- Scientific name: Barbus oligolepis
- Common name: Checker barb
- Group: Cyprinds
- Habitat: Sumatra
- Size: 5 cm
- Biotope: The Checker Barb is found in a wide variety of waters.
- Social behavior: Peaceful
- Diet: Live, frozen and dried foods are all eaten by the Checker Barb. An occasional vegetable food will also be eaten.
- Breeding: Quite easy
- Tank: Minimum 60 litres
- Population: 5-6 fishes for 60 litres
- Decoration: Roots, thick vegetation
- Temperature: 21-28 °C
- pH: 6,6-6,8.
- Hardness: 8-15NK°
Description: The Checker, or Chequer, Barb is a peaceful and attractive species and is a good choice for a community aquarium, with other similar sized fishes. Males may be a little bit quarrelsome so it is sometimes best to keep one male with a few females. The water needs to be clean and regular water changes should be carried out.
The common name, Checker Barb, comes from the dark spot on each scale running in a band along the fish giving a checkerboard appearance.
The male Checker Barb has reddish fins with a black border while the female has yellowish fins with an indistinct border.
A fairly easy species to breed. Set up the breeding tank with soft water and plenty of plants. Introduce a ripe female and a male who is showing deeper colouration than normal. Spawning, which normally occurs early in the morning, involves a lot of frantic chasing. Up to 200 eggs are laid after which the parents should be removed to prevent them from eating the eggs. The eggs hatch after two days. The fry are small and need to be fed infusoria as a first food. |
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Magyarul / Hungarian 
