The Mahecola Barb (Puntius mahecola) is a peaceful and, hardy fish and has no special requirements about the water conditions. This means that it can coexist with countless other fish species without major problems. However, he is quite difficult to find in pet stores, but they are very popular among hobbyists in India.
In the wild, the Mahecola Barb is found in rivers that drain from much of the Western Ghats mountains in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, as well as Karnataka in southern India. Inhabits shallow, slow-flowing rivers with muddy or sandy substrate filled with dense vegetation along their margins. In addition, you can also find it in artificial lakes and ponds created by dammed rivers.
When still young, these fish have a stroke-looking body with two dark spots, but as they mature they lose their second stain, showing it only in the caudal peduncle, located behind the anal fin. The tail fin, however, has two small lines, one red and one black.
Keep reading the article to learn about the main aspects and needs of this species.
Technical Details
Name: Mahecola Barb;
Scientific Name: Puntius mahecola (Valenciennes, 1844);
Family: Cyprinidae;
Species Origin: Asia (India);
Length: Up to 3,5 inches;
Life Span: 5 years or more;
Care Level: Easy / Moderate;
Water Parameters
pH: Maintain the pH of the water between 6.0 – 7.5;
Water Hardness: Between 2° – 15°dH;
Temperature: Must be kept between 18 – 28°C (Celsius);
Care
Food
Omnivorous. In the wild, the Mahecola Barb eats worms, insects and other small invertebrates, as well as plant matter and organic debris.
In fish tanks they are easy to feed, but the best feeding conditions give the species more colorful colors. So try to feed them live and frozen foods such as bloodworms, daphnia and brine shrimp, as well as a quality flake food.
Temperament / Behavior
The Mahecola Barb is a schollling species by nature and therefore should be kept in groups of at least eight or ten fish.
Keeping them in large numbers will not only make the fish less nervous, but will also result in a exibhtion closer to that found in the wild. In addition, the males will have the most highlighted colors to try to compete for the females.
The species usually swims in the bottom and middle region of the fish tank.
Tank Mates
As a peaceful fish, the Mahecola Barb is the perfect resident for a community fish tank.
Above all, they are not very picky about water parameters, so they can be combined with many other fish that are more popular in the hobby, including small cyprinids, as well as tetra fish, viviparous, rainbow fish, anabanthids, shellfish and loaches.
Breeding / Mating
See the difference about the male from the female isn’t a difficult task, as males are smaller and thinner than females, in addition to displaying a more intense color pattern than females.
Unfortunately, there are no records of successful breeding in the home fish tanks and little information is available on how to breed this species, but it’s quite likely that they breed in the same way as other Puntius species.
Fish Tank Size
The fish tank needs to be at least 26 gallons for a small group of these fish.
The Mahecola Bar is easy to care for as long as there is a regular maintenance routine in the tank. Decor can be up to personal taste. You can use a gravel or sand substrate to create a more natural environment by adding some larger smooth rocks, twisted roots, branches or logs.
Lighting can be moderate, and you can also place low tech plants if you wish. Although they are fish that do not need agitated water, the Mahecola Barb still does better when the water is well oxygenated and with some flow.
References
Pethiyagoda, R. and M. Kottelat, 2005. The identity of the south Indian barb Puntius mahecola (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Raffles Bull. Zool. Suppl. 12:145-152. (Ref. 55031)
