Should I buy it?
Tinfoil barb
Barbonymus schwanenfeldii
Also known as: schwanefeld's barb, Schwanefeld's barb
Fishori provides conservative planning guidance, not guarantees.
Based on multiple reputable aquarium care sources with strong agreement. Use the numbers here as planning defaults — your room, water, and routine still shape real-world outcomes.
Grows to 35 cm and needs a school. Juvenile 'showpiece' fish sold at 5 cm; outgrows 90% of buyers' setups within a year.
Best for
Species-appropriate large tanks 500L or more with a school of five and robust companions over 15 cm.
Avoid if
Any tank under 300L, fish under 10 cm, or any planted aquascape (they eat plants).
Top things that go wrong
- Grows large or needs a very big footprint. Tinfoil barb is often sold at sizes that hide adult length (~35cm on file) and a published minimum near **500L**. Shop tanks are not adult housing.
- Mouth gap vs tiny tank mates. Predation risk toward smaller tank mates. The figure that matters is the adult mouth size against the adult prey length, not the juvenile sizes in the shop.
- Shrimp & snails. Shrimp: not safe. The fish will eat adult shrimp, shrimp fry, or both, depending on the size of the shrimp.
Common mistakeThree tinfoil barbs in a 100L planted community. They strip the plants, outgrow the tank in eight months, and are very difficult to rehome.
What most shops don't tell you
- 1.Predation risk scales with gape, night feeding, and crowding. 'they grew up together' is a schedule, not a law.
- 2.Classed peaceful for similar-sized community use. Still a bite-sized risk toward fry or very small comm fish in small volumes.
- 3.Purchased for 120 L 'community' tanks as a 'peaceful' barb.
- 4.Housed with shrimp or very small long-fins. The tinfoil outcompetes at feeding and startles them with sheer bulk.
- 5.Sold small and silver, this fish grows to 30 to 35 cm. Filtration, oxygen, and a long footprint matter as much as the raw litre number. Never release outdoors.
About this species
Tinfoil barbs grow to 30 to 35 cm and are peaceful among medium and large community fish. They are wrong for the average 100 L community. They need real volume, strong flow, a secure lid, and long swim paths.
- Bala / silver shark500L min · same group, comparable tank size
- Banded leporinus300L min · same fish family
- Silver dollar300L min · same fish family
- Denison's / red-line torpedo barb250L min · same fish family
- Denisons Barb250L min · same fish family
- Giant danio200L min · same fish family
- Rainbow / red-tailed black shark200L min · same fish family
- Rosy Barb180L min · same fish family
- Bala / silver sharkalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Clown Loachalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Common Plecoalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Denison's / red-line torpedo barbalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Denisons Barbalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Pictus catfishalso intermediate peaceful, similar tank size
- Bala / silver shark tank mateslists this fish among its recommended pairings
- Banded leporinus tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Black ghost knifefish tank mateslists this fish among its recommended pairings
- Jaguar cichlid tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Red-tailed catfish tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Senegal bichir tank mateslists this fish as a safe and recommended mate
- Silver dollar tank mateslists this fish among its recommended pairings
- Ticto / twospot barb tank mateslists this fish among its recommended pairings
Plan grid
Key limits are shown above; this section adds planning detail: pH band, swim level, bioload and activity, and the radar.
Swim zones
Planning trait chart
Six indices for comparing species on paper before you spend.
- Beginner ease24
- Peacefulness76
- Community fit73
- Small-tank fit38
- Hardiness54
- Energy54
Numbers are deterministic planning indices from Fishori fields — not a scientific score of your individual fish.
Common setup sketches
Conservative patterns from Fishori fields — still run the pair checker for every species you add; sketches are not a stocking guarantee.
Match temperature and pH overlap with every tank mate, then verify adult size and group rules on pair pages — Fishori is biased toward boring, survivable plans.
Tank mate intelligence
Use the "Often compatible" lists as a shortlist, not a stocking plan. Always run the pair tool and check the footprint of your actual tank first. Verify behaviour for Tinfoil barb against your own reading before you buy.
Pair-level compatibility with this fish as anchor.
Read the blocking rule on each pair page before experimenting.
Do-not-stock combinations on conservative hobby rules.
Compare with
Run a real pair check: Tinfoil barb + Bala / silver shark
Behaviour, temperament, and what to watch
Prose and lists come from the same record: read temperament first, then glass-level signals so you are not surprised after day three.
Tinfoil barb is peaceful in mixed company. Treats any fish small enough to fit in its mouth as food. Mouth size at adult length matters, not the prey's listed adult size.
Stress / aggression triggers on file
- Sudden crowding
- Poor water quality
Fin nipping: Not a habitual fin-nipper, but individuals can still test fins under stress or in a crowded tank.
Predation: Predation risk toward smaller tank mates. The figure that matters is the adult mouth size against the adult prey length, not the juvenile sizes in the shop.
Territory: Not strongly territorial, but still claims a working area in the tank. Give it room to settle without overlapping the next species' patch.
Planted tanks: excellent — easy plant ideas
In the glass: typical and warning signs
- Moderate pacing — not hyperactive, not motionless.
- Shoaling/schooling: most colour and confidence show when the group meets **5+**.
- Clamped fins, gasping at the surface, hiding non-stop, or refusing food after the first week.
- Rapid breathing when parameters swing — fix ammonia/nitrite first, then reassess mates.
- Low listed risk — still watch new introductions.
- Separate or rehome if injuries appear, one fish is pinned, or feeding becomes a daily chase.
- If water is stable but behaviour worsens, reduce stocking or remove the highest-impact species first.
Fish behaviour can vary between individuals and tank setups. Always observe new fish closely after introduction.
Care parameters: water, food, inverts, grouping
Chemistry and group rules sit here so you are not re-reading the same line from tank mate or temperament blocks. Swim level is in the plan grid above.
Hardness
medium
Diet
omnivore
Mixed diet: a quality flake or pellet as the staple, with frozen or live foods two or three times a week.
Shrimp & snails
Shrimp: not safe. The fish will eat adult shrimp, shrimp fry, or both, depending on the size of the shrimp.
Shoaling species. Buy 5 or more of one species together. Smaller schools sulk, lose colour, and redirect their schooling energy at whatever else is in the tank.
Egg scatterers and schoolers still spawn in stable tanks. Have a plan for the fry, or accept that the parents and tank mates will eat them in a community setup.
- Hold 20 to 28 °C steadily on a real thermometer, not the dial on the heater.
- Aim for pH 6 to 7.5 and a hardness you can re-test in two weeks. A one-time strip in the shop car park is not a water test.
- Schooling species. Buy 5 or more from the same tank on the same day before adding any centrepiece fish.
- Tank volume meets or exceeds 500L published minimum for adults.
- You can stock at least 5 individuals (group welfare).
- Heater can hold 20–28°C without cooking cooler-water tank mates.
- No known fin-nippers paired with long-finned fish unless you accept documented risk.
- No tank mates small enough to fit the adult mouth gap for this species.
Explore and stocking hubs
Same library as the rest of Fishori: tank-mate index for this species, category peers, guides, and litre-based stocking lists where min tank on file is within the hub volume.
Plan with tools
Pair-level rules and multi-fish stocking use the same conservative engine — add this fish in the tank builder only after mates pass pair checks.
Filtration & heating
A 500L minimum tank needs a filter rated for at least 2000L/hr turnover and a heater to hold 20–28°C reliably.
Plant suggestions
Tinfoil barb does well in planted tanks. Plants compatible with 20–28°C and pH 6–7.5:
Profile status: partially verified · Evidence tier: high · 3 linked source(s). Fishori does not fabricate citations.
Fishori uses conservative planning rules based on these sources.
Confidence is explained in the summary at the top of this page (same tier as here), not repeated below.
How Fishori evaluates compatibility (same logic as pair and tank tools).
- Seriously Fish. Barbonymus schwanenfeldii
Primary: aquarium size, water chemistry, behaviour, and compatibility (URL verified in upgrade script; recheck if site content changes).
- FishBase. Barbonymus schwanenfeldii
Secondary: taxonomy, distribution, and maximum length in nature; cross-check with aquarium import lines and measured tank parameters.
- Wikipedia. Barbonymus schwanenfeldii
Secondary: general species context; verify all husbandry numbers against a dedicated aquarium care sheet and your test kit, not a single table row.
Evidence notes
- The Seriously Fish profile for the binomial in this record was successfully reached as the primary aquarium reference.
- FishBase contributes natural-range size and habitat context. Translate those numbers through your heater, your water report, and your tank footprint before stocking.
- Wikipedia is only cited if the article URL returned OK. Use it for orientation, not as the only care sheet for an import.
- All compatibility text reflects typical hobby experience and the Fishori model. Individual fish, shop stress, and the order tank mates are added in can still defy a single-paragraph label.
- Fishori profiles work from typical aquarium trade sizes and hobby care norms. Specialist site checks and literature review for this species are not yet recorded here, so the ranges on this page are planning numbers rather than guarantees.