Last Updated: 12/2/24

Quick Information
Description and Varieties
Setup and Water Preferences
Sexing
Breeding
My Rosy Barbs
Links and Photos

Much of this information holds true for other barbs as well (except the description and temperature range which varies with species).

New! There is now a video on my videos page of the rosy barbs in my 50 gallon tank.

Common name: Rosy barb
Scientific/Latin name: Barbus conchonius, Puntius conchonius
Maximum length: 2 to 3 inches in my experience although some books claim up to 6 inches!
Colors: Red, yellow, black
Temperature preference: 65 to 75 degrees F, can withstand 55 to 90 degrees F
pH preference: 6 to 7
Hardness preference: Soft
Salinity preference: Low to 1 Tablespoon per 10 to 30 gallons
Compatibility: Good; like most barbs, may chase or nip at similar fish as well as their own species
Life span: 2 to 10 years
Ease of keeping: Easy
Ease of breeding: Easy to moderate if eggs removed from parents

Barbus conchonius is the beautiful rosy barb. It is red (male) and yellow (female) with black spots near the rear and on the dorsal fin. Rosy barbs grow to six inches at most. Mine were about three inches and stable, which is a more typical size. Rosy barbs have been bred with longfins, neon reflecting scales, and now a lighter color (blushing rosy barb; it is more see-through).

Rosy barbs like slightly acid, soft water between 60 and 75 degrees F. Thus, they can be kept in cooler tanks. They do well with paradise fish, danios, common guppies, etc. Rosy barbs are schooling fish and become less aggressive towards other species of fish and females when in larger schools. Provide about 3-5 gallons per barb, and they will live from 2-10 years. Mine ate most plants that I added but I only had a few plants. In large tanks, lots of hardy plants should be planted on the edges. They are not at all picky and eat anything.

Rosy barbs are reported to eat algae. They can be used to clean out a tank of hair algae. Remove the other fish if they are apt to be fin nipped. Do not feed the barbs, and they will hopefully clear out the hair algae. I got a pair on 2/1/02 on hopes they would eat the hair algae out of my 50 gallon tank (they did not at first but by 9/12/03, there is no hair algae in there!).

There is some anecdotal evidence that rosy barbs may sometimes be more tolerant of temperatures below 60 degrees F or even 50 degrees F. Hank on 3/12/08 said, "Just to let you know that I left my Rosy Barbs in my pond over the winter, and I measured the temp at one point at 2 C, and they not only survived but bred as well. So, I think you can revise your 55 F temp down even more."

Bill in Australia had this to say on 8/31/08:
"I read with interest again your webpage on rosy barbs regarding their ability to withstand cold temperatures. I just wish to add my experience on this front, coming from Melbourne, Australia. I have been keeping my rosy barbs outdoors both in fish tanks and in a plastic tub two years before. The fish tank is a small two foot tank (around 50 litres) on a wooden stand. I will set up my 3.5 foot tank later in the spring. The plastic tub rested on my paved machine-brick courtyard, it's 120 litres. In Melbourne, winter can get as cold as 3-5 degree Celsius during winter nights, with the highest temperature during the day hovering around 10-14 degrees Celsius. I found that none of my rosy barbs could survive in the plastic tub situated directly above ground level two years ago. However, some do survive quite well in the fish tank (not all, as some rosy barbs still couldn't withstood the cold while other rosy barbs in the same tank survived). The fish tank has gravel and plants (Bacopa). New water comes from rain; I don't change the water in the fish tank except during summer to avoid overheating. At present (today 31 August 2008, being the last day of winter), I still have some of the yellow (xanthic) female rosy barbs happily living in the fish tank. I wish to conclude that some rosy barbs can withstand prolonged low temperatures, ie, Melbourne winter, provided the tank/tub is not at ground level. None of the Odessa barbs and gold barbs (Puntius 'schuberti') I had survived through the Melbourne winter in the fish tank or the plastic tub outdoors. Some of my China barbs, ie Puntius semifasciolatus survived. But again, like rosy barbs, not all of them do. Therefore, what I can deduce is that Odessa barbs do not withstand the cold well like rosy barbs. And gold barbs also do not do as well as China barbs, despite some aquarium literatures saying gold barbs are yellow colour variants of China barbs...."

Sexing is very easy. The males are mostly a deep red while the females are a deep yellow. In overcrowded or dirty tanks where the fish become sick, the males lose their color. Females are often the smaller of the pair and wider. Sometimes, one can see what looks like an ovipositor protruding from her vent. My female was a dull yellow when I got her but once she really got into breeding, she was then a rose color too, just not as strong as the male. She was very pretty too!

Unless a breeding setup is provided, they will most likely eat all the eggs and fry. If you add them to a shallow container with their water and marbles or coarse gravel on the bottom, any eggs laid should be out of reach. Provide soft plants for her to be pushed against. The eggs will fall into the substrate. A five gallon tank, half filled, with a male and two females who are ready to mate at about 75 degrees F is one possibility. After spawning, remove the adults. Fry hatch in about two days. They need small microorganisms and baby brine shrimp to grow up.

I had my latest two rosy barbs in a 5 gallon quarantine tank for two weeks. They spawned multiple times among the java moss and hair algae. I never saw eggs but did end up with two babies. Since moving into the 50 gallon tank, the rosy barbs had been spawning almost every morning (until she died on 5/9/02). I still have not seen any eggs (they must be extra small), ever but there are at least half a dozen young fry that I disturb when cleaning the tank. I did not know if any would be able to survive to adulthood without being eaten but over 15 did. The tank the rosy barbs were spawning in like crazy is 50 gallons, 74 degrees F, very soft water, lots of live plants including tons of java moss/hair algae masses (I think they are the key!), and lots of other fish (26 white cloud mountain minnows, 15-20 panda cories, plus one otto and one Siamese algae eater and also up to seven rainbow shrimp.) The water level is full to the top, and I do 50% weekly water changes with partial gravel vacuuming (where there are no plants). I feed live brine shrimp every once in a while but mostly a variety of dry and freeze-dried foods.

Someone sent me an e-mail about their baby rosy barbs all being female. It looked like mine would be too but some "turned into" males by 7/10/02 at about 5 months old. The owner of his local pet store said that pH determines the sex of rosy barbs. I have never heard anything about this. With all the fish I have bred, you usually get 50/50 male/female ratios. It looks like my batches of rosy barbs will be about 50/50 as well. If anyone has any information, please contact me.

Also, with a short-finned mother and long-finned father, it at first appeared that all the babies were short-finned but by 10/4/02, I can say for sure that many (male and female) are long-finned. I cannot say for sure if the ones that still appear short-finned will remain that way or their fins will lengthen as well.

See below for a link on breeding rosy barbs.

For more information on caring for and feeding fry, visit my breeding and fry care page.

On 2/1/02, I bought a pair of rosy barbs. The male is a longfin rosy barb (maybe neon variety) while the female (who was in a different tank at the store) was a regular rosy barb. They were put in a 5-gallon quarantine tank for two weeks. The male is gorgeous and big. He liked to chase the female around but not all that fast as his fins slowed him down. They spawned multiple times in quarantine as she developed more and more eggs from the good food I was feeding. I should have gotten another female. Their photo is at the top of this page. A photo of two of their babies is under the breeding section.

On 2/16/02, I released the pair of rosy barbs into my 50 gallon tank. So far, they have gotten along great with the white clouds and panda cories. I hoped they would eat hair algae. They appeared to pick at it but seemed to be in fact eating the cory eggs and fish food out of it! Oh well, I had too many cories anyway. I left the quarantine tank running in hopes of getting babies. Well, finally on 2/20/02, I spotted two fry in there! I saw three fry on 2/24/02! They appeared smaller and acted differently than danio fry so I thought they may just be rosy barbs! Only time would tell! By 3/12/02, I had two growing fry in the 5 gallon that were definitely rosy barbs! Not only that but when I cleaneded the 50 gallon tank on 3/9/02, I saw at least two baby rosy barbs in there. The pair were spawning at dawn every day. Some of their babies are surviving in the tank on their own. I may soon be overrun with rosy barbs! First it was white cloud mountain minnows and zebra danios and then panda cories. So, rosy barbs are next! I just can't seem to stop certain fish from spawning in my tanks! By 3/16/02, I noticed that the two babies in the 5 gallon tank now had the black mark found at the base of the adult rosy barbs' tails. There was no doubt they are little rosy barbs. Plus, I saw even more babies of all ages in the 50 gallon tank when I cleaned it and disturbed them. I will not collect those babies so most will be eaten. Otherwise, I will have too many! I already have too many panda cories! Since putting the adult rosy barbs in the 50 gallon tank, no more baby panda cories have been seen and so, I think, the rosy barbs are keeping their numbers down by eating them.

By 4/2/02, there are three large baby rosy barbs in the five gallon and at least two in the fifty gallon that survived. On 4/6/02, I moved three now-large rosy barb fry from the five gallon to the fifty gallon to join some dozen babies that made it all on their own in there (by hiding in the hair algae). I left behind one smaller baby in the five gallon to move later. Once I am through with this batch, I do not plan to try to save more babies on purpose but they are surviving all on their own. Help! My tank will soon be overloaded with fish! From about three white cloud mountain minnows, five panda cories, and a pair of rosy barbs, they have breed themselves up to 26 white clouds, about 20 panda cories, and about 15 rosy barbs. By 5/7/02, I would say there are at least 15 babies plus the two parents. They are growing fast! The tank cannot hold them all!

When I went to feed the fish on 5/9/02, I found the female rosy barb upside down at the surface. She was dead. She had not been ill and showed no abnormalities, tumors, dropsy, injuries, parasites, etc. All the other fish are fine. I can only conclude she suffered some blunt force trauma, perhaps during spawning with her mate. She was very pretty and will be missed. Her life was not in vain though as there are now at least 15 of her offspring in the tank that are a third adult size. Soon, they will breed with each other and their father. Since the tank is WAY overloaded now, it seems unlikely that so many fry will be able to survive next time around which is fine for now. I have not noticed ANY aggression of the rosy barb adults or babies towards the white cloud mountain minnows, panda cories, or other animals with which they share the tank. They all seem to like each other!

On 5/18/02, I moved the last fry from the five gallon tank into the 50 gallon tank to join at least 15 other fry. Their daddy seems very depressed now that their mother has died. Some of the babies were almost full grown and yet none showed any signs of male coloration until 7/10/02. By 10/2/02, the "babies" are mostly male and female and have bred many times.

On 2/22/03, I found one of the larger longfin male rosy barbs stuck in the window of a ceramic pagoda ornament. It had been dead a few days, and if I had seen his stuck when alive, I do not think I could have gotten him out alive as he was as wedged as any fish I have ever seen! Blood came out when I forced the body out of it. There are some 24 or so full grown barbs now. Their daddy is still obvious as he is bigger. There are a few younger babies as well which are unfortunately inbred.

Someone asked about the rosy barbs and hair algae. As of 9/12/03, I have some 30 large rosy barbs. There is no hair algae in the tank. The only plants left really are a few anubias, tons of java moss, and frogbit. So, if you have a TON of rosy barbs, hair algae does not stand a chance. With just a few, they probably will not rid the tank of hair algae.

I was surprised on 1/24/04 to see a small rosy barb, just at the size where no one is going to eat it. So even though the tank is WAY overcrowded, there are still babies here or there surviving! Of course, the 30-some barbs lay a few hundred eggs a day probably!

I have noticed even more fry! Now, with such an overload of fish, a few are starting to display symptoms of fish tuberculosis to which all my fish were exposed 10 years ago. One smaller male became skinny and had trouble swimming. I removed him dead on 2/14/04. The father rosy barb of all the others got the other extreme of tuberculosis which is severe abdominal swelling. As antibiotics have done nothing in the past, I just treated with some MelaFix for a week and today daddy seems to not be as fat! I took his photo last week and will put it up here whenever I deal with that batch of digital photos. Tuberculosis can be latent for a long time until stress brings it out. My fish have been living with it for so long. Nothing has stopped it but the fish may have no symptoms for years and then go a year with tumors making them fat.

I removed a dead male longfin rosy barb from my 50 gallon tank on 9/1/04. Unfortunately, some other fish in the tank are showing signs of tuberculosis tumors and/or dropsy. Most of the fish are fine though. There are still babies of all sizes. There are simply too many fish; rosy barbs are very prolific!

On 10/10/04, one of the largest longfin male rosy barbs died. He may have even been the original male, I am not sure. If that were the case, then this was his second round with dropsy. This time, he just got bigger and bigger, scales stuck out, he got popeye (eyes stuck out), and eventually his veins started to rupture, and he died. I took photos the day before for my health pages but they is not up yet. I had thought it was tuberculosis at first until the raised scales and popeye became so severe, and more importantly, occurred so quickly. He was treated with salt, MelaFix, and antibiotics earlier to no avail.

The tank still is putting out new babies. There are rosy barbs of all sizes.

I found two dead rosy barbs on 3/21/05 and removed them. There was a male about 2 inches with no fins and a female about 2.5 inches that looked normal. There are still at least 30 large rosy barbs in the tank and little ones of all sizes. The overcrowding is causing some fin rot and trouble swimming with some of them.

On 6/8/05, I removed a dead ~2.5" female regular-fin rosy barb from the tank. She had a little septicemia but she did not seem to have other obvious problems. On 6/17/05, while cleaning, I found a dead rosy barb in small pieces (it had died a few days before and apparently the other fish shredded it.). On 6/25/05, a medium-sized longfin female rosy barb was dying. She was gone by the next day when I removed her. She was a bit anorexic and lost a lot of her color.

The morning of 7/31/05, I found a partially eaten maybe 3" female (I think) longfin rosy barb. It is always so sad to find a fish has died. I removed a ~2.5" longfin male rosy barb on 8/9/05. Parts of another rosy barb (female I think) were removed on 8/29/05. On 9/3/05, a dead 2.5" female short fin rosy barb was removed and, on 9/4/05, a 2.5" male longfin rosy barb. They must have reached some sort of threshold of overcrowding resulting in a small die off. The water quality is fine as far as tests can tell but the tests are only for a few things.

On 10/19/05, I removed a dead 2.5" female regular-finned rosy barb. On 11/12/05, I removed a dead 2" female regular-finned rosy barb.

On 12/23/05, when cleaning the canister filter, I found seven hatchling rosy barbs. Instead of just tossing them in the tank, I put them in the net breeder. I would feel guilty otherwise. The tank is super overcrowded with barbs but I really like watching the little ones grow. When I cleaned the tank on 12/31/05, I could not find any babies in the net. Once I washed out the net, I found one who died in the process of the net cleaning. I have to remove the net to change the tank's water.

The week of 1/17/06, I treated the 50 gallon tank with MelaFix and PimaFix for a 6 days. On 1/21/06, I did my weekly 50% water change. The treatment, which I did because some of the fish had missing fins and other problems, made the water a little white. After the cleaning, one 2" female regular-finned barb with no dorsal fin was spinning. She died later that day. There are still lots of barbs which is the main reason bacteria are doing so well.

I removed a dead 2.5" regular-finned female rosy barb on 3/4/06. I removed a dead 2.5" male, short-finned rosy barb on 4/2/06. I removed a dead 3" longfin male rosy barb on 7/7/06 that was anorexic. I removed a rosy barb skeleton (not much left) on 8/10/06 so I have no details on that one. On 9/23/06, I removed a female, longfin rosy barb that was only about 1.5" long. On 10/1/06, I removed a dead 3" male shortfin rosy barb. On 10/30/06, I removed a 3" female longfin rosy barb. She had been washed out and had trouble swimming for almost a week before dying. On 11/24/06, I removed a 2.5" female, longfin rosy barb.

On 3/17/07, I redid the 50 gallon tank. For details, see the tank redo page. I actually counted the rosy barbs. There were 39 of them. Here are the results.

6 adult male longfin rosy barbs
15 adult male shortfin rosy barbs
1 juvenile male shortfin rosy barb
4 adult female longfin rosy barbs
9 adult female shortfin rosy barbs
3 juvenile female shortfin rosy barbs
1 rosy barb fry (too young to sex but appears female)

On 4/9/07, I removed what probably was my largest and oldest rosy barb, a 3 inch male longfin rosy barb. I think he had fish tuberculosis as his body was enlarged for a while. He was looking worse after the tank cleaning and finally died.

On 6/16/07, in the morning, I saw what I thought was a dead rosy barb. When I went to remove him, he moved. By the time I cleaned the tank that afternoon, he was dead. This rosy barb was a 3" shortfin male.

On 6/30/07, there was a dying rosy barb when I cleaned the tank, and she died that night. She was a 3" female shortfin rosy barb. She had popeye and a small protrusion on the side that resembled the boil-like things that fish tuberculosis causes. There are presumably 36 rosy barbs left.

On 10/13/07, I removed a dead female shortfin rosy barb. She had been very white the few days before and probably had an internal bacterial infection and seemed to have some internal hemorrhaging. There are a few new baby rosy barbs in the tank to make up for those that have died. On 10/27/07, I found and removed a dead 2.5 inch female shortfin rosy barb. On 12/11/07, I removed a dead 2.6 inch female shortfin rosy barb. On 12/19/07, I removed yet another 3 inch female shortfin rosy barb.

On 3/6/08, I removed a dead 3" male shortfin rosy barb. On 3/19/08, I removed a 3.5" male longfin rosy barb. On 6/7/08, I removed a dead 2.5" male shortfin rosy barb. On 6/30/08, I removed a dead rosy barb about 2" long. It was too decomposed to tell the sex or if the fins were short or long. On 12/25/08, I removed a dead 2.75" male shortfin rosy barb. On 2/9/09, a 3" male longfin rosy barb died. On 4/4/09, I removed a dead 3" male shortfin rosy barb who had been dead a few days. On 4/12/09, I removed an anorexic 2" female longfin rosy barb. On 4/18/09, I removed remains of another rosy barb, too decomposed/eaten to identify type or sex. On 5/11/09, I removed a dead 2" male? shortfin rosy barb. On 6/6/09, I found a dead 2" female shortfin rosy barb while cleaning the tank. On 7/31/09, I removed a dead rosy barb, too far decomposed/eaten to determine the length, sex, or type.

When cleaning on 8/29/09, I found two dead rosy barbs! One was a 2 inch shortfin female rosy barb and the other a 2.5 inch longfin female rosy barb. A rotted 1.5" shortfin rosy barb of unknown sex was found dead on 10/12/09.

I was in the hospital for a week and incapacitated for a week so that fish started to die in my 50 gallon tank. I removed one on 12/23/09 and one on 12/26/09. Both were about 3 inches, shortfin, unknown sex (too sick to remember/care). On 1/20/10, I removed a dead 2.5" female longfin rosy barb.

I removed a 2" shortfin rosy barb on 3/6/10. It was too decomposed to determine sex. A 2" male shortfin rosy barb died on 4/15/10. I removed a 2.5" male shortfin rosy barb on 7/10/10. I removed a dead 2" rosy barb on 8/11/10. It was too rotted to tell sex or fin type. A 2.5" female shortfin rosy barb died on 11/23/10. I removed a rosy barb on 1/26/11 that was too chewed up to determine type or sex. I removed a rosy barb skeleton on 2/23/11. I removed a dead, perhaps male, 2.5" shortfin rosy barb on 3/26/11. I removed a 2" longfin rosy barb of unknown sex on 6/20/11 that had been dead for days and partially eaten. I removed a 2" shortfin rosy barb of unknown sex on 7/3/11 that had been dead a few days. I removed a dead 2.5" male shortfin rosy barb on 8/13/11. I removed a dead rosy barb that was too decomposed and eaten to tell size or sex on 12/20/11. I removed a dead 2.5" male shortfin rosy barb on 2/21/12 and another on 2/22/12. I removed a dead 1" perhaps shortfin rosy barb of unknown sex on 8/31/12 that was decomposed. I removed another dead 2" rosy barb of unknown sex and fin length on 9/22/12; it was half decomposed. I removed a small, maybe 1" rosy barb of unknown sex and fin length on 11/3/12 that was partially decomposed. I counted at least 35 rosy barbs in the tank. On 11/24/12, I removed a 2.5" shortfin, male rosy barb from the tank. On 3/20/13, I removed a dead 2.5" female shortfin rosy barb. On 12/14/13, I removed a dead 1.5" shortfin rosy barb of unknown sex. On 1/24/14, I found and removed the partially decomposed remains of a rosy barb, probably a few inches long of unknown sex and finnage. On 5/17/14, I removed a dead 2" shortfin rosy barb of unknown sex (maybe male). On 11/13/14, I removed a dead 2.5" female shortfin rosy barb. I removed a dead 1" rosy barb (unknown sex and finnage as partially eaten) on 2/8/15. I removed a dead 2" female, shortfin rosy barb on 5/3/15. A dead 1.5" rosy barb was removed on 6/27/15. A dead, decomposed, about 1" rosy barb was removed on 11/21/15. I removed a dead 1" rosy barb on 3/12/16. I removed a dead 2" rosy barb on 3/26/16. I removed a dead 1" rosy barb on 4/15/16. I removed a dead 2" decomposed rosy barb on 7/30/16. I removed a dead 1" rosy barb of unknown sex on 11/26/16. I saw a dead 1" rosy barb in the tank on 12/13/16 and meant to remove it but kept forgetting, and it was gone in two days. On 2/10/17, I removed a dead 2" rosy barb. I removed the rotted remains of some rosy barb on 2/11/17. On 3/15/17, I removed a dead 1" shortfin rosy barb. I removed a dead 2" bloated rosy barb on 5/6/17. I removed a partially decomposed 2" rosy barb on 10/28/17. I removed a dead 1" rosy barb on 1/27/18 and a 2" rosy barb on 1/31/18. I removed one dead 1" rosy barb stuck to the filter intake on 3/13/18. On 3/26/18, I removed a dead 2" rosy barb, well rotted. I removed a dead barb on 6/23/18; there was almost nothing left so no information. I removed a dead 1" shortfin male (yes, he was red at that size) rosy barb on 11/17/18. I removed a dead 1" male shortfin rosy barb on 12/29/18. I removed a dead 2" male shortfin rosy barb on 1/19/19. I removed a dead 1" female shortin rosy barb on 3/9/19. I removed a dead and partially decomposed 1" shortfin rosy barb of unknown sex on 3/30/19. I removed a dead 2" shortfin rosy barb of unknown sex on 5/8/19. I removed a dead 2" shortfin rosy barb of unknown sex on 8/1/19. I removed a dead 1" shortfin rosy barb of unknown sex on 8/13/19. I removed a dead 1" shortfin rosy barb, maybe female, on 9/28/19. I actually do not see any more longfin rosy barbs! I removed a dead 1" rosy barb on 11/9/19 that was too decomposed to say more. I removed a dead 1" shortfin rosy barb on 1/25/20. I removed a dead 1.5" shortfin rosy barb on 2/6/20. I removed a dead 1" shortfin rosy barb on 2/29/20. I removed a dead 1" shortfin rosy barb on 3/30/20. I saw a 1" dead shortfin rosy barb on 4/13/20 but I forgot to remove it until the next day. On 7/22/20, I removed a dead 2" shortfin rosy barb. I removed a dead 1" shortfin rosy barb on 9/15/20 that I saw the day before and forgot to remove. On 1/30/21, I removed a dead 1" male rosy barb. You are probably wondering how I can keep removing dead fish and never run out?! The rosy barbs are a breeding colony, and there are at least as many survivors as untimely deaths. On 3/23/21, I removed one dead one inch rosy barb who was too rotted to tell anything else.

On 4/10/21, after I cleaned the 50 gallon tank, left the room, and came back, there was a horrible sound coming from the Emperor filter. I took it apart and found a poor rosy barb! The intake tube had fallen off, sucked him/her in, and cut the fish all up in pieces!

On 5/15/21, I removed a dead 2" shortfin male rosy barb. On 8/28/21, I removed a dead rosy barb stuck in the filter (the intake had fallen off the week before and must have sucked him in). On 12/26/21, I removed a dead 1" rosy barb that was too damaged to determine sex or fin length. On 2/26/22, I removed a dead 2" male rosy barbs (fins were eaten off). On 5/14/22, after I cleaned the 50 gallon tank, I heard a horrible noise. The intake had fallen in, a rosy barb went up the intake, and the poor fish was torn to shreds. On 7/2/22, I removed a dead ~1.5" short fin rosy barb of unknown sex that had died and rotted too much to tell more. On 8/13/22, I removed a dead 1.75" male shortfin rosy barb. On 9/8/22, I heard a horrible noise coming from the 50 gallon Emperor filter. I took it apart. There was a 2" male rosy barb that had gotten sucked into the filter (the intake tube fell off by itself again). I was surprised when the fish jumped. I put him in some water but he soon died from his injuries. On 10/23/22, I removed a dead 1.5” male shortfin rosy barb from the filter (sucked in as tube came off). I would epoxy the tube together on 10/29/22 to prevent this from happening again! On 5/3/23, I found a rosy barb skeleton which I tried to remove but then it floated away from me. On 6/15/23, I removed a dead 1" female shortfin rosy barb. A dead 2” male shortfin rosy barb was removed on 9/16/23.

The number of rosy barbs seems to have suddenly declined to the point where I could actually get a head count. I counted 14 rosy barbs on 9/29/23.

A 2" dead shortfin rosy barb of unknown sex (too rotted) was removed on 11/15/23. On 11/21/23, I removed two dead 2" male shortfin rosy barbs, one in the morning and one after work. On 1/5/24, I took a dead 2" male shortfin rosy barb out of the tank. I removed a dead 2" shortfin male rosy barb on 2/14/24. I removed a dead 3.25" male shortfin rosy barb on 3/19/24. I think another rosy barb died a week or two after that but I accidently saved over my newer version of this file with an older one so I lost the details.

On 8/7/24, a female shortfin rosy barb died. There were seven males and one sickly female with tumors left.

On 8/26/24, a male 2" shortfin rosy barb with an abnormal mouth died. The last female rosy barb died on 9/16/24. Another male rosy barb was dying but still alive as of 10/30/24. That leaves six males left. The end of an era is coming which lasted 22 years with a self-replenishing population of rosy barbs started with a single pair!

A male shortfin rosy barb, that was 2.25 inches long, died on 11/13/24 so there are now 5 left.

Photos of my rosy barbs:

Photos are listed from newest to oldest:

To see photos of the 50 gallon tank that may show rosy barbs from a distance, go to my 50 gallon tank page.

Three rosy barbs (and Queen, my pleco) on 10/18/15.

50 gallon tank on 5/24/13, full of rosy barbs.

Rosy barbs on 11/30/12.

Rosy barbs on 7/3/10. It looks like there are 8 male shortfin and 3 female longfin rosy barbs in the photo.

Rosy barbs on 5/19/10. I was taking a photo of the new red ludwigia plant. I see six rosy barbs. The only female in the photo is on the left.

Rosy barbs on 8/15/08 with my Queen Arabesque pleco which is why I was taking the photo.

50 gallon tank on 1/13/08 showing lots of rosy barbs.

50 gallon tank on 1/8/08. This photo was to show the new Anubias barteri and baby tears plants but you can also see three rosy barbs.

50 gallon tank with rosy barbs on 12/29/07.

Baby rosy barb in the 50 gallon tank on 3/24/07.
Female shortfin rosy barb on 3/24/07. You can see her ovipositor.
Two rosy barbs on 3/24/07. The top fish is a longfin male rosy barb. The bottom fish is a shortfin male rosy barb. My Queen Arabesque pleco can be seen behind them sucking on the driftwood.

50 gallon tank on 3/18/07 after the cleaning. You can see all the rosy barbs.
50 gallon tank on 3/18/07 after the cleaning, a slightly different view.

Rosy barbs in a bucket during the 50 gallon tank cleaning on 3/17/07. See the tank redo page for details from that day.
Rosy barbs in a bucket from 3/17/07.
A small rosy barb waiting in a bucket on 3/17/07 with the real Siamese algae eater.
A baby rosy barb waiting in a bucket on 3/17/07 with the otto and the Queen Arabesque pleco.
Rosy barbs in the bucket on 3/17/07, close- up.

Surface view of my 50 gallon tank on 6/25/05 showing the rosy barbs from a top view. I think this is a neat photo! The surface plants are frogbit.

My 50 gallon tank on 6/19/05. You can see lots of rosy barbs.

Rosy barb with dropsy - this poor male longfin rosy barb was dying from dropsy (probably tuberculosis too). Taken on 10/9/04 while he laid sideways at the surface, he died the next day. He may have been the original daddy barb mentioned below that had previously become enlarged and then got better.

Lots of rosy barbs in my 50 gallon tank on 2/28/04.

Here are three photos of the original male longfin rosy barb after he bloated up on 2/8/04, presumably with fish tuberculosis. I added MelaFix by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals and within a week he was almost normal which had never happened before (that is a fish improving from tuberculosis). I do not know if it was just a coincidence or something else was wrong with him.
Left side view
Right side view
Front view

Male longfin rosy barb on 10/18/03.

Rosy barbs in my 50 gallon tank with the Siamese algae eater on 10/18/03.

Rosy barbs in my 50 gallon tank from a distance on 9/22/03.

13 rosy barbs on 7/12/03. There is one white cloud back there too. I like this photo.

Here are two photos from April of 2003 that my brother took of the fish in my 50 gallon tank including lots of rosy barbs: barbs and barbs.

Rosy barb party on 3/1/03. A ton of my rosy barbs including males, females, longfin, and shortfin. That pair of rosy barbs I bought a year ago has turned into 25 large and gorgeous barbs filling out my entire 50 gallon tank!

Two rosy barbs on 12/28/02. In the upper left is a female short-finned rosy barb. In the upper right is a male longfin rosy barb. At the bottom is a Siamese algae eater (which is why I was taking the photo). These two are some of the 20 some babies produced by the pair of rosy barbs whose photos are below.

Female rosy barb on 4/28/02 next to a few panda cories. This is the same female as the one below and mother of the babies. She died 11 days later for unknown reasons (you can see here she was very healthy).

Two baby rosy barbs on 4/20/02 at about two months old.

My pair of rosy barbs on 2/8/02 (regular female on top (died 5/9/02), longfin male on bottom).

Videos of my rosy barbs:

Leopard Cories and Rosy Barbs - 3311 KB, mpg movie.
This video from 6/14/08 shows the 50 gallon tank during the day right before I got to cleaning it. You can see the leopard cories going up and down the glass which may indicate spawning activity. At the end of the video, I pan up to the 30 some rosy barbs. You can see how they are all bunched up and swarming because they want their dinner!

Rosy Barbs and Leopard Cories. This is a video of the rosy barbs and leopard cories in my 50 gallon tank some time in April 2012.

My previous rosy barbs:

I had a pair of longfin neon rosy barbs in 1998. They lived with a 7 inch plecostomus (10.5 inches by 1/12/99) in a tiny 10 gallon tank for about a year before they died. They were already full grown when I bought them so their age was unknown. The male had no apparent damage and was the most gorgeous fish I have ever seen, even dead. Chunks of flesh were missing from the female before she died so I assume the plecostomus killed them. They had no signs of illness and behaved normally.

Longfin rosy barb - photos of a longfin rosy barb (appears to be female(s)).

Rosy Barb - photo of a pair and breeding information.

Rosy Barbs - a picture and some information.

Rosy Barbs - a picture and a little information (this site may no longer work).

Rosy Barb Fry Photos

Photos of my barbs can be seen on the section on my barbs (under photos of my rosy barbs).

Mike sent me a few photos of his 5" female rosy barb on 01/03/05. He thinks she is 5 to 6 years old. Bill told me on 5/16/05 that he thinks the fish is a male filament (or black spot or big spot) barb (Barbus filamentosus). The photos are not that great so I am not sure (I know it is not a rosy barb but not sure if it is a filament barb). They do not really look like those photos of the filament barb that I have found on the internet but do not look like a rosy barb completely either. Here they are:
Big barb
Big barb at the top center along with a 17" longnose gar (bottom), catfish (left), and another fish
Bill, on 5/27/05, sent me this link with a lot of various barb photos: Barb Photos.

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