🐟 Checker Barb (Oliotius oligolepis, formerly Puntius oligolepis)
Freshwater Peaceful Nano Barb • Checkerboard Pattern • Orange-Red Fins on Males • Easy Community Fish
 
📋 The Checker Barb, also sold as the Checkered or Checkerboard Barb, is a small schooling barb from Sumatra, named for the black-and-silver checkerboard marks along its sides. Males are smaller and more colourful than females, with orange-red fins tipped in black.
Unlike the boisterous tiger barb, it is timid and peaceful and is not prone to nipping fins. It suits planted community tanks with small, calm fish such as tetras, rasboras and danios, and it usually leaves plants alone.
It is a shoaling fish and is happiest in a group of at least six, and eight to ten is better. In a mixed group, keep more females than males, because males occasionally flare at each other. Wild fish are now rare, and the fish in the trade are produced by commercial aquaculture.
 
💡 Highlights
✨ Checkerboard Body: Black-and-silver pattern with orange-red fins on males
⚪ Peaceful: Timid and not prone to fin-nipping
📏 Small: About 5cm at full size
👥 Schooling Fish: At least six, ideally eight to ten
🌿 Plant-Friendly: Suits planted community tanks