We take a closer look at the underrated Melon barb | 水產百科網

Sizeisawinner.Retailersandfishdatabaseshintatthefishreachingsome6-​7cmfullygrown,butiftherumoursaretobebelievedthenfishofupto15cm ...

Walking under ladders, black cats crossing your path and barbs in community tanks: all things that many people go out of their way to avoid, but nobody stops to question why. For sure, some barbs once had a bad reputation — waspish and nippy, hungry for long fins — but it turns out that this was simply down to the way they were being kept. In small numbers and without the hierarchy of a shoal to occupy them, frustrations and confusion would occasionally manifest as a bitten tankmate. But this revelation came too late and the hysteria had taken hold. ‘Barbs bad’ the superstition went, and we’ve collectively clung to that ever since. 

The tragedy of this is that for decades all of our community tanks have been slightly emptier for it. Many barbs are an ideal fit in the mixed aquarium, plugging the size gap that sits between small tetra and hulking centrepiece cichlids or gouramis. To ignore them is o...