🐟 Redtail Tinfoil Barb (Barbonymus altus)
Large Schooling Barb • Silver-Gold Body With Red Fins • A Showpiece School for Big Tanks
 
📋 The Redtail Tinfoil Barb is a fast, active schooling barb from the Mekong and Chao Phraya river basins of Southeast Asia. Young fish are silvery, and as they mature they take on a golden-bronze hue with red pelvic, anal, and tail fins and a black blotch on the dorsal fin. It's peaceful in a group with other large, robust fish. Kept alone or in a small group, tinfoils can become skittish and sometimes aggressive.
Tinfoil barbs are sold as small juveniles but grow fast, so the secret to enjoying one is planning the tank first. The Redtail reaches about 25cm, a little smaller than the Silver Tinfoil but still a big fish. It needs a school of at least six in a tank of around 500L (130 gallons) or more, and 570L (150 gallons, roughly 5 × 2 × 2 feet) is a common recommendation. It will eat soft plants, jump, and eat smaller fish, so give it a tight lid and robust or artificial plants.
A note on naming: tinfoil barbs are often sold under the generic name, and the Redtail is easily mixed up with the larger B. schwanenfeldii when young. The Redtail lacks the black stripe along the edges of the tail fin that B. schwanenfeldii has. Care needs are similar. Trade stock includes both farm-raised and wild-collected fish.
 
💡 Highlights
✨ Silver-Gold Body, Red Fins: Colours up as it matures
📏 Grows to About 25cm: Plan the tank first
👥 A Schooling Fish: Keep at least six
🌿 Eats Soft Plants: Robust or artificial plants suit it best
🏠 Loves Space and a Lid: A strong swimmer and a jumper