# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Cyprinids >  Choy's amazing new barb!!

## benny

Choy!

The barbs not doing well. Breathing heavily!

I see what I can do, but fighting against time.


1/320 sec at F5.6. ISO at 100. Canon EF 100 mm F2.8 macro

Uncropped, resized. Slight sedimentation removed via cloning and colors slightly corrected to what I see is natural. 

Seem to lack the critical sharpness. Is this ok for you?

Cheers,

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## hwchoy

poor thing. is this the bigger or smaller one? for the bigger one, which I think is male, the red should be VERY VERY intense like those you see in the LFS.

for a long time this fish _Puntius_ sp. Odessa was available through the trade from breeders in Eastern Europe (hence the name Odessa, a Black Sea town). this pair is obtained from Myanmar, actual wild Odessa barb, and it goes to show that the strong red coloration is present in the wild poppulation, not enhanced by the breeders.

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## Wackytpt

Choy,

any fishes for me too ?  :Razz:

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## benny

The one above is the smaller one. The bigger one does hot have spots on the dorsal fins.

Cheers,

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## hwchoy

:Opps:  they are all with Benny for photoshoot. but if he doesn't want them you can be next in line  :Smile:

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## Wackytpt

Benny KorKor,

Any for me?  :Razz: 

 :Laughing:

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## hwchoy

> The one above is the smaller one. The bigger one does hot have spots on the dorsal fins.
> 
> Cheers,


erm there were two pairs in the bag. one was upside down  :Sad:  that one is the bigger one.

this is the small one is it?

the other two has red and black dorsal fin and orange body, wild _Puntius stoliczkanus_.

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## benny

> Benny KorKor,
> 
> Any for me?


Have. I deep freeze in the fridge for you. When you want to collect?

Cheers,

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## Wackytpt

> Have. I deep freeze in the fridge for you. When you want to collect?
> 
> Cheers,


Oh No.... Those poor fishes got murdered by Benny

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## budak

The horizontal thick red bar of the Odessa barb (revealed long ago in 80s TFH issues) doesn't seem to me a logical result of selective breeding.... breeders would tend to prefer, select and develop fish with uniformly bright coloration. In any case, the variety, richness and complexity of natural fishes always outshines the bland homogeneity of selected strains in my book.

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## hwchoy

> The horizontal thick red bar of the Odessa barb (revealed long ago in 80s TFH issues) doesn't seem to me a logical result of selective breeding.... breeders would tend to prefer, select and develop fish with uniformly bright coloration. In any case, the variety, richness and complexity of natural fishes always outshines the bland homogeneity of selected strains in my book.


in my books too  :Smile: 

any how we now know for sure what the wild fish looks like.  :Jump for joy:

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## benny

Didn't realise that there was one more than looks a bit more decent.



This one is shot with the 180 mm macro. 1/320 seconds at F10. ISO 100.

But lost sharpness towards the tail as the fish was not parallel to the lens. Shame.

Cheers,

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## hwchoy

mmm nice, although the dorsal area looks under compared to the chin area. too much tissue on the top flash?  :Smile:

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## ranmasatome

looks a bit like ticto leh...but..yes..i see e difference :Smile:

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## hwchoy

_Puntius ticto_ is a different fish, but closely related to the Odessa, the _P. stoliczkanus_, and probably also _P. oligolepis_.

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## ranmasatome

ya..i know its a different fish...lol...quite obvious mah...

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## hwchoy

you'd be surprised how confused people can get, even ichthyologists can be confused and make mistakes  :Smile:

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## ranmasatome

chey...i make mistakes all the time...lol..especially when looking at my insects...which i believe is somthing i'm good at...
But when it comes to fishes...lol...its a hobby...not a job...so not that good loh.. :Smile: 
but still acceptable lah..lol

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## benny

> the other two has red and black dorsal fin and orange body, wild _Puntius stoliczkanus_.


Body don't look very orange leh? Is this correct?



One of these is upside down already. Really strange.

Cheers,

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## hwchoy

> Body don't look very orange leh? Is this correct?
> 
> 
> 
> One of these is upside down already. Really strange.
> 
> Cheers,


yah this is the right colour I see in my tank.

really weird why all the barbs are affected.  :Exasperated:  plus they have been in the bag only 3 hours.

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## hwchoy

BTW benny, the lighting sibeh excellent  :Smile:   :Well done:

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## benny

> BTW benny, the lighting sibeh excellent


Thank you. Thank you.

The secret is tissue paper. Lots of it. I think my wife must be wondering why the tissue runs out so fast these days. 

By the way, what's your opinion on the background? I can do it with background pinsharp (like I use to) or with human portaiture style whereby we blur it out (hopefully with good bokeh). Or just plain black.

Cheers,

p.s. One of the other barb is gone. Now left two (one of each type), still breathing heavily. Danios are all ok.

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## hwchoy

> Thank you. Thank you.
> 
> The secret is tissue paper. Lots of it. I think my wife must be wondering why the tissue runs out so fast these days. 
> 
> By the way, what's your opinion on the background? I can do it with background pinsharp (like I use to) or with human portaiture style whereby we blur it out (hopefully with good bokeh). Or just plain black.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> p.s. One of the other barb is gone. Now left two (one of each type), still breathing heavily. Danios are all ok.


the background is fine, don't need to do anything special, even some floating stuff is OK for my purpose  :Smile:

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## benny

> the background is fine, don't need to do anything special, even some floating stuff is OK for my purpose


You mean frogbits? I only have frogbits anyway. No duckweeds. But I don't see how that will work. It'll give a greenish cast by the way.

I'll try tonight.

Cheers,

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## hwchoy

floating stuff --> meaning dirt, shit and sediments. as long as don't obscure the fish is fine.  :Wink:

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## benny

> floating stuff --> meaning dirt, shit and sediments. as long as don't obscure the fish is fine.


Aiyoh! We were talking about plants for background and you are talking about sedimentation. I was wondering why would choy wants frogbits for background?? Very ugly effect.

Let's see how the barbs are when I go back. Hopefully the remaining 2 pull through.

Cheers,

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## hwchoy

yah poor things. they came all the way from Mandalay to die in a foreign land.

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## Green Baron

I have 6 in my tank. The dominant male is very very red. Much redder than the one in the photo. 




> Choy,
> any fishes for me too ?


Nick,
Are you sure you want them ? They will nib your plants  :Grin:  
They are going at $0.60 each at some LFS. My friend has a 3ft tank with just Odessa barb and they are just lovely !  :Well done:

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## hwchoy

he doesn't want those from the LFS lah, he wants these which is from the wild  :Smile:

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## benny

> yah poor things. they came all the way from Mandalay to die in a foreign land.


Another one bites the dust. Only one left. Doubtful it will make it pass tonight.

Anyway, manage to get this fella when he was more settled down last night.



Choy, do you like the rim lighting on the caudal fins?

Cheers,

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## hwchoy

Yes! YEs! YES!

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## hwchoy

mmm interestingly I can see a ghost image about 5mm below the belly.

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## benny

> mmm interestingly I can see a ghost image about 5mm below the belly.


Oops, that's from the tank divider. In my haste to get the pictures, didn't check for a lot of things. Probably from the same light source that give the rim lighting. But still usable right?

Image is uncropped, just resized. You will get the original large files.

Cheers,

Edit: OK. I burned the ghost image. Not so visible now. Can?

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## hwchoy

Yes Yes! burn burn burn  :Smile:  

hey, as long as I can see all the anatomical details I am happy, no need picture perfection  :Smile: 

did you try the _Danio feegradei_? I think they'll look awesome under your flash  :Wink:

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## benny

> Yes Yes! burn burn burn  
> 
> hey, as long as I can see all the anatomical details I am happy, no need picture perfection 
> 
> did you try the _Danio feegradei_? I think they'll look awesome under your flash


I try my best. Very hard to work against time. Stressful. Hopefully I get the last barb before he goes tonight.

Haven't go time for the Danio yet. But I think the colors will still be subtle, I don't think I can do much better than you if at all.

Cheers,

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## hwchoy

> Haven't go time for the Danio yet. But I think the colors will still be subtle, I don't think I can do much better than you if at all.
> 
> Cheers,


I have faith in your triple flash  :Grin:   :Grin:   :Grin:

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## benny

Ok. One more...

This is the other _Puntius stoliczkanus_. Notice the different body markings. Also, the fins are not as intense in coloration.



Cheers,

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## hwchoy

ah good :clap: :clap: :clap: this one has a kind of gold ring around the big black spot.

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## stormhawk

If you bagged them wrongly, and they didn't have some form of plant life, 3 hours in a plastic bag can be torture for gregarious fish like barbs. Variables like stress during transport, sudden temperature fluctuations can stress them out to no end.

When transferring them to a new tank, the difference in TDS measurements from their source water and the new tank's water can cause osmotic shock and further stress the survivors. After that, most will usually die off from sheer stress and shock.

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## hwchoy

actually it is weird, they started to die off while still in the bag, after about couple hours. and during the time there was constant temperature (i.e. didn't go in and out of office aircon, etc). it was just unusual.

they were in a bag with much less water on the 16-hour trip here, but I think there were sedatives in the transport water.

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## TanVincent

Poor Odessas...

But they did have their potrait taken before they head to fish heaven...

Vincent

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## hwchoy

yup, and we are sure what the wild odessa looks like  :Smile:

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## TanVincent

> yup, and we are sure what the wild odessa looks like


To moan for the odessas which died, I'll quit putting fish in my Maggi Noodles.I'll put luncheon meat instead,...

Vincent

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## hwchoy

wah, sacrifice until like that!

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## TanVincent

> Body don't look very orange leh? Is this correct?
> 
> 
> 
> One of these is upside down already. Really strange.
> 
> Cheers,


Hey Benny,

Just got some wild Puntius Stoliczkanus, the coloration is a bit different from yours. The body is orangy red and the dorsal, anal and pelvic fins are totally red with distinct black lines.

Vincent

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## hwchoy

this particular one may be a female, plus they are in a poor state. I'm surprise they show any colours at all!

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## TanVincent

come ah come ah, take one pair home to pose lah...

Vincent

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## hwchoy

enough liao lah, I wait for your _Puntius bandula_  :Smile:

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## Wackytpt

> enough liao lah, I wait for your _Puntius bandula_


CHoy go down to the shop to see liao. Saw a few the colour dammed striking

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## hwchoy

what did you see? the _P. bandula_ not in yet lah.

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## Wackytpt

> what did you see? the _P. bandula_ not in yet lah.


opps... i saw the Puntius Stoliczkanus.

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## hwchoy

still the wild ones are not that common  :Smile:

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