Photo thanks to

Name:
Scientific name: Pethia cumingii
Common name: Cuming’s barb
AKA: Two spot barb/ Two-spot barb/ Twospot barb
Mistakenly or previously labelled: Barbus cumingii/ Puntius cumingii

Country of origin: South Asia – Sri Lanka
pH: 5.5 – 7.0
Temperature: 20 - 27c
Hardness: 18 – 215 ppm
Water flow: standard - high
Oxygenation: standard

Maximum size: 4.0 cm

Diet: Live, frozen, flake & pellet foods – it is an omnivore. It does best with regular live food and some vegetable matter, such as spirulina and algae wafers.

Breeding:
Males: smaller, slimmer, brighter colours
Females: larger, rounder, duller colours

They are an egg scatterer, and if provided with a mop or sufficient moss or plants, they can lay eggs, however they need to be kept from them by a division in the tank, or removal of the eggs or fish. They will not provide any care, so removal of the parents is still the best plan, as they will eat their eggs and fry. Breed in a separate tank in a pair or a group.

Lifespan: years

Tank companions:

They are NOT good tank companions with shrimps.

They are a schooling species. They should be kept in groups of 8+ to spread the aggression in the group.

Like tiger barb species (there are many similar looking fish with this common name), they have a nasty reputation for nipping (particularly other species), but this is often curbed by keeping them in a group. They should not be kept with species with long, trailing fins (such as bettas or paradise fish) for this reason.

These fish are closely related to the Systomus (tiger barb) species.

They are peaceful and shy. Other tankmates of a similarly peaceful nature & size which will not be intimidated by their speed are ideal, such as loaches, tetras that are large enough not to fit in their mouths, etc.

As with any fish they will eat any fish small enough to fit in their mouths, and equally can be eaten by any fish large enough to eat them. This should be taken into account when choosing tankmates.

Stocking plans can be checked with aqadvisor.com

Tank:
Minimum tank size is 2 ft for a small group. More room is needed for a larger group and/or tankmates.

They could be kept in a heavily planted tank with open areas for swimming, floating plants for cover, dark substrate and driftwood, or a biotype with sand (or 2Tone’s DIY substrate), rounded rocks, driftwood, plants and floating plants.

It is hardier than other barbs, and a good fish for beginners.

Confused with:
There are other recognised species in the genus, which are allowable imports to Australia:
Puntius conchonius - Rosy Barb - Pethia conchonius
Puntius cumingii - Cummings Barb, Two Spot Barb – Pethia cumingii
Puntius nigrofasciatus - Ruby Barb/ Black ruby barb/ Purplehead barb - Pethia nigrofasciata
Puntius ticto - Ticto Barb/ Cuming’s barb/ Twospot barb - Pethia ticto

Until recently these and many other genus were known as Puntius – this is still the genus name given on the allowable import list.

Colour and size can vary, depending on the location they were caught, but very few are now wild caught, with the majority commercially bred. Although it used to be more brightly coloured, selective collection for the aquarium trade seems to be affecting wild populations.

These were previously different varieties available:
Yellow finned
Red finned (maximum size 3.3cm) – which is now its own species, P. reval.

Be careful if buying from a store or calling the fish by its common name, as P. ticto, the Ticto barb is also known as the Two spot barb.

There are feral populations in many countries, including Australia.

Puntius conchonius (previous synonym) are legal imports to Australia as of 27/01/2014 (list last updated 16/10/13).
http://www.environment.gov.au/system...mport-list.pdf

The IUCN Red List reports Puntius conchonius (previous synonym) as a species which is Lower Risk/conservation dependent, at 01/02/2014. The report is listed as overdue for updating. Seriously fish lists the species as at risk of extinction:
http://www.iucnredlist.org/search
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/18887/0

It is very important not to release any aquarium specimens into our waterways. Any that are not sold or re-homed/ given away, can often be re-sold to aquarium stores. If they are homed in ponds, care should be taken that they cannot escape in run-off into our waterways. Even if fish are native & local they should not be moved from one waterway to another, as this can transfer disease. If they are not local fish, they can both spread disease and either out-compete or eat local fish, shrimp & plants, causing their demise.

They are good fish for beginners.

Relevant threads:

Sexing:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...highlight=rosy

Wiped out a shrimp colony:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...highlight=rosy

Feeder fish rescued:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...highlight=rosy

Rosy barbs may eat hair algae:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...highlight=rosy

Rosy barbs eat duckweed:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...highlight=rosy

Systomus pentazona, Five banded barb:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...highlight=barb

Filamentosa barb recommendation:
http://www.aquariumlife.com.au/showt...ia+filamentosa

References:

Fishbase:
http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Pethia-cumingii.html

Seriously Fish:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/south-a...-nomenclature/
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/pethia-cumingii/

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pethia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pethia_cumingii

Pics & threads with pics:

Photo thanks to

DE
01/02/2014