| Common Name | Checkered barb
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| Species/genus | - Barbus oligolepis
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| Keeping | An excellent beginners fish. A small
peaceful easy to spawn fish. The male is more colourful and has black edges on its dorsal and anal fins.
Females are dull in colour. Normally these barbs are very active and need good swimming space.
They are very peaceful. Males will chase with each other but it is never serious and they
chalk out their territory. They eat all sorts of food but their diet should be supplemented with live food.
They do well with soft water and beginners should take care of the water requirements. Otherwise
they are quite hardy fish.
|
| Breeding | They are easy to breed. You need a 10G
tank for the purpose. Condition the male and female by introducing them into
the breeding tank with a glass partition. The female should be plumb with eggs.
Temperature should be maintained at around 27 °C for mating to begin. Breeding
tank should have plants at the bottom or a nylon wire mesh net so that the eggs
can drop below the net. This will prevent the parents from eating the eggs.
Feed them well with live foods for three or four days. Then one morning before
dawn remove the partition, mating takes place early morning at dawn. Spawning
may last a few hours, then remove the male and female from the breeding tank.
The fry hatch after a couple of days. The fry are very small
and require the tiniest of food for the first week. See Fry Food for more
information. The fry grow fast provided enough room is given.
Filtration is not required during the first two weeks, but water must be changed
partly using the small air tube as hose with a nylon mesh net at the end.
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| Origin | Temp | Water | Temper
| Size | Tank | Food | Breeding
|
| Indonesia | 73-81 °F | Neutral to Soft
| Peaceful, Community | 1.5-2 inch | 20 Gallon
| All, Worms | Egg Layer, Easy
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