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Cherry Barb

Family: Cyprinidae

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Puntius titteyaPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

     A few Cherry Barbs in full color will bring a dazzling color show to any aquarium!

     This pretty little fish ranks near the top of the barbs in popularity. Like its name implies, the Cherry Barb can develop a deep red "cherry" color. This color intensifies during spawning times with the male becoming a bright beautiful red. Wild caught Cherry Barbs are more intensely colored than captive bred.

     Recommended as a good beginner barb, the Cherry Barb is generally peaceful, undemanding, and fairly easy to breed. Like most barbs, it is a lively little fish and makes a fun addition to a community aquarium. It does tend to be a loner and can be nervous with others, sometimes even with its own species. The best tankmates are a small school of its like kind and a selection of other smaller fishes.
     The Cherry Barb tends to be shy and is almost always found in shaded areas. An aquarium with lots of dense vegetation and floating plants where it can seek cover is best suited to this fish, as well as a dark substrate and an open area in the center for swimming.

For more Information on keeping freshwater fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Distribution:      The Cherry Barb was described by Deraniyagala in 1929. From Asia, they are found in shaded streams and rivers in Kelani to Nilwala basins, Sri Lanka. They prefer areas of slow moving, shallow water with silty bottoms and leafy debris.

Status:      The Cherry Barb is listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as: LR - cd, which is Lower Risk and conservation dependent.

Description:      The Cherry Barb has a silver colored body that tends toward a rich reddish brown. Like its name implies, the Cherry Barb can develop a deep red "cherry" color. This color intensifies during spawning times with the male becoming a bright beautiful red. There is a horizontal black stripe from the tip of the mouth to the tail, topped with a metallic line.

Care and feeding:      Since they are omnivorous the Cherry Barb will generally eat all kinds of live, fresh, and flake foods. To keep a good balance give them a high quality flake food everyday. Feed brine shrimp (either live or frozen) or blood worms as a treat.
     An aquarium with lots of dense vegetation and floating plants where it can seek cover is best suited to this fish, as well as a dark substrate and an open area in the center for swimming.

Size - Weight:      These fish get up to 2 inches (5 cm).

Social Behaviors:     They are a very good community fish but are shy, so should be kept with smaller tankmates. Lively and fun to watch. Will be more confident and social when they have a well planted aquarium.

Sexual Differences:      Difficult to tell when they are young, but as they get older the male becomes redder and slender while the female remains smaller and plumper. The male turns bright red during spawning season.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:      These fish will swim in all areas of the aquarium. They especially like to take cover in planted areas.

Acceptable Water Conditions:      Hardness: 2 - 18 ° dGH
     Ph: 6.5 to 7.0
     Temp: 73 - 79 ° F (23 - 26 ° C)

Breeding/Reproduction:      The Cherry Barbs are egg layers. When spawning, the female will deposit one to three eggs at a time, until she has deposited up to 300. The eggs will be seen hanging from plants by a small thread.

Buy Cherry Barbs From LiveAquaria.com

See the description of how to breed these fish in Breeding Freshwater Fish.

Availability:     The popular Cherry Barb is available basically anywhere, both in stores and online. Prices range about $1.50 - $4.00 USD per individual.

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Latest Comments
I would really like to start an aquarium with 3 or 4 cherry barbs but am looking for something else to put with them - I'd like a nice blue or yellow/orange fish of no more than 5cms size if there are any that would live happily with them. Can anyone recommend anything? Gilly 2009-06-01
Hi! I've got two cherry barbs- one female, one male. I might get more cherry barbs. Will this interfear with the two I have already as they breed? Also, I've noticed that they are sometimes eating off the algae. Is this normal, as in most fish books it only mentions that they eat flake, pellet, live food etc. Holly 2009-05-07
I am wondering if Cherry Barbs are compatible with dwarf Platies and Neon Tetras. Kathy Zadori 2008-07-17
I adore my cherry barbs. I started out with 10 hoping to have a nice school of them. However, most didn't survive and I'm still not sure why really. I think it was some kind of sensitivity to some medication. Currently down to a pair, a beautiful red male and a fat'n'sassy female. They take good care of each other and spend alot of time doing their own thing too. They're not shy now that they have been established for about six months. ^^ They share their space with four otocinclus catfish, a Neon tetra, and six newly added Serpae tetras. The Serpae took a liking to them, in fact and I think it helped make their introduction to my tank much smoother. I believe it is because of the similar coloration (red with black), but it is just an observation. To anyone thinking of getting Cherry barbs I highly recommend them! They are fun, beautiful, peaceful and interesting fish. ^^ ROSIE 2007-10-09
I have a 10 gallon tank and a 20 gallon. in my 10 i have 2 and they have been living perfectly for the last 5 years. tom 2007-10-03
Comments Dr Jungle REALLY Likes to Hear!
hi, i have a lot-well i say alot, probably about 20 little fish and i have had my cherry barbs for a while now -i only chose 5- and one female has got pregnant so i came on to this site looking for their breeding strategy and now i know what to look out for so thankyou very much for being so informative. i also had a glance at the information on owning them and i found out that without requiring any informatio that i have looked after them incredibly well. so thanks again for providing such valuable information. alex .e 2006-02-11
Thanks alot! i'm a 14 year old boy from Singapore and after your help from this website, my cherry barbs have finally spawned! Anyway thanks! Darren Lim 2005-12-02

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