Species Spotlight: Tiger Barb

Almost as popular as the neon tetra, Tiger Barbs are grabbing hobbyists with their interactive personalities and their interesting colors. A beginner fish for many freshwater aquariums, tiger barbs are highly recommended for the right aquarium setup. Here is a quick overview on the care and requirements for the Tiger Barb.

Scientific Name: Puntius tetrazona
Origin:Borneo, Indonesia and Sumatra
Life Span:6 years
Water Parameters:water pH of 6.5 and water temperature of 68 to 79 degrees F.

Reaching an adult size of 3 inches, tiger barbs require lots of space. This greatly reduces their ability to be kept in any tank smaller than 20 gallons. Another aspect of their space requirements is that tiger barbs need to be kept in schools of five individuals. This is mainly due to the aggression that occurs within a school of barbs. If the school is large enough the individuals put their aggression and competition on each other. But, when the school is smaller, less than five, the aggression is put on other community fish causing stress, disease and death. I would never recommend keeping tiger barbs in small groups in any community aquarium with slow moving fish like bettas or angelfish.

When is comes to feeding tiger barbs, they really show their stripes. These fish will eat about anything they can catch. A diet of variety containing a high quality flake food, bloodworms, mysid shrimp and beef heart will keep these tigers happy.

Breeding tiger barbs in the home aquarium will be difficult mainly because these egg layers will even eat their own eggs if the opportunity arises, thus it is advisable to setup a separate tank for the eggs away from their hungry parents. Adults will pair off and usually spawn in the early morning. One spawn can produce 200 eggs that will hatch in 36 hours.

Other types of barbs that are available in the aquarium trade are albino tiger barbs, yellow tiger barbs and green tiger barbs which are less aggressive than their tiger counterparts.