Extended BAP Article - BAR Specialist
Barbus fasciatus - Absolutely Beautiful!
by George A. and Vickie L. Coy,
SouthWestern Michigan Aquarium Society. From SWAM, March/April 2004 Issue
Aquarticles
Barbus fasciatus originate from Southeast Asia, and are not often seen in the
aquarium shops. George obtained the Barbus fasciatus when they were young from
Bernie Halverson, and Bernie called them by the common name of Panda Barb, which when you
look at them they certainly have that “Panda” appearance. In the aquatic
literature we’ve found, they also go by the Banded Barb for a common name. I also
noted that most of the pictures seen in books are of the female who are drab and plain
looking. Even in The Barbs Aquarium booklet 2002 edition on page 65, you’ll
note that although they do have a picture of an adult male, it still has not captured the
true beauty of these Barbs. George and I came to the conclusion that perhaps people see
them in the aquarium shops, but they are always all females, and plain looking, so they do
not capture your eye. They could possibly be too young to show their full color, too.
When I had been looking for writing material for the Extended BAP, I noticed we needed
something on Barbs. This called for a visit to George’s fish room, as he houses a
wider variety of fish than I do on the two floors where my aquariums exist. After stating
what I needed, George said no problem, as he’d just spawned the Barbus fasciatus,
and he proceeded to proudly show me the adults. They were absolutely beautiful! Wow! I
didn’t know Barbs could obtain such vibrant coloration. The adults were about 2 to
2-1/2 inches in length. The males really had it going on as far as color! Their facial and
head area was grayish-black, and from there they showed a slight vibrant orange blush,
which went from the head through their upper mid-body to their tail. A little past half
the mid-body you note grayish dark bars and the first one has a circular appearance near
the top of the body. And the dark markings also are near the top between the head and
upper fins. The tail is also a deep orange blush. There is no way for me to describe the
beauty of these fish on paper. You really need to see them. The female on the other hand
is boring to look at with a beige-tan colored body, and markings the same as the male of
gray-black in her body. She is the same length as the male, but not as deep bodied.
There were three males and one female of the Barbus fasciatus in the 10-gallon
tank, including a pair of Peacock Gudgeons, and three Red Shiners. The tank was bare
bottom with a sponge filter, a decorative haunted house for the fish to hide in, as well
as mops galore all over the tank. We have Portage City tap water, and the temperature of
the tank was 84 degrees. The tank received fifty percent water changes on a monthly basis,
and the fish were fed baby brine shrimp and Wardley’s Flake Food once a day.
It was also a very active tank with the fish swimming about all over the tank. The Barbs
were shy, and had to be coaxed out a number of times from hiding, so I could view them.
They are schooling fish, so you should keep several together in a tank for their comfort.
When the mop was first searched for eggs, there was 24 eggs found, but one
couldn’t be sure who they belonged to, as the Red Shiners also scatter eggs when they
spawn. These eggs were found in the evening, and they were tiny tannish-clear eggs the
size of the head of a pin. They were placed in a small butter dish using Portage City tap
water. No fungicides or anything else was added to the bowl. The eggs were simply watched
and rinsed if the water became cloudy. After three days they hatched, and you could barely
see the fry. Of the 24 eggs, 22 hatched. These were left in the bowl for a day after they
hatched, as they weren’t ready to eat yet. They were then placed in a 1/2-gallon
plastic shoe box with aged water, and an active sponge filter. Some newly hatched baby
Snails were also added. The larger Snails had eaten babies in the past, so they are not
used. After two more days baby brine shrimp was fed once a day.
Eventually one could see that twelve of them were the Barbus fasciatus and
were about 1/8-inch long, clear bodied with a black spot on their dorsal. The remaining
fry that were clear bodied were the Red Shiner’s babies. When the Barbs became even
more visible you could see a spot between their body and tail, and their mid body. At
three months they were about 1-inch in length, and were light orange with three dark
strips down their eyes, mid-section, and just before their tail. They were capable of
eating anything at that point, and were housed in a 1-gallon tank.
It still surprises me when I find another beautiful fish. It seems the aquatic
world is limitless on the selection of fish we can obtain for our aquariums. These
beautiful Barbs would make a great addition to your community tank, or are even worthy of
a tank all to themselves.
|