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Cyprinds
/ Barbs / Five-banded Barb
Five-banded Barb
Puntius pentazona pentazona | Pictures
Synonyms: Barbus
pentazona, Barbodes pentazona
Physical description: An elongated, high backed barb with a pair of barbels.
The back is olive brown to dark orange,
while the flanks are orange-brown.
The gill cover is red-orange and the throat and belly are white.
The
body is marked with five transverse bands.
The first runs through the eye, while the last runs near the caudal
penuncle.
The fins may have a slight orange tint, although the anal and ventral fins are red.
The
eye is large in comparison to the rest of the body.
Size/Length: To 2" (5 cm)
Similar species: Six-banded Barb (
P. hexazona), (
P. johorensis)
Habitat: In stagnate pools and ponds, usually blackwater.
Southeast Asia; Borneo, Malay Peninsula,
Singapore.
S: middle
Aquarium: A tank measuring 24" (61 cm) with a capacity of 20 gallons (75 L) is recommended.
Plant
the sides and edges with robust plants.
Provide hiding places with rocks, roots, and wood.
Use a dark colored substrate.
Water chemistry: pH 5-7 (6.2), 2-12 dH (5), 75-82°F (24-28°C)
Social behavior: A shy, peaceful species that should not be combined with lively fish.
This species can be combined with other
barbs and gouramis.
Suggested companions: Gouramis, Barbs, Loaches, Doradids, Loricarids,
Epalzeorhynchus.
FOOD: Flakes; live; crustaceans, insects,
Tubifex, insect larvae.
SEX: Males are more slender, smaller, and have brighter colors.
Breeding techniques: Use water with a pH from 5.5-6.0, a water hardness less than 5 dH, and a temperature
from 81-86°F (27-30°C).
The water should be peat filtered and clean.
The pair should be conditioned together
with insect larvae and flying insects.
Use bunches of fine-leafed plants and marbles as a substrate so that
the adults are not to eat their eggs.
Spawning last from one to one and a half hours, and the parents should
be fed with white worms throughout.
Remove the pair immediately after spawning.
150-250 eggs will adhere to plants.
These
hatch after 28-30 hours, and the fry are free-swimming 4-5 days later.
Start feeding with Infusoria and liquid
foods.
Later the fry can be fed Artemia
nauplii.
The fry are very sensitive to water pollutants and new water.
Breeding potential: 8.
A moderately difficult species to breed, and the young are difficult to raise.
Remarks: The Five-banded Barb has trouble acclimating to a new tank, although it becomes very
hardy after this period.
The colors only develop in well-maintained water.
Difficulty of care: 5.
A robust species after acclimation.
Recent articles about fish
Overfishing may hurt Amazon forest trees
(2/5/2008) Overfishing is reducing the effectiveness of seed dispersal by fish in the Brazilian Pantanal, reports Nature. The research suggests that fishing practices can affect forest health.
Scientists find fish that literally lives in trees
(10/17/2007) Scientists have found a fish that literally lives in trees, according to research published in The American Naturalist and highlighted in New Scientist Magazine.
Piranhas originated when Amazon was flooded by seawater
(12/4/2007) South America's piranha family of fish -- notorious as eaters of flesh -- can be traced back to a single ancestor which dispersed when the Amazon was flooded by seawater some five million years ago, report researchers from the Institut de Recherche Pour le Developpement (IRD). Today piranhas are exclusively freshwater fish found from the Orinoco River basin in Venezuela to the Parana in Argentina.
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