Best barb for freshwater tanks
26 species in this category on Fishori. Open a profile for tank size, temperament, then run pair checks before mixing.
Barbs are active shoaling cyprinids. In groups of six or more of a single species, they hassle each other and ignore everyone else. In groups of two or three, they redirect to whichever neighbour has the longest fins. Always stock the proper group on day one, give them tank length rather than height, and skip the long-finned tank mates entirely (bettas, fancy guppies, angelfish).
All in this category
- Bala / silver sharkpeaceful · min 500L · ~35cmTank mates →
- Banded leporinussemi-aggressive · min 300L · ~25cmTank mates →
- Black ruby barbpeaceful · min 100L · ~6cmTank mates →
- Brown / hockey-stick pencilfishpeaceful · min 100L · ~5cmTank mates →
- Celestial Pearl Daniopeaceful · min 30L · ~2.5cmTank mates →
- Cherry Barbpeaceful · min 60L · ~5cmTank mates →
- Chili Rasborapeaceful · min 20L · ~2cmTank mates →
- Denison's / red-line torpedo barbpeaceful · min 250L · ~12cmTank mates →
- Denisons Barbpeaceful · min 250L · ~12cmTank mates →
- Dwarf pencilfishpeaceful · min 60L · ~3.5cmTank mates →
- Giant daniopeaceful · min 200L · ~11cmTank mates →
- Gold / Chinese barbpeaceful · min 120L · ~7cmTank mates →
- Golden / Beckford's pencilfishpeaceful · min 80L · ~4.5cmTank mates →
- Harlequin Rasborapeaceful · min 60L · ~5cmTank mates →
- Lambchop / Espei rasborapeaceful · min 60L · ~3.5cmTank mates →
- Odessa Barbpeaceful · min 120L · ~10cmTank mates →
- Pearl Daniopeaceful · min 80L · ~6cmTank mates →
- Rainbow / red-tailed black sharksemi-aggressive · min 200L · ~15cmTank mates →
- Rosy Barbpeaceful · min 180L · ~15cmTank mates →
- Scissortail Rasborapeaceful · min 150L · ~15cmTank mates →
- Silver dollarpeaceful · min 300L · ~12cmTank mates →
- Ticto / twospot barbpeaceful · min 100L · ~8cmTank mates →
- Tiger Barbsemi-aggressive · min 80L · ~7cmTank mates →
- Tinfoil barbpeaceful · min 500L · ~35cmTank mates →
- White Cloud Mountain Minnowpeaceful · min 40L · ~4cmTank mates →
- Zebra Daniopeaceful · min 60L · ~5cmTank mates →
Peaceful subset
- Bala / silver shark
- Black ruby barb
- Brown / hockey-stick pencilfish
- Celestial Pearl Danio
- Cherry Barb
- Chili Rasbora
- Denison's / red-line torpedo barb
- Denisons Barb
- Dwarf pencilfish
- Giant danio
- Gold / Chinese barb
- Golden / Beckford's pencilfish
- Harlequin Rasbora
- Lambchop / Espei rasbora
- Odessa Barb
- Pearl Danio
- Rosy Barb
- Scissortail Rasbora
- Silver dollar
- Ticto / twospot barb
- Tinfoil barb
- White Cloud Mountain Minnow
- Zebra Danio
Fin-nippers in this category
Tank volume hubs
Guides
- Beginner-friendly freshwater fish
- Peaceful community fish
- Fin-nipping fish
- Aggressive & semi-aggressive fish
- Fish that may eat smaller tank mates
- Fish that grow too big for small tanks
- Schooling & group fish
- Fish for smaller aquariums (on file)
- Often shrimp-tolerant (heuristic, conservative)
- Fish that are a poor first choice for beginners