Red Glass Barbs

[triliaeris]

We have two fish called red glass barbs. We had more, but in the last two months we lost all but two.

I've searched on the internet for these types of fish, to find out general info, but I can never find any.

Does anyone else have these types of fish? Or can someone find some general info about them? I'd love to know their lifespan, and hardiness and just anything about them. But I can never find anything that gives the general info about them. Is there another name for them perhaps?

boy i feel like i'm posting a lot the last couple of days

 

[yvez9]

never heard of red glass barbs?
perhaps cherry barbs?

could you post a pic of the fish so we can see?

 

[triliaeris]

No, I know they aren't cherry barbs. http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/cherbarb.htm

Ours are see through. Not totally, but you can see every little thing in them. We knew the girls had eggs because we could actually see the eggs inside. (let me just say...that's weird)

Here's a pic our little girl

As you can see she is yellow (females are yellow, males are a orangy red color and have a black strip on their top fin) and you can see her stomach and everything else. Sorry the pic is small, they so SOO fast that it's just about impossible to catch a pic. They never stop moving, no matter how many you have.

They sell them at stores like petsmart and petco. I think we got them at petsmart actually. They call Rosy Glass Barbs (still can't find anything under that name either)

 

[Mad Duff]

I have one Glass Barb (Parachela Oxygastroides) I got 3 purely by chance a couple of years back, a lad I knew had got them off somebody else but didnt know what they were. I have since lost 2 of them and have never seen them in a single shop around here.

 

[sylvia]

I can't see the fish in the pic very well but I can tell you that most barbs are quite hardy fish though often sensitive to sudden fluctuations and they tend to live an average of 5 years. I've never heard of a red/rosy glass barbs myself but I would expect them to be much like any other common barb.

edit: Most barbs are also schooling fish that should be in groups of 6 or more and preffer a large tank with plenty of room to swim. Most are also egg-scatterers and the parents tend to eat the eggs and any fry that manage to hatch. You mentioned your female was gravid.

 

[Lateral Line]

I have seen people talking about "Red Glass Barbs" before. I believe they are yet another line bred morph of the regular Rosy Barb, Barbus conchonius, certianly the one in the picture says "conchonius" to me.

 

[sylvia]

That would explain the rosy glass barb name.

If that's what it is, then they are hardy fish that do school and do need quite a big tank as they get to 3" or so. They aren't nippy so do well in a community but are equaly suited to a more boisterous environment as they are quick and large enough to not be attacked by most fish. The males have a darker red coloring which matches with your own description. They don't like bright lights so preffer a relatively densely planted tank with some floating plants but also plenty of room for swimming. They are very easy to breed but the parents do eat the eggs. I suggest you get at least 4 more and make sure your tank is large enough to support all of them. You don't need to get the same variety - there are long-finned varieties as well as the natural variety and possibly some I haven't heard of. There's plenty of more detailed info on rosy barbs on the internet and there may be a profile in the forum's fish index as well.

 

[Mad Duff]

I didnt see the picture the first time I looked, I dont think that is a glass barb. A picture of the glass barb that I have can be seen here:

Parachela Oxygastroides

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> big tank as they get to 3" or so.

In a tank, I would not expect them to grow much bigger thenthat. About 25 years ago, a friend bought me back some wild caught, like literally out of a backwater, 3 males each 120mm+ and 2 females 150mm. They were huge! The colour of the wild caught fish also knocks anything you see from the poor quality farmed fish we so often see today. The males, even not displaying were brick red below the line and dark green above. They were truly stunning.

>>> I dont think that is a glass barb.

I have a real problem with the mental set of someone that decides the common name for that chela should be a Glass "Barb". It is obviously Cyprinid, but to me it no more says "barb" then "catfish"! It looks much more like a Rasbora then a Barb.

 

[sylvia]

I would have loved to see some of those wild caught rosies your talking about. A lot of fish are like that - the wild caught ones are just so much brighter and healthier. I see it in cories and dwarf cichlids as well.

I see what you mean Lateral Line but that is the common name It does look much more like a rasbora. The common names drive me especialy crazy when it comes to gouramies... So much entirely unecessary confusion because people can't use the scientific names

 

[Mad Duff]

>>> I dont think that is a glass barb.

I have a real problem with the mental set of someone that decides the common name for that chela should be a Glass "Barb". It is obviously Cyprinid, but to me it no more says "barb" then "catfish"! It looks much more like a Rasbora then a Barb.

I only said that it didnt look like a glass barb because it doesnt, to be honest the fish I have which is called a Glass Barb doesnt look much like a barb either definatly cyprinid but no barb, I am only going by the name given to the fish by the person who found it or named it.

 

[Lateral Line]

No offence. If that is the given common name, then so be it - it still strikes me as incongruous.

 

[jacblades]

sorry to bring up a topic that is a few days old but i had forgotten that i was going to reply to it...
i have been considering getting some for my 55 community but i have heard conflicting information about their size.
at work (petdumb) we sell them and their tag is just marked puntius sp. so that doesnt really help, where as all of the rosy barbs (long finned, neon, and regular) are marked barbus conchonius.
for about 2 months, i had 2 long finned rosy barbs in the tank with them at work to see if they were fin nippers at all (their tag is marked 'semi-agressive, but now i think the only reason for that is their size) and not a fin was touched. i later got the 2 long finned rosies.
i have heard that they only get 3 inches but i have also heard 6 inches. the petdumb tag says 6 inches. if i knew they only got to be 3 inches, i would get a school of them in a heartbeat, but if they get to be 6 inches, i think most of the fish in my tank will be gone.

i have heard a lot of "they are another form of rosy barbs" but if that is so, it just seems odd that they could get to be 6 inches...

beautiful fish-i just wish i knew for sure if i could put them in my tank!

 

[triliaeris]

We started out with 6, we now have 0. They all died from almost the same mysterious thing. Even the ones in petsmart were starting to show the same symptoms. They get a a little puffy looking, their scales start to get this shiny look to them and then they die. Dropsy or something.

Personally I think it might just be something genetic, since the ones in the store were showing the same symptoms. After doing some checking, I think they are a cross between three diff fish (this is corroborated by many on the internet).

I think their max size is 3 inches. Not very big. The ones you see in the store won't look that way forever. The females stay yellow, and the males turn a bright orange to the point were you really can't see through them anymore. The males have a black strip on their top fin...the females don't. That's one way you can tell them apart besides the color (in the pet store they can all look the same)

They are spazzy fish. They are ALWAYS moving. Never judge whether to feed your fish on if they are acting hungry. They are ALWAYS hungry because they never stop moving.

We will never buy this breed again. We spent all week last week trying to save the last two. Before that they were just dropping like flies.

 

[jacblades]

triliaeris-i think you just got a bad batch. all of hte ones at our store are plump, active and healthy. no one ever buys them so i have been observing this group for a long time.

i looked on the tags today and realised that i had the glass size and the rosy size mixed up.
rosies get to be 6 and glass get to be 3...
and to think i already have 7 rosies in my community with teeny fish...
well...at least i wcan get the glass barbs now.

trinilaeris-where did you find info on them? do you have a link to the site[?
thanks
+jac+