Pethia Setnai by Mike Monje

As a barb enthusiast I looked for this fish for about a year before it I found it, a big thank you to
Ben and the crew at Watercolors, as they were instrumental in my obtaining this species. So, as you may have surmised, this is not a particularly common barb species to find in the hobby. A pretty fish, the body is an overall silver, with two large black dots, one in front of the dorsal mid-body and one in front of the tail this one goes the entire width of the fish. These Black spots are bordered with a nice yellow patch on both sides. The dorsal gets a nice red coloration to it, although I believe this is sex specific, I need to do more observation to prove this out. Literature states this fish can attain a length of 65mm, (2.6 inches), mine are nowhere near that, topping out at about 50mm, (2 inches).

This species is found in the rivers and streams of the Western Ghats, located on the West Coast
of India. It is reported to congregate in the slower moving pools, someday I may have to substantiate
this myself. Reported to be a foraging omnivore in the wild, I’ve found them to be very eager eaters
taking all varieties of food offered. As with most barbs, temperature from 68 to 80 are tolerated, mine
spawned at 78 degrees. I keep mine in a shoal of 11 fish in a planted 33long aquarium with Red Glass
Barbs, and Hi-Fin Red Wag Platy’s. I’ve found them to be a very peaceful barb, no fin nipping at all, and they haven’t eaten the plants, not even the Water Wisteria.

Spawning them didn’t really prove to be difficult at all, about the difficulty level of Cherry Barbs.
Once I had several females with egg swollen bellies, I moved 2 of them to a 2.5gallon with marbles on the bottom and a handful of Java Moss, introduced 3 males about a half hour before lights out. I missed the actual spawn but by noon the females were noticeably thinner, so I removed all the fish. It took me about a week and a half to see fry in the tank, but within a few days they disappeared. Turns out these fry like to be at the bottom, darting around and in and out of the marbles! I fed them Hikari First Bites, sponge grunge, and pulverized flakes all were eagerly accepted by the fry. Growth was pretty rapid and even at 15mm, (5/8 of an inch), they looked just like their parents.

This is a fantastic barb species for any level of hobbyist. A good community fish, nice coloration,
maintains a nice active shoal, does well in planted aquariums. They are very tolerant/adaptable to wide variety of temperatures and water parameters. This fish really should be more established in the hobby.