Rhombo Barbs, a Giant Betta, and the Blue Gill Goby — New Stock at Pond Life Aquatics
Another week's worth of new arrivals here at Pond Life Aquatics in North West London — and this week has been a good one. We're staying largely in Asia for the week, with three species that don't show up in UK shops all that often. One of them is an old favourite we're always delighted to get back in, one is genuinely one of the most striking bettas we've ever had through the door, and one is a specialist goby that's caught a lot of attention since it arrived. Let's get into all three.
Rhombo Barb (Desmopuntius rhomboocellatus)
We're starting at the Asia end of the fish house, in the barbs section, with the rhombo barb — also known as the pentazona barb. This is one of those species that we absolutely love but that you genuinely don't see all that often in the UK hobby, so whenever we get them in we're always keen to shout about it.
The rhombo barb is a bold, active fish with real personality. They're more outgoing than a lot of the smaller barb species you might have kept before, and once they're settled in they'll be out front and centre all the time. In terms of size they're a relatively diminutive species, reaching around five to six centimetres, which means you don't need a huge setup to keep them well — a 60 to 80 litre tank is a solid starting point.
Like a lot of Asian barbs, they do prefer slightly softer, more acidic water, so it's worth thinking about how to replicate that in the aquarium. Tea-staining the water with botanicals or a piece of driftwood that leaches tannins is a great and natural way to bring those parameters into range without any complicated chemistry. Feeding is straightforward — a good quality flake or pellet as a base, supplemented regularly with live and frozen foods. That combination is what really unlocks their colouration and brings out those bold markings.
For tank mates, they're not the most boisterous of the barb family, but we'd still steer clear of anything long-finned — bettas, fancy guppies, that sort of thing. Shorter-tailed community fish are perfect companions, and personally we think they'd look absolutely stunning alongside some of the brilliant rasboras we currently have in store. That kind of punchy, active community setup is exactly the sort of tank these fish deserve.
Giant Betta (Betta splendens — Giant Form)
Next up, and there's no other way to say this: this is the biggest betta we've had in the shop. The giant betta is a selectively bred form of Betta splendens, and the way the gigantism gene works is genuinely fascinating — it's a recessive trait, so breeders have to work with Punnett square logic (yes, GCSE biology finally comes in useful) to produce fish that actually express the gene. Of the offspring from two carriers, only around 25% will be true giants, which makes the whole process slower and more selective than standard betta breeding.
Care-wise, the giant betta is not dramatically different from a standard Betta splendens. They prefer slightly softer to moderately hard water, with a pH somewhere in the 6.5 to 7.5 range — again, botanicals and wood can help create that softer, more natural environment. The key differences come with tank size and tank mates. Because these fish are considerably larger than a standard betta, they're going to have a bigger appetite and are more likely to treat smaller tank mates — particularly small shrimp like cherry shrimp — as a snack rather than a companion. Plan your community accordingly.
These don't come up for sale all that often, so if you're a betta enthusiast looking for something genuinely out of the ordinary, this is a rare chance to own something quite special.
Blue Gill Goby / Blue Gill Bully (Gobiomorphus hubbsi)
Finally, we have the blue gill goby — also known as the blue gill bully — Gobiomorphus hubbsi. Technically an Australian/New Zealand species, so a slight curveball from our usually strict continent-by-continent system, but too good to leave out. These are a specialist species and not your typical community fish, so it's worth talking through what they actually need before you take the plunge.
We have our current group housed alongside glass catfish and anabantoids and they've been getting along fine, but ideally this is a species that would really thrive in a setup designed around faster-flowing water — think hillstream-style conditions with good oxygenation and current. They're bottom-dwellers with real character, and in the right setup they're a genuinely captivating fish to observe.
As always, we'll have more details on everything in our weekly newsletter, and if you want to come and see any of these species in person, you know where to find us — Finchley Nurseries, North West London.
Next week we'll be setting up a new display in the Africa section to showcase Pseudotropheus saulosi — a beautiful type of Lowe's species — and we'll also be kicking off pond season, so there's plenty to look forward to. See you then.