fish Easy level

Desmopuntius hexazona (Weber & de Beaufort 1912)

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Educated by Nature

Six-banded tiger barb

The Six-Banded Barb – Desmopuntius hexazona – is a very peaceful schooling species that is an excellent fish for the community biotope aquarium.

Desmopuntius from the Ancient Greek δεσμψτης (desmotes), meaning ‘prisoner’, and the generic name Puntius, in reference to the barred colour pattern in member species. Hexazona from the Ancient Greek ἕξ (héks), meaning ‘six’, and Latin zona, meaning ‘zone’, in reference to this species’ pattern.

Distribution: Southeast Asia – Malaya (Malaysia), Sumatra (Indonesia) and Borneo.

Submitted by
Andre Chandra

Water Chemistry

Water information

Water type
Fresh water
Water color
Black water
Water transparency
Medium
Concentration of sediments
Medium
Water temperature
°C
Water flow/curent
Slow

Chemical parameters

pH
5
Conductivity
GH
KH
Dissolved Oxygen

Biology

Standard length
5 cm
Water volume (min. aquarium)
60 l
Social behaviour
Group fish
Behaviour description

Desmopuntius hexazona is peaceful grouping fish, they’re best kept in group of 5 or more, they are middle area dweller, this fish will appreciate aquarium with a shade area or dense planted, they are non aggresive as the Sumatra tiger barb.

These particular fishes were collected in the Sungai Kampar, Kampar drainage, Riau Province, Indonesia, GPS 0.0183° N , 101.3204° E.

 

Aggression grade
Peacefull
Activity
Day active
Sexual dimorphism

Adult males tend to be slightly smaller, are noticeably slimmer and exhibit more intense colouration than females.

Nutrition in Nature

Mainly fed on small crustaceans, worms and zooplankton.

Reproduction

Breeding tank set-up

Mature tank with a slightly acidic water parameter is preferred, using a breeding net or box added with some moss and small floating plants in it will help fish spawn their eggs. A few days after the fry will be visible without any intervention.

Nutrition parents

It is best to feed the fry infusoria until 5 days old and switch to Artemia or Daphnia for following growth, once they reached a month old the young fish can be feed with pellets and tubifex worms.

Mating type
Polygamous
Spawning behaviour
Breeding habits
Egg scatterer
Hatching period
Number of eggs in average
70-100
Parental care
No
Fry number
Variable
Nutrition fry
Notes on reproduction

Bibliography