Two mad barbs, aka cigar sharks, ~20", in 4500 gal

[thebiggerthebetter]

I got two cigar sharks, aka cigar barbs, mad barbs, from Ivan Aw3s0m3 about half a year ago at ~14", having never had them before. Very easy fish and greedy to no end. They have reached about 20" now. I've never seen them resting, always on the go.

Three questions:

[1] I see that their max size (if they are Leptobarbus rubripinna) is 80-100 cm. What's the biggest you have had or have seen raised in hobbyist hands?

[2] Having read this http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/leptobarbus-rubripinna/ I'm not overly sure though if mine are rubripinna or hoevenii. I tend to think hoevenii based on the description of the differences but what do you think?

L. rubripinna can be distinguished from L. hoevenii by: presence (vs. absence) of a broad, dark midlateral stripe on the body; interorbital area rounded (vs. almost flat) in specimens measuring at least to 160 mm SL; dorsal head profile slightly rounded and symmetric with ventral profile (vs. straight to slightly concave); eye located at mid-depth of head (vs. located closer to dorsal surface); posterior maxillary barbel reaching middle of eye (vs. extending beyond eye); pelvic and anal fins orange to red (vs. dark grey); anal-fin and caudal-fin lobes rounded (vs. pointed).

[3] Also one's jaws are more or less lined up, while the other displays a severe underbite. It's lower jaw looks like 1/4" longer than the upper. Does anyone know what this means, if anything? Can it be a sexual difference?

Here is an update video on them:

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

They can be seen here shortly after I got them from Ivan:

 

[Aw3s0m3]

Damn dude! They got ****ing MASSIVE!!! I'm glad I sent them to the right person! How big are the mahseers now?!

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Time will show, Ivan. Thanks!

Your two Thai gold mahseers and the stracheyi are being what they are, the mahseers - eating like there is no tomorrow but growing excruciatingly slowly. They grew some for sure but nothing of the likes of the cigar sharks.

What they do with that massive amount of food beats me. I am roughly guesstimating they probably consume their body weight worth of food a couple of times a week. And good part (1/4-1/3) of the food is not pellets but bait fish, cut and whole. That's a tiger of an appetite and a mouse of a growth. Sure they are always on the go, but there should still remain enough energy for a small powerplant...

Back to the cigars - I've looked up Leptobarbus hoevenii, the species that I think mine are, and their max size is about the same as L. rubripinna.

FishBase: max 100 cm, common 50 cm. Max 10 kg.
Fishing World Records: 65-100+ cm. 6-10 kg.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

The underbite is rather unusual in my opinion,but we really don't get many cigar sharks down here.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

An update Aw3s0m3

The cigar sharks have been growing very well. I think they are now ~22", having tacked on a couple of inches.

The following video though is from the same day as the OP video, that is from Dec 2016 when they were ~20", just a different angle and some pellets in the water:

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Update on the two mad barbs.

The mad thing about them is how much they eat. They are insatiable and eat, and eat, and eat. Doesn't matter pellets or thawed fish. Everything is inhaled and swallowed like there is no bottom to their tummies. They became very, very thick as a result.

Close to 2' (eyeballing).

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Growing big,would u say this is rubripinna now?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Growing big,would u say this is rubripinna now?

I still see more hoevenii in them than rubripinna, according to the description I posted from SeriouslyFish.

 

[Chub_by]

Those are very nice. I'm partial to large cyprynids, so thank you for posting!