This species was originally described as Barbus schwanenfeldii by Pieter Bleeker in 1853, and has also been placed in the genera Barbodes and Puntius.

Originating in the Mekong and Chao Phraya basins of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Sumatra, Borneo, and Malayan peninsula, the tinfoil barb is found in rivers, streams, canals, and ditches.

It is largely herbivorous, consuming aquatic macrophytes and submerged land plants, as well as filamentous algae and occasionally insects.

It prefers living in water with strong currents similar to those found in their native streams.

Many unwary buy young specimens and find out too late how large the tinfoil barb can grow.

The tinfoil barb is an active, peaceful species that spends most of its time in the mid-level and bottom of the water.