I was recently at a fish store selling hampala barbs. The original price was 8.99.. But I guess they wanted to get rid of them cause they had it marked special 2 for 8.99. I was going to pick them up but I remember someone saying they ate so voraciously their other fish didn't get a chance to eat. Isn't 8.99 for two a great price for these fish? and do other people have that same experience of them eating and not letting other tank mates eat...
Hampala Barbs
- Thread starter unknownuza13
- Start date
No I had never actually even heard of them.. until... I think Ming had some and maybe the Trust.. I'll dig up the thread..They are supposed to be a predatory barb..
Ok, I have 10 of these Hampala macrolepidota barbs, and they're absolutely insane!
These are not your typical tinfoil or yellow fin barbs. They are not skittish at all, great red coloration and these are hand fed. They'll go nutz over feeders! Their mouth is huge!
Great fish, but my other fishes are starving because these barbs are grabing up all the food! They'll eat anything, pellets, shrimp, worms, feeders, and they even attack my siphon tube (and everything else that enters the tank for that matter).
M/L
I guess after re-reading his post either they weren't really hampala barbs or I past up on the steal of the month...Maybe I'll go back and get them.. They had 5 left..
These are not your typical tinfoil or yellow fin barbs. They are not skittish at all, great red coloration and these are hand fed. They'll go nutz over feeders! Their mouth is huge!
Great fish, but my other fishes are starving because these barbs are grabing up all the food! They'll eat anything, pellets, shrimp, worms, feeders, and they even attack my siphon tube (and everything else that enters the tank for that matter).
M/L
I guess after re-reading his post either they weren't really hampala barbs or I past up on the steal of the month...Maybe I'll go back and get them.. They had 5 left..
H.macrolepidota is the largest in the genus and can get in the 2 foot range. Hampala are truly one of the coolest "monsters" you can get. Totally peaceful with tankmates yet extremly predatory.
Theymay look very much like tin foil barbs but these are actually carnivorous...although they do take pellets too. Well known for the way they crush fishing lures...very popular among anglers in S.E Asia 
unknownuza13 said:
Hi, I have 3 of them. I bouht them 2 years ago. They are 10" long. They are very aggressive and work together like a pack of wolves when attacking large prey like 5 " african cichlids which I've seen them rip to pieces. For smaller prey they just attack and eat individually. I keep them in a large tank with several hundred fish. The tank is 9 feet deep and they hunt in the top 5 feet of the tank. They sometimes join a large school (20) of Barbodes pinnauratus of similiar size. I have a few very large predators in the tank like a Clarotes laticeps(29"), a Wallego Atu (36") and a Wallego Leeri (over 48"). The Hampala's are very smart and stay clear of these fish.
They are very active fish and recognize me when I come into their viewing area.
Mine eat tankmates, pellets and 5" thawed smelts