Profiles Tropical Barbs

A barb is one of various ray-finned fish species in a non-phylogenetic group, with members in the family Cyprinidae, and especially the genera Barbus and Puntius, but many others also. They were formerly united with the barbels in the subfamily Barbinae, but that group is paraphyletic with the Cyprininae. If the Labeoninae are recognized as distinct, many small African “barbs” would probably, however, warrant recognition as a new subfamily.

This Barbs tropical fish profiles section covers everything you need to know about keeping Barb tropical aquarium fish. These are often kept in community or planted fish tanks although the slightly more aggressive nature of the Barb fish group is often seen as a reason to keep these away from tanks with smaller community fish such as tetras. If you delve deeper in to each fish profile we have put together you will see the compatibility with other fish as well as recommended tank set up and breeding information to help you choose the right fish for you aquarium.