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How to look after
Puntius titteya
Cherry barb
Deraniyagala, 1929

This male cherry barb demonstrates the intensity of colour of some males
more images here

(Other members of the genus Puntius)

ADULT SIZE: 5 cm

WATER CONDITIONS: Not critical

TEMPERATURE RANGE: 23-27 C

FOOD: Feed Puntius titteya small live-foods and fine grade dried foods

DISTRIBUTION: This species comes from Sri Lanka

AQUARIUM CARE: The cherry barb naturally inhabits shaded rainforest streams in Sri Lanka, tending towards the lower strata. A well planted, and not too brightly lit tank will make these barbs at home. Males are much redder than females.

BREEDING: Soft water is preferable for the breeding tank. Fry should be raised separately, being fed newly hatched artemia nauplii at first, gradually moving on to other fine-grade live and dried foods.

Have you bred Puntius titteya? Why not fill in a breeding questionaire?, or examine existing Puntius titteya breeding reports

Puntius titteya
Cherry barb

This male cherry barb demonstrates the intensity of colour of some males

Female cherry barbs do not have the bright colouration of the males, just a stripe... but they do still have red fins

Puntius titteya
Cherry barb
breeding notes

BREEDING: Soft water is preferable for the breeding tank. Fry should be raised separately, being fed newly hatched artemia nauplii at first, gradually moving on to other fine-grade live and dried foods.

Have you bred Puntius titteya? Why not fill in a breeding questionaire?

This page summarises breeding reports provided by visitors to this site, along with some statistical analysis. Please feel free to contribute - whatever your experience! 1 breeder has filled in a breeding report, a summary of which is shown in the graphs below. You can read the full reports here. To add details of your experiences of Puntius titteya, why not fill in a Breeding and maintenance Report.
Would Puntius titteya be a good addition to a community tank? Never Doubtful, only with VERY calm fish Only with species of similar size Yes, a good community fish	How would you describe the disposition of Puntius titteya? Very timid Slightly timid Neutral Somewhat aggresive on occasions Very aggressive
In which water conditions do you keep these fish? Very soft and acidic Moderately soft and acidic Neutral Moderately hard and alkaline Very hard and alkaline	At what average temperature? 10-15°C 16-19°C 20-23°C 24-27°C 28°C+
What, if any is the biggest difficulty encountered when breeding these fish? Poor egg production Poor egg survival Poor fry survival rate Deformities Skewed sex ratio	How would you describe sex ratios when breeding Puntius titteya? If you are unsure please leave this question unanswered. Almost all males Somewhat male heavy Roughly equal Somewhat female heavy Almost all females
In general, how difficult is Puntius titteya to keep and breed? Very easy Easy Average Difficult Very difficult	How sucessful have you been at breeding Puntius titteya? Very unsucessful Fairly unsucessful Average Fairly sucessful Very sucessful

Remember, each record represents only one persons experience; if you had different results, or used different methods, please share your experiences