Odessa Barb (Pethia Padamya)

Hi all,

Yesterday I managed to get hold of 10 Odessa barbs. They are a bit out of my comfort zone, not being a nano fish but they do come from Myanmar and so suit the water conditions and temperatures that my tanks run at. At the moment they are in a 40l quarantine tank which is way too small, this weekend I will move the fish out of my dirted tank and they will become its new occupants. I was told that they were 4 cm when I ordered them so figured the 40L would be fine for a month or 2, but when they arrived they were larger - there is one that is about fully grown with the rest being about 6 cm. They are not coloured up as can be expected, will probably be a week or so until they do. As always i plan to try breeding them and hopefully push the school up to about 30 fish.

 

Just an update. They are all still alive and eating. From what I can see they spend their days hiding under the anubias in the quarantine tank. This even one approached the glass as I was busy with my sawbwas so its a positive sign they are getting more bold. I have also shown a pic of when I was drip acclimatizing them below.

 

Once they colour up they will be stunning!

 

These guys are doing well, coloured up very nicely, very active, they come to the glass when its feeding time. I tried taking a pic but they dont stay still - did I mention how active they are. Still in quarantine. I need to move them to the bigger tank but they dont seem to be struggling in the tank they are in so there is no rush really

 

Moving these guys to the dirted tank today. Unfortunately looks like I only have males. There is one that I am unsure of but the other nine are definitely males. I am going to attempt to breed the one I am unsure of, I have nothing to lose.

 

Found an Odessa bokkoms earlier. Pretty much the only time I have seen one of them since I moved them. They have all this swimming space but stay hidden in the 1/4 of the tank that has java fern and anubais to hide in. I really am quite disappointed that they are so skittish, I expected them to own this tank.

My earlier breeding attempt was unsuccessful, seems they are indeed all males. Would be easier to confirm if I actually saw them swimming around

 

Sorry to hear they're hiding so much.

 

They are some of my favourite barbs, also want to try some in a pond come spring, apparently they can take colder water too down to 14C. Also lost all of mine except one to jumping over the last year or 2 unfortunately, these were mine in happier days:

 

Saw some of them earlier tonight. Man i have never seen such a red fish. Absolutely amazing. I need to get these guys to come out and play

 

Got a nice surprise this morning - all nine of them were schooling out in the open water of the tank. Even when I approached they didnt flee for the plants. I fed them, and just watched them for a while before moving onto other tanks. When I left for work they had all retreated back into the plants. Was nice to see them.