Above: The picture above shows a young premium quality Male Rosy Barb, swimming in one of our aquariums, when one of us took this picture.

This is a very hardy fish, which is also very colorful, very active, and not aggressive. Highly recommended.

Comments: This is a Premium Pet Fish, and we never see Premium Fish like these in any of the live fish stores or in the online fish stores that we visit.

Premium Pet Fish are more energetic, hardier, and have brighter colors with a beautiful metallic sheen.

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Origin: The ancestors of this fish originally lived in wide area across Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, but now Rosy Barbs are produced by skillful fish farmers and live in aquariums all over the world.

Maximum Size: In aquariums Rosy Barbs can grow to be about 3" long, including their tails. Sometimes very old Rosy Barbs are even bigger.

Behaviors: Rosy Barbs are active swimmers and are rarely aggressive.

Compatibility: Some recommended tank mates include, other smaller Barbs, Rainbowfish, Danios, small Gouramis, and many other small to medium size aquarium fish.

Click here to read more about compatible groups of pet fish.

Temperature: Rosy Barbs can live pretty well from about 60 to 80 degrees F., but they're probably most comfortable at about 70 to 75 degrees F.

Click here to learn about aquarium temperature, aquarium thermometers, and aquarium heaters.

Feeding: Premium Fish Food Flakes when small and small Premium Pellet Food when larger.

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Water Conditions: Rosy Barbs seem to be tolerant of a wide range of water conditions. Probably a pH of about 7 with moderate hardness is best.

Most water in the US has a higher pH and is harder but seems to be OK, so it's probably best NOT to adjust the pH or the hardness of the water.

Here in our facilities the water is hard and the pH is usually about 7.8. We ship them in this water.

Click here for a lot more information about aquarium water conditions.

Aquarium Size: It is probably best to house these fish in at least a 30-gallon tank, but bigger is better.

Keep at most one Rosy Barb per 2-gallons, when they're small. Larger Rosy Barbs need about 3-gallons per Rosy Barb.

Decor: Rosy Barbs do not need gravel, and a layer of gravel more than 1/4" thick will usually fill with bits of uneaten food that will contaminate the water.

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Live Plants are beautiful and improve the water quality.

Aquarium Filter: Bio-Wheel Filters are highly recommended. A Penguin 350B Filter in an aquarium with 30-gallons of water is OK is the minimal set up for this fish.

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The addition of Lava Rocks will keep nitrates in the ideal range. Click here to learn more about using Lava Rocks in aquariums.

Life Span: Rosy Barbs can live for several years with good water and good food.

Gender: Male Rosy Barbs become much redder as they mature, and females get plumper as they fill with eggs.

Breeding: Rosy Barbs scatter a large number of eggs on plants or special breeding mops made of nylon yarn. Barbs do not protect their eggs or babies.

Popularity: Rosy Barbs are an old time favorite, but for quite a few years have been less popular. If you patiently raise them up, you'll be amazed by their colors.

Names: The scientific name of Rosy Barbs is Pethia conchonius.

Variations: fish farmers have created several variations of this fish with different colors and some with longer fins. All these variations are wonderful aquarium fish.

We hope you've enjoyed reading these comments.