Among the most ubiquitous species available in the aquarium hobby, and several selectively-bred, ornamental forms have been produced and achieved great popularity. The ‘green’/'moss’, ‘albino’, and ‘golden’ (leucistic) variants are particularly common but there also exist ‘platinum’, ‘blushing’ and ‘coral red’ strains.

These have no additional requirements and care is as described above. Sadly the level of inbreeding amongst farm-bred stock has resulted in a…

As of 2006 only 4.6% of the old forest was left with the remainder existing only in small, highly-fragmented patches, most covering areas less than 10 km², of which some are now officially-protected reserves. Kottawa Forest is one of these and comprises just 15-20 hectares of wet, evergreen jungle, though the combined Kottawa-Kombala forest covers around 1600 ha. A number of minor, pristine streams containing clear or slightly-stained, shallow water traverse the reserve and these represent typical habitats of P. titteya across its range.

This species is rare in the aquarium trade with the majority of fish available under the name being the closely-related ‘P.‘ hexazona. The two are almost identical in terms of both appearance and meristics but can be separated by the fact that ‘P.‘ pentazona possesses a small dark marking at the posterior base of the dorsal-fin which is absent in ‘P.‘ hexazona. The latter is also much the more widely-distributed species with a range including southern Borneo (including southern Sarawak), Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula.

Probably a micropredator feeding on small insects, worms, crustaceans and other zooplankton in nature. In the aquarium it should accept dried foods of a suitable size but should not be fed these exclusively.

Daily meals of small live and frozen fare such as Daphnia, Artemia, Moina, etc., along wi…

It can be told apart from similar-looking congeners such as P. crescentus and P. muzaffarpurensis by the following combination of characters: barbels absent; lateral line incomplete with up to 5 pored scales; 20-22 lateral line scales; 8 predorsal scales; dorsal-fin with a vertically-orientated black streak and a black tip with orange markings; a dark spot at the base of the caudal peduncle.

Generally very peaceful making it an ideal resident of the well-researched community tank. As it places no special demands in terms of water chemistry it can be combined with many of the most popular fish in the hobby including other small cyprinids as well as tetras, livebearers, rainbowfishes, anabantoids, catfishes and loaches.

It’s a schooling species by nature, and at least 6-10 specimens should be purchased. Maintaining it in such…

This species is also known by the alternative names ‘green’ or ‘Chinese’ barb. The natural ‘green’ form is an infrequent find in the aquarium trade whereas the selectively-bred ‘golden’ variant is farmed in huge numbers and is among the most popular of freshwater aquarium fish. The latter was first produced in the 1960s and is now so ubiquitous that many hobbyists are initially unaware that it is not the natural form of the species.

There is a variant of P. gelius that continues to be sold in the trade as ‘Puntius canius‘ or ‘P. caninus‘. Cyprinus canius (Hamilton 1822) and C. gelius were both described in the same publication but the former is currently considered a junior synonym of the latter. For the aquarium hobbyist it’s worth noting that the two forms show some marked dissimilarities with ‘P. canius‘ possessing additional black markings in the ventral fins, a more pointed head profile, larger adult size, less transluc…

There currently exist a dozen described Esomus spp. alhough few are seen in the aquarium trade and none are especially popular. Most are commonplace in their native countries and also quite plainly-patterned so generally overlooked by collectors. Their most common use in some areas is actually as a feeder fish in the aquaculture of larger species. They’re characterised by greatly-enlarged pectoral fins and two pairs of barbels, of which the maxillary pair are extremely long and usually reach the pectoral fins.

Generally considered one of the hardiest small cyprinids available in the aquarium hobby, P. conchonius is an excellent choice for the beginner. Selective breeding has produced various ornamental strains including long-finned, ‘veil-tail’, ‘super red’, ‘neon’, and ‘golden’ forms. It’s also been hybridised with some congeners although the offspring of such experiments are apparently infertile.

It was formerly included in th…