Anton

Like these tails in the lighter ones a lot!

Think I can see the difference between males and females now more clearly in the long tails. The femles tend to have olive green backs the males don't, anyway I have got both which is a good thing.

Yes! Thought so. Thanks. Yah the precocious young ones with very long tails tend to be weedy and don't develop so well as the more sturdy ones, in goldfish too. These are gold females I like a lot not sure if the others are males but are much smaller, sold five in bag for much less. Both would look good in long tail, both metalic. Both very nice top view fish, in the sunshine they gleam and sparkle. This is the body shape I like, deep. Think the long tails by the way their eating will grow sturdy this way.

Some from Thailand. These are probably the most commonly sold here these days and the metalic gleaming ones.

Yes they do look like they have neon going on , I would call these the neons and the red (first picture) red metalic, or what they're calling Red chilly barb. Not entirely sure. Someone was breeding for pure metalic or gleam, I was corresponding with them in India but lost contact, I guess they could hit the market some time. The long tails have a completely different kind of red shade to the rest of the Rosy barbs, very striking fiery red. More like Cherry barb red or Odessa. When you selected tails initialy were you selecting for long or shape. Broad and wide. You see in that picture, the top tail and the very bottom tail (I timed out down loading it only got half the pic) I would go for the bottom tail because it's fuller, not so forked but it's shorter than the top one which is wider tail wise but not set on wider 🤪The shorter tail fish also has a broader caudal attachment.

Those long tails are still small, they can get much deeper and bigger bodies, I have seen Rosy's at least four inches.....are the long tails much smaller generaly? The beeder is probably in India....language barriers mean its very difficult gtting info. These are the yellow variety, no metalic, thee are very young tweeny males in bags, the red gets very dark on the belly and the yellow goes crazy like flurecent paint. Those do look like they have metallic sheen going on....will wait for adults to send another pic of these type, maybe they come in matte and metalic. Also the old fashioned type we get here, Pink males and silver females.

Then this is what's left of the long tails, not sure if they're getting more in. Could be as this is already whats left of the second batch they got in. I saw some decent tails again but 12 is enough for now. Think males and females in here not 100% sure. Nice colour for young fish anyway. Some more entirely red than others some less so.

Yah thanks it is, no gardening needed, natures hand is the best. Ok I took some stills at the market as my own fish are bstd to photograph without disruping the whole works. Firstly these which are one of my favorite. They only had very young small males at the moment sadly. But you can see the lovely gleam and good colour already. Some have more glem thn others but the best have it from head to the tail fin, those are the ones I collect when i see them. The females are solid gold no red with the same gleam. Not there today but they often have them. The male matte version of this is also a very very nice red, no gleam, I also have these. You can always find a couple in a batch of metalic so I've been collecting these on my visits. Would be nice to see these in long tails but none yet lol

Forgot....bought a pck Hikary VibraBites few days ago they go mad for it.

We don't get Ken's fish food, the bites we do get. I will try again but the fish weren't too keen on the bites, maybe wrong size. Because i don't use filtration the Hikari promiss and lives up to its promise of not polluting the water, the flakes are meant to be laden with beneficial bacteria or something. I'm a food junkie though and try most things once. But the above list is the staple. We live in the hill forest National Park so my water comes from mountain springs, which feed little streams one which comes down the top of the garden where we have some seating where I often work and mend piping 😐 the boars trample them. Its full of interesting little fish, water plants and ferns and bright blue mini shrimp. Including a species of Aphyocypris if I'm not mistaken. Little loaches and things seem the most common but I keep finding new things like river skinks and stuff and the odd fish. I've never had an outbreak of disease even with all the wild fish in there, maybe because its cool running water all year not sure. Worst I got was a little bright orange and olive water snake came out the hose pipe, they live under the rocks. I have to maintain the filter I have before the pipe running down to the house because in the monsoons the streams turn into ragging torrents. So this water I use and change or flush about every four months if I'm not too lazy. The PH is just slightly alkline. Do you have any PH preferances? I throw in the odd bit of soft coral but not sure it's necessary.

Lovely fish, lovely shape and I'm delighted to say i definately have females in this case becasue she is exactly the same as the ones I bought that I was hoping were, in colour too. By the size I think mine must be younger, year old maybe. Depends on how they were raised.

No the glass was too dark, its like black tinted. The shape is not like a guppy but also not very deeply forked, nice and wide. Hi Patric, I can and do use YouTube but I've never poted there. Im using iphone and Mac PC, maybe I can just convert to stills? Or just go back and take more shots...

Here are the two I bought today, definately with the fins in mind but also body shape...took me hours to catch and select these two, my brain was spinning after this I can tell. There were at least two hundered in the tank. Catch release, catch release....I'm very stealthy slow and gentle, they hardly noticed me there....like a night heron 🙄 Eager to get your opinion on the tails. So I now Have 12 of these which as they grow and develop through next year I will start using them. Sorry they're a bit yellow as I was medicating ASP I got home. The bowls are dark glass so couldnt realy get a side shot. Nice tails anyway, to start with. These are the same as the other ten I selected in finnage. Hoping these are also female

Brilliant! I bet they're smilling. Some definately have more belly than others but basicaly they're much the same in colours. Here is what I think is a female as its less brilliant with lots of olive.

White Cloud. Yes they are lovey top view fish. The flash of red with black as they tumble around the surface feeding time is spectacular in the long fins as are the gleaming gold ones....all of the lines......they do need those platies, though, or they will even wait for you to leave before they feed, outdoors top view at least. I think the current thing might not be a problem for the long tails as all Rosies are utterly manic much like Danios. They never stay still until the light vanishes. Again i only have outdoor fish so this might be different indoors where they get used to activities through the glass, relax a bit but never seen it I must say lol. Yes the colours are stunning when reared outdoors. I've got a tub with just matte red males (I keep the sexes separate in all the lines) they're like no other red. I think it's a diet of sunshine ,water weed and live food and good old male hormones that does this. Though some of the female lines are pretty close in brilliance these days all be it yellow or gold metallic or matte. I like that fish whiteCloud! The tails and other fins in most of the long tailed ones do get very much longer as they age but I like the full fan shape there a lot 🍸 I'm heading to the fish market in few minutes to find more long tails to inspire. I know what will happen though I will be swayed by perfect body shape and fin shape over tail potential, guaranteed. Anyway I want to get those long tails into other lines so it wont be a waste now the long tails are around. Notice the fish spawning already so i guess Ive got females. YES! That or they were chasing platy fry but it did look very much like spawning to me right in the heart of the Trident.

Here is where I keep the other Rosy barbs. I have eleven of these placed in a big S shape. They're massive Chinese glaze fired bath type things (antiques), worked out they are about 924litres each all the same size......some are planted up with guppy grass others just wish shade shutters. One or two have just dwarf platies. Yah can just post stills right now?

Just attempting to post vids........Ooops I will have to convert the files myself 🙄 Hmmmm, will have to work that out as it's not being accepted as a vid....might need assistance. Meantime here is the temp housing for the new ten long tails and a few dwarf platy as lure fish. Set it up in the garden room which can take spills and splashes. ASP after the dry/cool season I will get these outdoors with the rest of the Barbs. I cant be sure they're hardened off down to 13-15%C, the nights here in the cool season occasionally go there. Not sure where they're from, could be warm waters there this time of year. The set up is très simple. Low tech. One of the reasons I like rosy-barbs so much is that they're so very easy to please. I'm also very into low tech set ups. I like finding balance without any or very little hardware. I only own one electric filter, internal, small and handy for these kind of situations. So there is just a little Italian CF 175 "Newa Cobra" internal filter in there with the fine aeration on and two clumps of M. pteropus var "Trident". The plants need the water current but the fish not honestly critically so. The current has to be directed backward squarely into the side under the shutter to prevent them leaping out which they will do with strong current, so will those mini platy! Flying dwarf platies are rather common around here. Also as its a round container directing the flow squarely into the side is critical for another reason, you get a whirlpool affect otherwise and the fish wont get a seconds rest. Apologies, not trying to hi-jack your thread, just need to find a way to post the vids of the fish.....I had planned to make more too 🤔

Just trying to find my cable for my phone so I can download some vids. I took a few at the Fish Market in Mongkok today of the types including the ones I have and some stills of my set up. Managed to film two common lines we get here before the stores told me off for filming....they have a thing about filming, no idea why. They're particularily fussy about planted up display tanks so think you're secretely trying to film those whatever you are pointed at. Anyway I will get more. There are at least three lines right now being sold besides the long fins. Some very nice fish from India.

Hopefully they will get females in the stores. Long fins here are very rare. I've only seen them twice in twenty years. Unusaual for Hong Kong. Plenty of the other strains all year, same as guppies et al. The first time I saw them they were a decent colour but all the fish looked like they were diseased, very concave bellies which is a shame. Could be parasites or waisting disease. I've learnt over the years these skinny fish never thrive. Second time where the ones I have now which are nice and robust, thick set and display very nicely, the dorsal fins are tremendously high, erect and lovely. Think body shape is important to carry the fins nicely. That's a pity long tail is not dominant because these long tails in the other lines like the neons etc would be fantastic. Was hoping to go that route as well. I love top view tropical fish. Keeping fish like this is very popular in Asia, in large pots. So the black backs or green backs are not so good. I do love the black tiped fins though with that red it's tremendously vampy and flahy even with the darker backs. The backs may of course also turn red as they mature. I use dwarf coral platy to keep mine happy and calm at the surface or they tend to be quite skittish. The platies are not shy and they slow down the Barbs, even just a few, five or so to twenty odd Rosy barbs. The barbs eat the platy fry so they don't become a pest fish but otherwise they leave the platies alone. They're odd feeders, though Rosy barbs. Never sure if its a bottom feeder, top feeder, or what the heck as they do all three in a very random manner. Only live food will they do all at the same time. They will only feed at the surface for very short bursts unless there are platies around. Can you tell me what you feed yours? I use : Hikari Micro wafers Hikari Neopros Guppy flakes Australian dried Black worms Spinach Brine shrimp live Daphnia pulex live Seems a lot but they devour all of these with a frenzied gusto. I feed small and often starting the day with the Neopro and ending with live food to prevent compaction problems. The bulk of my Rosy barbs i don't feed at all as they're in big ponds with goldfish. They just take their chances and thrive. Seasonal live food etc. It's the ones I keep closer to the house in tubs that get the gourme six course diet. The Micro Wafers with spirulina are extremely popular with all my fish, for fry and small fish i just rub them between my fingers. So are the flakes. I breed the Dapnia but not all the time so use those with brine shrimp which I get at the stores which have them all year. The Daphnia are dried eggs so I can start up cultures any time easily take a couple of days to hatch. The eggs are very reliable, bulk from "Green Water Farm Thailand". In season I can catch them in the fish ponds to breed up but the eggs are the clean route.

Oh I see, so those are the neon ones. The ones we get here are pretty dark red as young fish already but the reflective scales are only along the dorsal and sometimes just on the head. I've heard these latter also being called copper head or something. I love the females, though, they're pure gold. Think the "Chilly reds" are Glow-fish, the red is just too red. So what are the ones called with the brilliant yellow backs or upper half, dark red bottom then?....I'm not that keen on them the colour combo is quite shocking because it's such a contrast. The yellow is an incredible, vibrant, fluresent shade. So as top view fish nice as you just see the yellow more or less. For a long time these were all i could get as they were the most popular. Because of the colour these are what I thought were the neons. I hear someone say there was a yellow strain maybe these are them. Mine look like your Hawaii male (same colour) except they don't have a full tail and have deeper bodies (thats what I selected for at least). They have more like a long forked tail, but very nicely spaced, wide open. Least they are now. I have to assume they're young fish beause they have quite lot of black with just that incredibly dark red wide stripe along the sides. Could be the red takes over more of the body as they become sexually mature. I'm not sure if the fork will stay open as they get older. My Bristol shubunkin's tails tend to droop the older they get sadly, but are immaculate when fingerlings or young fish. They came direct from the UK. Yours have very nice tails, very nice full tails. My oldest fish is five years old (short tail). They live a fairly decent age for a little fish, if the King fishers dont get em. Looks like my long-fins are all male. Least i cant see any difference between all ten of them (I bought another two yesterday). Ouch I should've taken a picture of the tank at the shop. There is a marked difference between male and female in what you call the neons, as young fish. Its easy to choose all males or all females simply based on their colour, gold or red. Not sure with these long tails, though, as they all have the same very deep red stripe and tails tipped in black. For breeding I would in the event that they're all male have to use a "neon" short tail female maybe. I heard long tail was dominant so it might be a short problem LOL. I like the black in the fins though but the neons don't have any. Maybe they get females in eventualy. Many years ago when I was living in the Netherlands there was a tank at the zoo restaurant, it had long tailed Rosies with wild type discus, a gigantic planted wonder-world of a tank about two meter square. Needless to say I always sat right near the tank. Those rosies were the old fasioned, maybe wild type (with long fins) that I don't see being sold commercialy anymore. Males were indeed rosy or rosé pink and the females more bronze. No red like today. Loved those fish though, the long fins were very elegant and fluttery, charmed the pants off of me. The wild ones come in a few different shades depending where they're found.

I tke tht back just did a bit of a measure the long tail ones I have are more than 2.5inches. No idea the age.

Bumping this up just because it's so exciting. Like this breeding project a lot. I get a bit confused with the types or lines of Rosy barb out there, would love to see a clear chart of them. Neons particularly, no clue which those are meant to be. Ours come in three or four different strains . One with a bright, insanely bright yellow back (mat) with intense red ventral region, females yellow/silver, then one with the same red but with a greeny black dorsal, females pinkish (this I think is the original Rosy barb), and then one bright plain stunning red (self) even as juveniles a very good colour with females a lovely, very nice sparkling gold, all with highly reflective metallic dorsal and spot on the back of the head, the black tail dot though a very few don't have it at all. I keep and breed (well they do the breeding) the last one and also recently got eight long tailed ones. I like the golden females the most and keep them separate sexes in outdoor ponds, its like real gold and as shiny. Tremendously attractive. The red males are a brilliant red and this intensifies in sunshine, it's an incredible even red much like a Cherry barb male at its peak. Once they reach that red they stay that colour, it's not a seasonal thing. Someone was selling these as "Chilly-red" Rosy barbs in Australia. The long tailed ones I bought i was convinced were long tailed Odessa barbs. it was simply because of the incredible red band down the sides and very dark almost black dorsal and belly, same red in the fins but with black . I'm still not sure because I've never seen a Rosy with that incredible colour red before. They don't have the same vertical stripe as the Odessa near the tail. Possibly a hybrid I honestly don't know if that's even possible, they're big. Never seen them at the fish market before here in Hong Kong. Having said that the long tailed ones are rare here full stop, you hardly ever see them so maybe its the novelty at seeing them throwing me a curve. They have become more completely red now with top lighting. I've got them in a large round black, about a meter and half diameter tree planter tub, the kind you get at garden centres, about 60-70cm high. Unfortunately this makes them impossible to photograph as black dorsal and black tub LOL the light also makes them pigeon blood red which is also dark. I've just got them settled after prophylactic medication so dont want to disturb them. They're eating like piranhas (don't they all) but it's always a good sign. I love how the long tailed ones breach the surface with all that finage, ripple, boiling water effect at feeding time. Soon as I take any out I will take some pictures, but has anyone seen a long tailed Odessa or hybrid strain with a Rosy? I selected for good fins like OP is doing when I bought them. Not an easy task with a tank jam packed full of manic barbs, but I took my time as this seems to work with Rosies and caught every one that I selected with wide lovely tail fin. We catch our own here in Bonkers it's part of the fish shopping experience. Best get in there early before they're hammered by careless buyers, a draw back certainly, but you do get to choose your own this way at least. Nice sturdy thick set fish about two inches, you can see they've been reared outdoors in the sun, in ponds eating veg and daphnia. I will put them out Spring because they are probably not hardened off to our cool season. Getting any info from dealers here is impossible as they just don't speak English and I dont speak Cantonese. What they are, where they came from all empty blanks I'm afraid. Definitely much more can be done with these fish. There is someone in India selecting for just the metallic sheen on deep red, these highly reflective scales are mostly only along the dorsal and head of some strains where they sparkle and gleam. These types make stunning top view fish...really rewarding. Good tail development is a brilliant idea, I'm seeing those Bristol shubunkin tails looking very pretty on these little fish, very nice. Keep going!

I'm with Guppysnail and Sudofish on Frogbit! I guess for the meticulous, manicured aquarium it might be worse than an infestation of bladder snails, though. However the field of bright green it creates is also not unattractive, far from it. In more informal biotope type tanks it's a star. Highly beneficial plant food for fish as already said. I collect buckets and buckets of it, solid buckets full and dump them in my large pond. In a matter of a day its all eaten. I can't collect enough. In this large reservoir are many goldfish and zillions of super red rosy barbs. The colour on both is extraordinary electric, partly genetics but also green water and a high veg diet and loads of sunshine. The one we get is the tiny one, thinks it's L. minor. Lemna trisulca and Wolfia globosa, also members of the broadly named duckweeds are other favourites of mine. Even little rice fish get very excited if you offer them W.globosa, watch those tails wiggle. Cleaned small bags are sold fresh at aquarium shops as fish food in Asia where it's also eaten as a veg. Not sure how it would behave in an aquarium but I reckon it's very likely to be all eaten before it becomes a problem. Like minuscule sweet fresh peas. Lemna trisulca, is up (or down depending on your use) there with guppy grass but easier. You can confine it to make a fantastic filter, well at least I have done, this also prevents fish eating it. Let it grow rampant confined to a quarter of the area. I used a mesh divider, fry love getting in there. Keeps the water crystal clear all on it's own, you just need to circulate the water gently. Unlike the others It grows submerged just bellow the water surface rather than floating on the surface, as such it looks utterly beautiful top view, like soft drifting etherial fields of submerged Irish clover or ivy, gives brilliant depth. Just net a bunch when it gets too dense. I also used to gently roll it into shape to clear space as its very malleable, dip net out any fragments and all set to go for a month. These plants create habitat and food for almost everything aquatic and make a perfect clean biotope literally swarming with life. So I guess it all depends on what you want to create.

Sounds highly possible. They're not at all robust being very thin shelled. So when clamped to a surface out of the water "smudging" is very easily achieved. I smudge loads fully intentionaly. I had a brief fondness for them but it was short lived. I prefer bacteria as pets to be quite honest.

Snails (as pests) are relatively new to me, they came with guppy grass from Taiwan shrimp imports. I was indeed utterly amazed to see bladder snails "surfing uside down" on the surface the other day. There was no protein film. Grabbing my magnifier I was horryfied to see they were swallowing my moina culture which had risen to the surface. The mouths were going second to none open and closing injesting moina whole. I removed them and the eggs stuck on the glass. This is my mother ship culture which I use to seed moina vats so pradators are a problem. Someone told me they would clean up in there and prolong the culture. They do clean up but produce tons of dung and eat moina so that was short lived. I had to empty the tank etc. I think snails might not be the dimension Im looking for so trying to restrict them to the one infestation. A die back could be a disaster in a tank. Yes it's true they get covered in everything from mosquito eggs to duckweed just everything under the sun. I imagine they could easily carry disease and pests like anchore worm and fish lice eggs etc. The fact they eat dead fish is also a bit worrying as internal parasites might be spread too. Not a big fan. I do like snails in nature of course all kinds and maybe some do make nice pets kept alone. Some have facinating relationships with bird parasites, like land snails do.