Redcheek barb

Discherodontus ashmeadi

Also known as Ashmead's barb

FreshwaterFish

Redcheek barb (Discherodontus ashmeadi) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–81°F (22–27°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 5.4 in (13.6 cm)
Minimum tank: 42 gal (160 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Mekong and Chao Phraya basins
Family: Cyprinidae

Overview

The redcheek barb is a current-loving shoaler that needs company and water movement to look and behave its best, so keep a group of six or more and drive the tank with a strong filter or powerhead. It swims in the middle and lower-middle levels and appreciates open lanes between patches of rounded stone. Temperament is peaceful, and it suits active but gentle tankmates that enjoy the same brisk, well-oxygenated water, such as other river barbs and loaches. Feed it generously and variedly: sinking pellets, wafers, frozen bloodworm and daphnia, and some vegetable matter. A tank of around 160 liters gives a starter group the length and flow it wants.

In the wild

This barb lives in clear, flowing brooks and rivers of Thailand and the lower Mekong region, over beds of gravel and stone where moderate to strong current keeps the water bright and oxygen-rich. Reproduce that with a river-style layout of smooth rocks and cobbles, a sand or fine-gravel floor, and vigorous flow. Keep it at 22 to 27 degrees Celsius with pH 6.0 to 7.5, and hold nitrate low with regular water changes.

Good to know

Discherodontus ashmeadi belongs to the carp family, Cyprinidae, and was described by Fowler in 1937. It is a silver, fork-tailed river barb marked by a red flush on the gill cover and dark tips to the tail lobes. Published maximum size is about 13 to 14 centimetres, larger than it looks as a young shop fish. Aquarium breeding is not on record for the species.

Did you know

The red cheek that gives the fish its name is a blush on the gill cover of an otherwise plain silver body, strongest on healthy adults in cool, fast, well-oxygenated water, and the quickest way to pick the species out of a mixed barb tank.