Gelius Barb (Pair)

A 3 cm barb that is safe with shrimp. The Gelius, or Golden Dwarf Barb, is a tiny, translucent gold fish with a few broken black patches along the flank and a faint coppery-orange band through the body. It is one of the smallest barbs in the world and, unusually for the family, peaceful enough to share a planted nano tank with dwarf shrimp.

This is a native of the Ganga and Brahmaputra plains — slow streams, ponds and flooded fields across northern and eastern India and Bangladesh — rather than a forest-stream fish. It is subtropical, prefers cooler water than most tropicals and is gentle with everything. A group of ten in a well-planted 45–60 cm tank is a quietly delightful sight, especially when the males flush gold during display.

Care Snapshot

Setting Up For It

• Thick planting. Stem plants, Java moss, Cryptocoryne and floating cover give these tiny barbs the security they need to come out into open water.
• Soft light and a dark base. The gold and black show best against dark sand under gentle light.
• Very gentle flow. A sponge filter is ideal. Small fish tire in strong current.
• Leave out the heater in the south. In most of peninsular India, room temperature is already at the upper end of their range.

Tank Mates

One of the very few barbs genuinely safe with adult dwarf shrimp.

Feeding — Tiny Mouths

The Gelius is very small, and ordinary flake or granules are too large for it to eat well. Use fine foods and feed small amounts more often.

Feed two or three times a day. From the AQA range, a fine micro granule or crushed flake makes a good staple, with small frozen and live foods several times a week.

Ideal foods: baby brine shrimp, microworm, daphnia, cyclops and finely crushed spirulina flake.

Sexing & Breeding

Males are slimmer and show a brighter gold-copper flush when they display. Females are rounder and slightly larger.

In the wild, Gelius spawn in spring, laying adhesive eggs on the undersides of leaves. In aquaria, a cool winter rest followed by gradually warming water often brings them into condition. Use a small, densely planted tank and remove the adults after spawning. Fry are tiny and need infusoria.

Keeping It In Indian Conditions

• A native of the north. Wild Gelius live in the slow waters of the Gangetic and Brahmaputra plains, where winter water can fall well below 20 °C.
• South Indian summers are their main enemy. Above 27 °C they become stressed. Keep the tank in the coolest room, run a fan across the surface and avoid direct sun.
• Tap water is fine. Most Indian municipal supplies suit them; extremely hard borewell water can be softened slightly with RO or catappa leaves.