Barmy Barbs - Odessa & Gold

Got talking about Odessa barbs on another thread recently, so thought I'd take some pics.
This is from a 63 gallon (Roma 240) with Odessa and golden barbs and Giant Danio.
Its mostly sunlit so there's so glass reflection going on... I'll take some later on when its dark out and they're lit by the aquarium light.

mbsqw1d said:

Got talking about Odessa barbs on another thread recently, so thought I'd take some pics.
This is from a 63 gallon (Roma 240) with Odessa and golden barbs and Giant Danio.
Its mostly sunlit so there's so glass reflection going on... I'll take some later on when its dark out and they're lit by the aquarium light.

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Absolutely stunning, the golden ones look like sunbeams! Your camera quality is wonderful, too.

Continue from the other thread...

My profile photo was just pull off the web. This is what the breeder told me after I bought mine from PetCo:

" Today, that original commercial line that I obtained is no longer available, and they have been allowed to wash out so the males and the females can both be sold, and as a rule they now look similar. (Only the males possess the red stripe.) With my line, though the females are very attractive in their own right, the males are spectacular, and are distinctly different in appearance from the females. "

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That is a problem with selling in pet stores, everyone wants the brightly colored males. Personally I would sell them in pairs but that may cause problems, the horny male may just constantly chase the single female. I do plan on buying them from a breeder when available and I have the available tanks (29 and 20 gallon) to bred them. This would be new territory for me, I never tried breeding fish. In my 75 gallon tank, I could rehome the Serpae tetra and just have two large schools of Tigers and Odessa.

Here are what mine look like:



This photo is from the breeder

@madmark285 i wouldn't be surprised if this one at least is a male



Found some old pics of mine when they were just in with the corydoras and very skittish (pre giant danio)




Big difference colour-wise

Agreed on the color issue. Hopefully the color will come in, I only had them for 1 month now. Getting the plants to grow in may help.

They need time to mature and show full colouration.

Most barbs do best in cool water for half the year and then warmer water. They show better colours when the water warms up because that usually coincides with the breeding season.