All fish / Cyprinidae

Tinfoil Barb

Barbonymus schwanenfeldii

Also known as tinfoil barb, tin foil barb, schwanenfeld's barb, red tail tinfoil barb, goldfoil barb, gold tinfoil barb, albino tinfoil barb, tinfoil, barbodes schwanenfeldii, puntius schwanenfeldii, ปลากระแห, ปลาตะเพียนหางแดง

A deep-bodied, bright silver barb with red fins edged in black on the dorsal and tail lobes. It is kept for its shining scales and lively shoaling behaviour in large display tanks, and gold and albino forms are also sold.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

25 cm

Temperature

22 to 28 °C

pH

6.5 to 7.5

Smallest tank

800 litres

Keep as

Shoal of 5 or more

Diet

Omnivore: quality pellets, vegetable matter such as blanched greens and peas, plus frozen or live insect larvae and shrimp

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

8 to 12 years

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Southeast Asia: Mekong and Chao Phraya basins, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo

Breeding

An egg-scattering open spawner that gives no parental care. It is rarely bred in home aquariums because of its size, and trade fish are mostly farmed in Asian ponds, often with hormone help.

Good to know

Sold at a few centimetres but grows to 25 to 35 cm, so it quickly outgrows community tanks and needs a very large, well-filtered aquarium with a tight lid. It will eat small fish and plants and may nip slow, long-finned tankmates.