Perfect Pethia

Many of you long time readers here already know that we're fond of the genus Pethia. For the newer readers, Genus is a grouping that is one step broader than individual species, and makes up the first half (and always capitalized) of a scientific name. Pethia contains a number of very attractive and easy to keep species, and today we'd like to delve into Pethia conchonius; most of you will know this fish by the common name “Rosy Barb” which is its only common name in English. The species incredible hardiness and good looks have made it a very popular aquarium fish worldwide, and as a result it has common names in more than 15 languages, and is aquacultured pretty much everywhere that has a suitable environment. While nearly all the specimens you'll see in your Local Fish Store are aquacultured, these fish are very common in the wild and are often sold as food fish in their original native range.

Pethia conchonius are schooling fish, and they should always be kept in groups. We suggest eight as an absolute minimum, with twelve or more being a better number. Their peaceful nature means they can be kept with a huge variety of other fish, including other barbs, like the Odessas that we wrote about a few months back. Really the only limit to appropriate tankmates is anything that won't eat or harass them. Avoid overly aggressive fish like most rift lake Cichlids and any predator fish large enough to make a snack of them.

Rosy Barbs are small fish, never getting much bigger than two and a half to three inches long. Our suggested group of eight will need at least a 30-gallon tank to house them. While they are not going to be picky at all about the décor of the display, they'll show their best colors in tanks that have dark substrates and offer plenty of cover in the way of driftwood and plants. This being said, these fish could be happily kept in a tank full of air-activated treasure chests and pink castles if this is your aesthetic.

One thing that could change your décor choices is if you want them to successfully reproduce. If you have enough Rosy Barbs, and they're happy (which is really easy to accomplish) they'll spawn in your tank. They are, however, horrible parents and are likely to eat any eggs they find. If you want to start seeing babies, you'll need enough places for those eggs to mature and hatch before they become munchies. Densely planted aquariums, especially ones with fine leaved plants like taxiphyllum will work but aquarists that are keeping these fish expressly to spawn them will more often use a dedicated tank with a net over the bottom, or large marbles as substrate to let the eggs settle into locations the parents can't access. Adults are removed from the tank after spawning because they'll eat their babies too, and the eggs hatch in a couple days. The fry will be very small initially, and so will require food like Infusoria until they get large enough for baby brine or microworms. There are articles here on the site that go into culturing all these foods and brine nauplii are available through many quality LFS (local fish stores).

Another thing Rosy Barbs offer is a great deal of adaptability in regards to water chemistry, which further enhances the opportunities for mixing them into other displays as you can tune the water quality to other fish, and the Rosies will likely be just fine. They're completely fine soft and hard water, as well as a pH anywhere from 6.0-8.0, as long as the temperature is between 60 and 78 Fahrenheit. Pethia conchonius are more likely to spawn in temperatures hovering around 75 and in pH that is 7 or under. They can tolerate less than ideal water quality, but will be healthiest if you keep their water clean so keep up the water changes. They are good candidates for both low flow and moderate flow aquariums and will be just fine if you desire a stained water look as well.

As you've probably guessed, these fish are very easy to feed (come on, they eat their babies for Pete's sake). Even wild Rosy Barbs will learn to take pellets quickly, as they are omnivores in the wild, eating pretty much everything that comes at them and they can physically get their mouths around. This habit means a portion of their diet is plant matter, and so we feed them the Nutramar Algae and Color Boost Shots, but also give them Gamma Mysis, all the Brine Plus products, as well as Rotifers, Daphnia and Mini-Bloodworms regardless if they are wild or aquacultured for diet variety.

Adult males of the species will develop a rosy blush to their scales, that are rimmed in silver and when they are ready to spawn this color can get quite intense. Females stay a lustrous silver with a pinkish hue to their tail fin. Both sexes will show a faint black spot on where their tail fin starts (the caudal peduncle).

There is a good reason that Pethia conchonius is one of the most commonly sold aquarium fish in the world, year in and year out. These are among the hardiest of all the Barbs, a group already known for their incredible durability. Add to this their intense good looks, schooling behavior and penchant for breeding in the home aquarium and you have one of the hobby's most appropriate fish for the home aquatic display regardless of your fish keeping expertise! If you're looking for something like this for your display, head to your Local Fish Store, and for a group of Rosy Barbs today and always ask for Aquatropic fish.