Albino Cherry Barb 3.5cm

Albino Cherry Barb

The albino cherry barb has got to be one of the best captive breeding results in the aquarium trade. Through the efforts of line breeding to enhance and bring out desirable traits, the albino cherry barb makes for an awesome alternative to the already great-looking normal cherry barb.  These fish have the colours of a tropical tetra, are extremely hardy, and stay small. Whilst in standard cherry barbs the females can look a bit dull, the albino variants look especially stunning as well. 

Albino cherry barbs sport a stunning glowing red colour that is almost exclusive to these fish. Whilst a lot of albino fish do contrast, the radioactive glow these fish carry especially under some red spectrum LED lighting makes them look like they came right out of a Sci-Fi movie. They often look oversaturated in colour which makes them true showpiece fish in the aquarium. When contrasted in a planted aquarium with greens through aquarium plants or against a blue or black background these fish will stand out super well. 

Breeding Albino Cherry Barbs is quite straightforward as these are captive-produced fish. They are egg scatterers and don't exhibit any parental care. females release their eggs among fine-leafed plants where they're fertilized by the male. The eggs hatch within a few days, and the fry can be fed infusoria or finely crushed flake food. These will also make for a great breeding project for budding fish breeders to try out their experience in egg-scattering fish. Females will be visually different too both in colouration and size. 

Tank Recommendations for Albino Cherry Barb

Being a small and relatively easy to care for fish the albino cherry barb can be kept in smaller aquariums with the minimum being 75 litres. This aquarium size allows for a decent school of these barbs along with other community fish if required. Albino cherry barbs ideally need to be kept in a group of 5 or more to avoid their potential fin-nipping behaviour with other tank mates. These fish won't care too much about hardscape or substrate choices however a lot of bright green plants will contrast the red very well.
 

Suitable Tank Buddies

Albino Cherry Barbs are peaceful fish and generally do well with a variety of tankmates. They can also be mixed with normal cherry barbs to create a very dynamic mix of fish. 

Usually Compatible

Small to medium-sized community fish, other peaceful barbs, tetras, guppies, and bottom dwellers such as corydoras and loaches are good companions.

Sometimes Compatible

Dwarf cichlids and gouramis are sometimes compatible, but care must be taken as they can sometimes be territorial.

Rarely Compatible

Large, aggressive, or predatory species such as Oscars, as well as fin-nippers, should be avoided as they can stress, predate or harm these small barbs.

Feeding your Albino Cherry Barb

Albino cherry barbs are a very easy fish to feed. They will take a wide range of pellets, flakes, and frozen foods. Just like any fish though they should be fed a varied diet with a mix of different foods. 

The ideal diet would be a good quality micro slow-sinking pellet or crushed flake, supplemented with frozen bloodworms or black worms or even live foods like baby brine shrimp or micro worms. Providing them with a natural colour-enhancing food that contains astaxanthin will really enhance the colours as well.