Walker's barb

Enteromius walkeri

Also known as Barbus walkeri

FreshwaterFish

Walker's barb (Enteromius walkeri) — 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: 4.7 in (12 cm)
Minimum tank: 29 gal (110 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Easy
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Ghana and Ivory Coast
Family: Cyprinidae

Overview

Walker's barb is a peaceful, big-for-a-barb African species that should be kept in a group of at least six, since it is a schooling fish with no upper limit on numbers. It is an active mid-water swimmer that is always looking for food. It mixes well with other robust but peaceful fish such as Congo tetras, larger rasboras, and medium African species; it is a little fast and busy for very timid tankmates but is not aggressive. Feed a varied omnivore diet of flakes, sinking pellets, and frozen foods like bloodworm and daphnia. A larger barb with real swimming needs, it wants a long tank of around 110 liters or more.

In the wild

This barb comes from rivers and streams of Ghana and the Ivory Coast in west Africa. Give it a river-style tank with open swimming space, a sand or fine gravel bed, driftwood and rounded stones, and some current. It is adaptable, doing well at about 22 to 27 C in soft to moderately hard water, a pH of roughly 6.0 to 7.5. Steady flow, good oxygen, and clean water suit an active shoaling fish that in the wild ranges through flowing coastal drainages.

Good to know

Enteromius walkeri is a cyprinid in the family Cyprinidae, large for the African small-barb group at about 12 centimeters, gold-toned with a dark band along the side that darkens toward the tail. It shows an unusual growth quirk: the barbels around its mouth get proportionally shorter as the fish grows. Its breeding behaviour is not well recorded, and it is seldom if ever bred in the aquarium.

Did you know

It carries a strange piece of growth arithmetic: unlike most barbs, whose barbels keep pace with the body, Walker's barb grows barbels that become proportionally shorter as the fish gets bigger.