African Butterfly Barb

Barbus hulstaerti

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 63–75°F (17–24°C)
pH: 5.0–6.5
Adult size: 1.4 in (3.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 11 gal (40 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Very rare
Origin: Central Africa
Family: Cyprinidae

Overview

Keep a group of at least six, ideally more, in a tank around 40 liters or larger. They are shy and peaceful, sticking to the middle of the tank, and they color up best when they feel safe among plants. Skip boisterous tankmates, since they are easily outcompeted at feeding time. Offer small foods like micro pellets, fine flake, and live or frozen daphnia and mosquito larvae.

In the wild

The African butterfly barb comes from small, shaded forest streams in Central Africa. These are cool, soft, acidic waters running over leaf litter with not much light getting through the canopy. Aim for a dim, planted tank with leaf litter, soft acidic water, and a cooler temperature than most tropicals, roughly the high teens to low 20s C. Stable conditions matter more than warmth here.

Good to know

This is a small cyprinid that rarely passes 3.5 cm. The patterned fins are where the butterfly name comes from. Males and females differ in fin coloring, which helps with sexing. They are egg scatterers, and breeding is tricky, needing soft acidic water and careful attention to the cool temperature range.

Did you know

This species needs cooler water than most barbs and does poorly if kept too warm for too long. Many fishkeepers lose them by treating them like a standard tropical, when they actually do better in an unheated or lightly heated room-temperature tank.