Narayan barb

Care at a glance

Overview

The Narayan barb is a small, peaceful schooling fish that does best in a group of at least eight, kept cool. In a shoal it swims in the middle water and stays calm with tankmates; it suits a subtropical community with small hill-stream fish rather than warm-water tropicals. Feed small foods: fine flake, micro pellets, and frozen daphnia or cyclops. A planted tank of around 54 liters on the cool side houses a group, and it colors up best when the water stays fresh and a touch cool rather than warm.

In the wild

This dwarf barb comes from the cool, clear headwater streams of the Cauvery in the Coorg hills of the southern Western Ghats. Recreate that with a planted tank, gentle to moderate current, a sand and gravel bed, and some shade. It prefers cooler water than lowland tropicals, 20 to 25 degrees Celsius, with a slightly acidic to neutral pH from 6.0 to 7.2. Clean, well-oxygenated water suits its upland origins.

Good to know

Pethia narayani is a member of the carp family, Cyprinidae, described by Sunder Lal Hora in 1937 from the Western Ghats. It is a small dwarf barb of about 4.5 centimeters, smoky-bodied with a dark shoulder mark. Like other Pethia it was long placed in the genus Puntius. Its aquarium breeding is not documented, though the group are typically egg scatterers.

Did you know

Its home streams run through Coorg, India's coffee country, where shade trees keep the headwaters cool; the fish is happiest in water closer to a mountain stream than to a warm tropical tank.

Tank mates

Narayan barb is a peaceful, schooling species that keeps to the middle. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.

• 

  Infrafasciatus killifish

  Epiplatys infrafasciatus

  Freshwater

  2.4 in (6 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Delta killifish

  Fundulopanchax deltaensis

  Freshwater

  3.1 in (8 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Yellow fin rhinogobius

  Rhinogobius leavelli

  Freshwater

  3.1 in (8 cm)14 gal (54 L)64–77°F (18–25°C)

• 

  Butterfly moth catfish

  Erethistes pusillus

  Freshwater

  2 in (5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)
• Elongate moth catfish

  Hara horai

  Freshwater

  3.1 in (8 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)
• Redspotted panchax

  Epiplatys lamottei

  Freshwater

  2.8 in (7 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Odessa Barb

  Pethia padamya

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)61–77°F (16–25°C)
• Manipur barb

  Pethia manipurensis

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
• Tiantian barb

  Pethia tiantian

  Freshwater

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)14 gal (54 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)

• 

  Bandula barb

  Pethia bandula

  Freshwater

  2 in (5 cm)20 gal (75 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Stoliczka's barb

  Pethia stoliczkana

  Freshwater

  2 in (5 cm)20 gal (75 L)64–79°F (18–26°C)
• Cuming's barb

  Pethia cumingii

  Freshwater

  2 in (5 cm)16 gal (60 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)