Golden Barb

Golden Barb fish is known as the Chinese barb since it originated in China, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, yet it is naturally green in color.

The gold-colored, captive-bred variety is quite popular in the aquarium trade, giving rise to the common name gold barb. 

It’s a beautiful, tranquil fish for a community tank, but in the wild, its man-made shine would make it easy prey for predators.

The gold barb has a sharply slanted back and small barbels at the mouth’s edges. Several dark vertical stripes or blotches can be seen along the fish’s sides. Red color on the fins is also possible in well-conditioned animals.

The natural color of this barb is green, but due to the enormous popularity of the gold version, the green P. semifasciolatus is rarely encountered in the aquarium trade. Almost all specimens available now are captive-bred, and a few other color variations have since emerged, including an albino variant and a tricolor variation.

Thomas Schubert deliberately developed this gold variety in the 1960s, and it was once supposed to be a separate species known as Barbus schuberti or P. semifasciolatus var. schuberti. It has now been determined that it is the same species as the wild variety.

II. You would love the fish because…

A freshwater fish that is suitable for beginners is the Gold Barb. It can withstand a wide range of water parameters, stays small (3 inches – 8cm), is quite colorful, and should get along with most tank residents.

They have a mainly gold body with little dark or black patches running down the body’s lateral line.

Because they nip at the plants, these Gold Barbs may not fare well in planted aquariums. If you have a thickly planted tank, you might be able to keep a few of these, but if your tank is lightly planted, they might eat your plants.

These barbs behave best in groups of five or more, and they may argue about the pecking order among themselves. They may nip at the fins of long-finned fishes like Bettas, some long-finned tetras, and Angelfish if kept with them.

If your Golden Barb isn’t eating, it’s safe to presume that something is amiss with the water parameters in your tank. Flake food can be the mainstay of their diet, but it should be supplemented with other items.

III. Is this fish species peaceful or hostile?

Barbs are considered semi-aggressive but will push smaller, susceptible fish around. They may also nibble at the fins of slower-moving tankmates. Aggressive behavior is frequent even within their species.

IV. Species compatibility

Rosy Barb, Cherry Barb, Cory Catfish, Most Types Of Plecos, Clown Loach, Tinfoil Barb, Pictus Catfish, Neon Tetra.

V. How to feed this species?

Feed your tiger barbs twice a day if possible, or once a day if your schedule allows. Every day, feed your fish high-quality flake food. Once a day, feed them bloodworms, brine shrimp, boiled lettuce, or zucchini.

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