Freshwater Fish · Barbs

Cherry Barb

Puntius titteya

Peaceful shoaling barb with deep-red breeding malesBeginner

Lifespan: 4-6 years
Size: Up to 2 in
Social needs: Shoaling - keep 10+ together
Time: Low-moderate (daily feed, weekly water changes)
Cost: Low
Diet: Omnivore

Overview

What is this animal?

The Cherry Barb is a small cyprinid from Sri Lanka, named for the deep red that males flush during spawning and display.
It is less prone to fin-nipping than most barbs, which makes it a good choice for calm community tanks.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes now places it in the genus Rohanella, as Rohanella titteya, but the move is still debated and FishBase and most keepers still call it Puntius titteya.

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This is a peaceful, active mid-water swimmer that suits planted aquariums.
It tolerates a fairly wide range of conditions, which gives beginners some margin for the small errors common while learning to keep fish.

Temperament

Cherry Barbs are peaceful and somewhat shy.
They show their best colour and feel secure only in a shoal of ten or more; lone fish or pairs tend to hide and stay pale.

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They mix well with other calm community fish such as rasboras, small tetras, corydoras, and adult dwarf shrimp.
Avoid large, aggressive, or very boisterous tankmates, which leave these gentle barbs stressed and hiding.

A good fit for

First-time fishkeepers
Peaceful planted community tanks
Smaller aquariums (20 gal+)
Keepers wanting colour without aggression

Common mistakes to avoid

Keeping fewer than 10 (causes stress, hiding)
Adding fish to an uncycled tank
Overfeeding and resulting poor water quality
Housing with large or aggressive tankmates

Enclosure

Minimum 20 gallons, for a group of 10

Cannot be kept alone. The minimum is 10, and the space above is for that group.

House a group of ten or more in a tank at least 24 in long holding 20 US gallons or more, with a secure lid, gentle filtration, and dense planting alongside open swimming lanes.
Aim for 73-81°F, pH 6.0-7.5, and soft to moderately hard water.
The tank must be fully cycled before fish arrive.

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Dark substrate and a planted background bring out the males' colour and reduce skittishness.
Keep nitrate below 20-40 ppm with weekly partial water changes, and use a tight cover, as these fish occasionally jump.

Check your enclosure

Supplies

Setup

Tank and stand
Filter
Heater and thermometer
Substrate, plants and decor
Liquid test kit
Dechlorinator and starter supplies

Ongoing

Quality micro-pellet or tropical flake
Spirulina or vegetable flake
Frozen daphnia, bloodworm and brine shrimp
Veg clip
Courgette or spinach for blanching

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Fine net for removing leftovers
Small feeding spoon

Safe substrate: Fine, smooth sand · Smooth, rounded fine gravel (not for loaches or sand-sifting cichlids; sand is better for corydoras) · Bare bottom (quarantine and grow-out only)

Work out the cost

Care routine

Daily

Check temperature and equipment
Feed
Head-count and look everyone over

Every few days

Top up evaporationevery 3 days

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Weekly

Check the group's behaviour
Test the water
Water change and gravel vacuum
Wipe the front glass only

Every few weeks

Trim and thin the plantsevery 2 weeks

Monthly

Check supplies and reagent dates
Replace or recharge chemical media, if you use any (skip it in a blackwater tank)
Rinse the filter media

Health review: Quarterly group and fin review, every 3 months

Tools

Is your enclosure big enough?Check your measurements against the recommended size What will it cost?Setup, monthly and over its whole life, itemised Is this ammonia reading dangerous?Works out the toxic part from your pH and temperature

Care in depth

Diet

Omnivore

Cherry Barbs are omnivores that take most foods readily.
Feed a quality micro-pellet or flake as the staple, supplemented with small portions of frozen or live daphnia, bloodworm, and brine shrimp to support colour and spawning condition.

Feed once or twice daily, only what they finish in a couple of minutes.
Overfeeding fouls the water and is a leading avoidable cause of disease, so keep meals small and include some plant-based food or blanched vegetable matter.

Health

Signs of good health, and the common problems

This is a robust species with few inherent problems; most illness traces back to poor water quality, overstocking, or adding fish to an uncycled tank.
Watch for ich (white spots) after temperature swings or new additions, and for fin damage from rougher tankmates.

Quarantine new fish for two to four weeks where possible, and check daily for clamped fins, rapid breathing, or loss of appetite.
Stable parameters and clean water prevent most issues in this species.

Is this urgent?

6 warning signs and how fast to act, 3 of them right away

In a fish tank the patient is usually the water. Test before you treat: dosing a healthy tank for a disease it does not have makes things worse.

Go now

Any detectable ammonia or nitrite in a stocked tankLarge water change now with dechlorinated, temperature-matched water. Stop feeding. Test again in 12 hours. Both are directly toxic. How toxic the ammonia reading is depends on pH and temperature, so the same number can be harmless or lethal.

Now

Fish gasping at the surface with fast gill movement, or crowding the filter outflowIncrease surface movement now (gently in a betta or gourami tank, without creating a strong current), then test the water. Either the oxygen has crashed or the gills are being chemically burned. Both are hours-scale problems. Bettas, gouramis and corydoras rise to gulp air as part of normal breathing; the warning is constant gulping, fast gill movement, or the whole group hanging at the top.

Now

Sudden deaths, more than one fish in a dayTest ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and temperature before doing anything else. Do not add medication yet. Multiple simultaneous deaths usually point at the water or the equipment rather than a pathogen, so rule those out first.

Now

Today

Flashing: repeatedly scraping against decor or substrateTest the water, then look closely for parasites. Irritation is either chemical or parasitic; the test tells you which before you medicate.

Today

White salt-grain spots over the body and finsBegin the appropriate treatment today and check the temperature. The parasite's life cycle is temperature-driven, and it multiplies with every cycle you wait.

Today

Soon

Clamped fins, hiding, or refusing food for more than two daysTest the water and review recent changes. Usually the earliest visible sign of a parameter drifting.

A few days

Never add a new fish to a tank that is not fully cycled, and never treat blind. A test kit is cheaper than the fish.

This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it, and the time to find one is before you need one.

Bedding and substrate

3 safe, 4 with a caveat, 2 to avoid

Substrate in an aquarium is a filter as much as a floor. Most of the biology lives in and on it.

Safe

Fine, smooth sandCorrect for corydoras, kuhli loaches, eartheaters such as rams and acaras, and anything else that sifts or burrows. Barbels wear away on sharp gravel.

safe

Smooth, rounded fine gravel (not for loaches or sand-sifting cichlids; sand is better for corydoras)Rinse thoroughly before use. Grain size should be too large to swallow and too small to trap food. Kuhli loaches need sand to burrow into and rams and acaras sift mouthfuls of it; bronze and panda corydoras manage on smooth fine gravel, but sterbai corydoras need sand.

safe

Bare bottom (quarantine and grow-out only)Legitimate for quarantine and grow-out tanks. Easy to clean, but it holds far less biological filtration, and it is no long-term home for burrowing loaches or sand-sifters.

safe

With a caveat

Crushed coral or aragoniteDeliberately raises hardness and pH. Correct for rift-lake cichlids, wrong for soft-water species.

with a caveat

Aquasoil for planted tanksExcellent for plants, but most active soils soften the water and pull pH and KH down for months, and many leach ammonia for the first weeks. Right for soft-water species; wrong for hard-water animals (livebearers, rainbowfish, goldfish, and snails, whose shells erode in soft, acidic water) unless you test GH and KH and remineralise. Cycle around it; do not stock into it.

with a caveat

Very deep sand bedsAnaerobic pockets form below about 2 inches in still sand. Either keep it shallow or keep it stirred.

with a caveat

Painted or coated gravelUsually fine, but coatings chip. Test a handful in a jar for a week first.

with a caveat

Never

Sharp or angular gravel with bottom-dwellersWears down barbels and leads to infection in corydoras and loaches.

never

Anything containing metal, limestone of unknown origin, or shells in a soft-water tankSlowly alters chemistry in ways that are hard to diagnose later.

never

This is our general list for freshwater fish. We have not built one specific to Barbs yet.

Top resources for more info

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