Five-Banded Barb
Desmopuntius pentazona
Cyprinidae
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About
Shops shelve this fish beside the tiger barb, and the confusion is the most expensive thing about buying one. Count the bars. Desmopuntius pentazona carries five dark bands on a warm orange-bronze body — through the eye, just behind the gill cover, two across the flank and one on the caudal peduncle — while Puntigrus tetrazona carries four on a colder silver-and-yellow ground. The temperament differs far more than the pattern does. The tiger barb is a boisterous, notorious fin-nipper that needs a big shoal to keep its aggression among its own kind; the five-banded barb is peaceful, faintly shy, and simply shuts down in that company. Maidenhead Aquatics recommends it to people who want 'the appearance of the slightly larger and more aggressive Tiger Barb, but without the nippiness factor', and warns that among boisterous fish it becomes very timid. That profile is worth reading for a second reason too: 'most fishes labelled as Pentazona will be the more colourful D. hexazona', and the tell for a true pentazona is a dark spot at the base of the dorsal fin. It also comes from somewhere quite different: the peat swamps and blackwater streams of northwest Borneo, mainly the Baram drainage in Sarawak, where the water is tea-stained and can run at pH 3-4. Give it dim light, tannins and a full group and it turns a deep, glowing orange; give it a bright bare tank and boisterous neighbours and it stays grey in the corner.
Care
Keep 8-10 in a tank from 70 litres with an 80 x 30 cm base, dim lighting, leaf litter or botanicals, plenty of planting and gentle flow. Soft, acidic water suits it best (pH 6-7, 1-8 °dGH), though commercially bred stock copes either side of neutral. Peaceful and easily intimidated: pair it with small cyprinids, rasboras and loaches — never tiger barbs, other boisterous barbs, or anything that beats it to the food. Colour and confidence both arrive with a full-sized group over a dark substrate.
Diet
Micropredator taking small insects, worms and zooplankton in the wild. Flake or micro-pellet as the staple with live or frozen Daphnia and Artemia most days for colour.
Tankmate compatibility
Gets along with (182)
Possible with care (181)
Avoid (55)
Computed by the AquaSage engine for a spacious reference tank — always check the full verdict for your exact setup in the calculator.
Telling males from females
What works for this species, most reliable first.
- Colour and patternA hint only · from about 6 months, and only on a settled fish
In rainbowfish, killifish and several barbs the male carries the colour — deeper and more saturated, intensifying further when he displays.
- Extended finsA hint only · from about 8 months, and later in a suppressed male
On many cichlids and killifish the male's dorsal and anal fins draw out into trailing points as he matures, while the female's stay rounded.
- Belly depthA hint only · only on well-fed adults, and only as a comparison
For most tetras, barbs and rasboras this is all there is: a conditioned female is deeper through the belly than a male of the same length.
Also in these lists
Similar species
Same category and the closest water parameters — if this species isn't quite it, start here.
Sold in Lithuania
These Lithuanian shops listed this species in their public catalogue (checked August 8, 2026). Stock moves — ask before you travel.
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Frequently asked questions
- What tank size does a Five-Banded Barb need?
- A Five-Banded Barb needs an aquarium of at least 70 litres (18.5 US gallons) with a footprint at least 80 cm (31.5 in) long — for this species, swimming length matters as much as raw volume.
- What water parameters does a Five-Banded Barb need?
- Five-Banded Barb does best at 21–28 °C (69.8–82.4 °F), pH 4.5–7.5 and a general hardness of 1–10 °dGH.
- What group size does a Five-Banded Barb need?
- Five-Banded Barb is a social species — keep a group of at least 8 so natural behaviour emerges and stress stays low.
- Is the Five-Banded Barb suitable for beginners?
- Five-Banded Barb sits in the middle of the difficulty scale — manageable for a careful beginner who has done the reading, but it has specific needs worth researching first.