Checkered Barb

Checkered Barb

The checkered barb, or checkerboard barb, gets its name from the checkerboard pattern on the body. These hardy barbs are great for beginners and will reach two inches, A great schooling fish, when large males have slightly more black and red color on the fins.

Checker barbs originally came from lakes in Sumatra, Indonesia but are now bred all over Asia for the aquarium hobby. Some were released in South America during a breeding program and now are found in some of the smaller streams in Colombia. Checkered barbs will not tolerate high pH near 8, but otherwise are hard to disappoint.