This showed up in my youtube feed and I thought some of you might like it too.
Don't let the thumbnail stop you...
Discovering the Filament Barbs
Don't let the thumbnail stop you...
Discovering the Filament Barbs
Discovering the Filament Barbs
- Thread starter Milingu
- Start date
I currently keep ten Filamentosa Barbs. One of my favorites. The males display awsome color while in mating mode & directly after a water change.
Got mine a couple of years ago. Filamentosa Barbs are rarely available in my area.
Got mine a couple of years ago. Filamentosa Barbs are rarely available in my area.
My local aquarium store has a big group of these (probably 10-15) in their 852 liter display tank that are remarkably unremarkable. Maybe it's because of lighting or somehow they got all females even in that big group.
I might take and share pictures next time I go there.
I might take and share pictures next time I go there.
I agree that at times the Filamentosas look rather bland, especially the juveniles.
Here's some old pics of male Filamentosas I keep & a pic I just took of a female. These Barbs are difficult to photograph. Constantly on the move. Btw my Filamentosas are a little over two years old & four inches long.
Here's some old pics of male Filamentosas I keep & a pic I just took of a female. These Barbs are difficult to photograph. Constantly on the move. Btw my Filamentosas are a little over two years old & four inches long.
I absolutely love my six, they are stunning, and getting chunky now, they're nudging 6".
Agreed, they are notoriously difficult to capture in an unblurry photo, always on the go. One minute their colour doesn't look that great, then as they turn and weave about you get that beautiful irridiscent green. Tinges of pink too.
They're easy to get hold of in my area, I may even increase the numbers in my group yet.
What I find great about them is that they'll readily feed at the surface, mid water and off the bottom. They are greedy fish and so they almost act like a clean up crew!
Yes, the filament barb is definitely in my all time top 5 fish. The picture below is one of hundreds i've taken that looks half decent, usually they are totally blurred.
Agreed, they are notoriously difficult to capture in an unblurry photo, always on the go. One minute their colour doesn't look that great, then as they turn and weave about you get that beautiful irridiscent green. Tinges of pink too.
They're easy to get hold of in my area, I may even increase the numbers in my group yet.
What I find great about them is that they'll readily feed at the surface, mid water and off the bottom. They are greedy fish and so they almost act like a clean up crew!
Yes, the filament barb is definitely in my all time top 5 fish. The picture below is one of hundreds i've taken that looks half decent, usually they are totally blurred.
Update to this. It looks like they dismantled the display tank sometime between when I said that and when I next went in (I saw the fish that were in it put up for sale), so I couldn't get any pictures of those barbs.
However, when I was last there, I saw a surprisingly large individual in a tank on its own, without a price tag. I have a hunch that it could have been a different speces to real filament barbs because of its size (remains to be verified but it was quite possibly 20 cm), and consistently dull color even when it was turning around (whereas filament barbs would look colorful).
There seems to be quite a few other Dawkinsia species (like the D. rohani Milingu mentioned), so it could be one of them.
I expect I'll be able to head to the pet store on Friday, so if they haven't sold or otherwise gotten rid of it by then, I'll get some pictures and put them here for ID help. Definitely worth looking into.
Bad news: When I went to the pet store today, I saw no sign of the large, drab barb. Looks like it was sold or gotten rid of.
Good news: I found a very old photo taken back in October when the display tank was still up. And in that photo is a barb that looks very much like that large, drab barb, only smaller (on the top right).
It could even be the same individual as the big barb, just younger and smaller (after all, since the rest of the fish in the display tank were put up for sale, this barb could easily have been put in the sale tank where I may have seen it as the larger individual).
I have developed a sneaking suspicion on this/these barbs being hybrids between true filament barbs and some other Dawkinsia, perhaps produced in the Czech Republic. Not too long ago, I learned that filament barbs have been hybridized artificially with roseline sharks, so a hybrid with another Dawkinsia is quite possible.
That would also explain the drab color (since hybrid fish can easily lose color, as proven by hybrid Rift Lake cichlids) and large size of the barb(s) (hybrid vigor).
Any thoughts from the filament barb experts on what this barb is, and/or my hypothesis?
Good news: I found a very old photo taken back in October when the display tank was still up. And in that photo is a barb that looks very much like that large, drab barb, only smaller (on the top right).
It could even be the same individual as the big barb, just younger and smaller (after all, since the rest of the fish in the display tank were put up for sale, this barb could easily have been put in the sale tank where I may have seen it as the larger individual).
I have developed a sneaking suspicion on this/these barbs being hybrids between true filament barbs and some other Dawkinsia, perhaps produced in the Czech Republic. Not too long ago, I learned that filament barbs have been hybridized artificially with roseline sharks, so a hybrid with another Dawkinsia is quite possible.
That would also explain the drab color (since hybrid fish can easily lose color, as proven by hybrid Rift Lake cichlids) and large size of the barb(s) (hybrid vigor).
Any thoughts from the filament barb experts on what this barb is, and/or my hypothesis?
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