Eyespot hampala barb

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a fast, predatory barb that reaches about 35 centimeters, so it needs a large tank and tankmates too big to be swallowed. It is aggressive at feeding and will hunt down smaller fish, so treat it as a predator and choose sturdy, similarly sized companions with caution. It can be kept in a small group of its own kind where there is enough room. It swims in the open middle water and strikes with real speed. Feed meaty foods: large pieces of fish flesh, prawn and mussel, and sinking carnivore pellets. Provide at least 600 liters with strong flow and open swimming lanes.

In the wild

The eyespot hampala hunts in the flowing rivers and tributaries of the Mekong basin, patrolling open water for smaller fish. Recreate that with a long tank, open swimming space, some current and cover of wood or rock to break sightlines. Keep it warm at 22 to 28 degrees Celsius at pH 6.0 to 7.5, with clean, well-oxygenated water and heavy filtration to match its appetite.

Good to know

Hampala dispar is a predatory cyprinid of the Mekong reaching around 35 centimeters, silvery with a rounded dark blotch on the flank rather than the vertical bar of its better-known relative Hampala macrolepidota. Hampala are pursuit hunters, barbs that make their living the way pike or jacks do. It is not bred in normal fishkeeping.

Did you know

Not every barb is a gentle grazer. Hampala are hunters, chasing down smaller fish in open water, and anglers across Southeast Asia prize them as hard-fighting sport fish taken on lures.

Common questions

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