fin catfish and tiger barbs, they do well with dollar fish, bala shark, arowana etc. I would not recommend them with aggressive African or South American cichlids as these fish will be bullied unless you are really lucky. In case you want tinfoil barbs as center piece fish, I would recommend bottom dwellers as tanks mates like feather finned catfish or loaches etc.
They should never be kept with small fish, as they would eat them.
Water parameters for tinfoil barbs
Temperature range - 72-78°F (22-25.5°C)
pH range - 6.5 to 8
Water hardness - soft to hard water
(under 180 ppm)
Food -
Spirulina based food should be stable food, they pretty much eat
everything from veggies to live food, protein based food should be fed not more than twice a week as they may have digestive problems.
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15 авг 2018
