Fact Sheet: SCISSORTAIL RASBORA - Rasbora trilineata

(Original: Scissortail Rasbora Fact Sheet)

Three-lined rasbora Rasbora trilineata (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Scissortail Rasbora, Rasbora trilineata, is also called the Scissortail Shark, and simply the Scissortail. Alternative scientific names are Rasbora calliura and Rasbora stigmatura. It is not shark like in its behavior and only vaguely shark like in its appearance. It grows to about 4 inches (10cm). It is fairly peaceful and is suitable for a mixed collection of small fish.

The Scissortail Rasbora comes from South Eastern Asia, including Malaysia and Indonesia.

This fish has attractive black and white markings on its tail, and the movement of these as the fish swims reminds some people of the action of Scissor blades.

Water Conditions

The Scissortail Rasbora comes from soft acidic waters and these are the ideal conditions for it in an aquarium. They will adapt to neutral pH (7) and some hardness in the water. 24 degrees C (75 degrees F) is a suitable temperature. In the wild, the Scissortail Rasbora often inhabits flowing water, as in a river or stream. Some water movement from a filter in the aquarium is beneficial.

Food

The Scissortail Rasbora is an omnivore. It will eat any normal fish food and loves live food like mosquito larvae and daphnia. Frozen blood worms and frozen brine shrimp are also gobbled up eagerly.

Companions

The Scissortail Rasbora likes conditions similar to the preferred conditions of many of the South American Tetras.

Some suitable companions are Pristella Tetras, Paraguay Tetras, Rummy Nose Tetras, Harlequin Rasboras, Buenos Aries Tetras, Black Widow Tetras, Emperor Tetras, Head and Tail Light Tetras, Glowlight Tetras, Corydoras Catfish, White Cloud Mountain Minnows and Zebra Danios.

The Scissortail Rasbora can also be kept with Swordtails, Glass Bloodfin Tetras, Guppies, Endlers Guppies and Mollies, but the water conditions for a mixture like this would be a compromise between the ideal conditions for these different fish and would not be ideal for any of them.

Breeding

The Scissortail Rasbora is not a very easy fish to breed. The females tend to be a little larger than the males and will be plumper when ready to breed. Conditioning the fish with black worms or other rich food like frozen blood worms is a good idea.

The breeding tank needs to have soft, acid water. A lowered water level may also help stimulate breeding. Cleanliness is very important for this species and the addition of an anti fungus medication may help prevent the eggs from getting infected.

The Scissortail Rasbora will eat its own eggs and babies and the parents should be removed after spawning.

The eggs will hatch in 24 hours and will take small live food like the finest screened Daphnia as soon as the egg yolk is fully absorbed.

By Steve Challis Steve Challis has articles on a diverse range of subjects at http://www.bettatrading.com.au. A relative of the Scissortail is the Harlequin. A fact sheet about this fish is at http://www.bettatrading.com.au/Harlequin-Rasbora-Fact-Sheet.php. Article Source: EzineArticles

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BARBS Are Fun Exotic Fish For Your Tropical Fish Tank

Barbs for Aquariums

Barbs are fun to have zipping around your fish tank.  They usually average 2"- 3" in size.  Barbs need to be paired up with similar fish in the tropical community.  Can you see the trend?  Tropical fish are normally the fish for your aquarium.  Barbs are Omnivores.  

A photograph of the Tinfoil Barb (Barbonymus schwanenfeldii). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They eat both plant and animals like prepared and live foods.  You can toss Fish Flakes or Pellets to feed your Barb.  Romaine Lettuce, zucchini and peas are also a good source of food for your Barb, don't be shy to mix it up a little with the food.  Freeze-Dried Blood worms, tubifex worms and other small worms, mosquito larvae and daphnia are the specialty foods for your Barb.  You don't want to clean a bunch of leftovers so be sure to provide enough food that your Barb will eat in 3 minutes or so.

Barbs are usually middle swimmers, meaning you find them in the middle of the fish tank moving about.  Barbs are most active and playful swimmer and like to tease and nip at the fins of slower moving fish.  The Barb is like the prankster at the school yard.  Only his domain is the aquarium.  Barbs move about with 2 or 3 other Barbs to keep the group tough.  When Barbs are alone they tend to seclude themselves from the rest of the aquarium fish.  So be sure to buy a few of their buddies so it can be more playful in the fish tank.

Other Common Barbs for your fish tank include Tiger Barbs, Cherry Barbs, Rosy Barbs and Tinfoil Barbs.

By Nathan E Peterson [http://www.FishPlenty.com/wordpress] - The Ultimate Fish Tank Guide For all Aquarium Lovers! This is the mecca for Fish Tank Maintenance, Tips and Tricks and Health information in regards to your tropical fish. Article Source: EzineArticles

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Are BARBS Aggressive Fish?

The Barbs have the reputation for being aggressive fish. In reality, this is a fairly large group of fish, so each species needs to be looked at separately.

Tiger Barbs

The Tiger Barb, Puntius tetrazona has probably the worst reputation of all the small barbs. It is certainly true that the Tiger Barb can be a fin nipper. It is fairly common in our shop that someone has a problem with their fins being nipped. They do have a Tiger Barb in their fish collection, but tend to reject the idea that it is the culprit because it is not only a little fish, but they only have one of them. I am forced to tell them that a single Tiger Barb is usually worse than a school.

Five tiger barbs (Puntius tetrazona) and one neon tetra (Paracheirodon innesi)
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is something common to many fast schooling fish. If there are not enough to form a school, they will try to join up with other species of fish, but these may be slower fish and are in danger of getting their fins nipped.

Once in our shop a male Guppy somehow got put into an aquarium full of Tiger Barbs. I took it out as soon as I saw it, but it must have been in overnight. The Tiger Barbs were ignoring the Guppy.

Rosy Barbs

This is another Barb with a bad reputation. Certainly it is a fast, boisterous fish that can be a problem to other fish. This barb grows larger than any of the others mentioned, and more space is needed.

Gold Barbs

Gold Barbs are more peaceful than most of the barbs, but I would still recommend that at least four be kept together. Unlike the first two fish mentioned, this fish is sometimes kept successfully with slower longer finned fish.

Cherry Barbs

This Barb is not typical of the barb group. They do not have such a strong schooling tendency. Although some people regard them as an aggressive fish, this had not been my own observation. Although they do not necessarily form schools, I would still recommend that several be kept together.

In Conclusion

The barbs listed certainly can be aggressive, and some matching of tank mates is necessary. All of them are suitable community fish for a tank of fast schooling fish with Corydoras Catfish like the Peppered catfish as scavengers.

I would not recommend any of them as companions for very slow, long finned fish like the Siamese Fighting Fish.

By Steve Challis Steve Challis has Fact Sheets on all the fish named in this article at http://www.bettatrading.com.au. including a lot of information about the Siamese Fighting fish at http://www.bettatrading.com.au/Siamese-Fighting-Fish-Fact-Sheet.php. Article Source: EzineArticles

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Fact Sheet: BLACK RUBY BARB - Puntius nigrofasciatus

(Original title: Black Ruby Barb Fact Sheet)

Black ruby barb - Puntius nigrofasciatus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Black Ruby Barb, Puntius nigrofasciatus, is a hardy fish suitable for a community aquarium as long as care is exercised in the selection of the other fish. Other common names for fish are Purple Headed Barb and Ruby Barb. Another Scientific name that has been used is Barbus nigrofasciatus. The Black Ruby Barb comes from Sri Lanka. It grows to about two and a half inches (7 cm) long.

Water Conditions

The Black Ruby Barb prefers reasonably soft, slightly acidic water. It will still be fairly comfortable with neutral water (pH 7). Its ideal temperature range is 21-26 degreesC (70-79 degreesF). It will take a little higher for short periods. In the wild, it schools in slow flowing streams and rivers with abundant vegetation. Their plants should be very well planted with some free space for swimming.

The Black Ruby Barb does not like dirty water with a lot of fish wastes and regular partial water changes are a good idea. It is also one of the fish more susceptible to Ich (White Spot). You need to watch out for this disease and be ready to treat for it.

Food

The Black Ruby Barb is an omnivore. It will eat any normal fish food, but live food is preferred and if possible some mosquito larvae, blood worms, Daphnia or other suitable sized live food should be given. Frozen Blood worms are also good and may be easier to obtain and store than live food.

Companions

Black Ruby Barbs are schooling fish and should be kept in schools of at least six fish. Although not the most aggressive fish kept in aquaria, they can nip the fins of slow moving fish. I would avoid putting it with long finned fish like Siamese Fighting Fish, Guppies and Endlers Guppies. Some suitable companions for a school of Black Ruby Barbs are Gold Barbs, PristellaTetras, Rummy Nose Tetras, Harlequin Rasboras, Scissortail Rasboras, Lemon Tetras, Black Widow Tetras, Emperor Tetras, Head and Tail Light Tetras, Glass Bloodfin Tetras, Swordtails, Platies, Zebra Danios, Glowlight Tetras and White Cloud Mountain Minnows as well as the Corydoras catfish like the Peppered Catfish.

I would not recommend them as companions for Mollies, Cherry Barbs, Neon Tetras and Cardinal Tetras. The reason I do not recommend them for aquariums with Mollies is the big differences in water requirements. Also avoid large and predatory fish with Black Ruby Barbs.

Breeding

The Male Black Ruby Barb changes color when it is ready to breed. In this state, it becomes clear why it is called things like the Purple Headed Barb. The males get an intense red- black color and tend to be a bit bigger than the females. The females are a little plumper than the males. The Black Ruby Barb is an egg scatterer, and lays its eggs over plants, preferably fine leaved ones.

The water for spawning should be soft and moderately acidic with a temperature of about 27 degrees C (80 degrees F). Typically they will spawn first thing in the morning. About 400 eggs per female should be laid. By using marbles on the bottom of the tank, most of the eggs should fall out of reach of the parents. As with many fish, Black Ruby Barbs eat their own eggs and babies. It is usual to remove the parents after spawning.

Baby Care

Keep the eggs dark until they hatch. The eggs hatch in about one day, and are free swimming after about a week. The babies will eat protozoa (infusoria) at first and this can be supplemented with the finest fry foods. As they grow, the babies can be fed bigger fry food and will be helped to grow by suitable sized live food like screened daphnia.

Pest Fish

As with all captive fish, do not allow them to get out into ecosystems they are not native to.

By Steve Challis Steve Challis has many other fish fact sheets and other articles on http://www.bettatrading.com.au. Article Source: EzineArticles

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