Tiger Barbs

caring for and breeding them in captivity

By Steven lil_rocker_uk Common Name: Tiger Barb Scientific Name: BarbusTetrazona Family: Cyprinids Subfamily: Capoeta Origin: Indonesia, Borneo, Thailand and Sumatra. Habitat: Warm, shallow, fast flowing rivers, which are well planted. Diet: Omnivorous, they will accept most aquarium foods. But try to vary their diet like you would any other fish, to keep them looking their best. General Information: Tiger barbs are egg scatterers, which means they will scatter their eggs all over the aquarium and have no specific breeding site. Tiger barbs are a pale yellow colour with 4 black stripes running down their bodies. They have a slight bump behind the snout leading up to the base of the dorsal fin. There is another species of barb, the Pentazona Barb, which looks very similar to the tiger barb but has a fifth stripe running down its body. There are two other types of the tiger barb, the green tiger barb and the golden/albino tiger barb. Over the years there has been some debate to whether green tiger barbs are dyed. Although, there is a natural colour green tiger barb which is a metallic green colour. The better the water quality, the better the colour. My green tiger barbs when I purchased them six moths ago were a dull, light metallic green, now they are very dark blue. In some tiger barbs, the fish may show blotches of black scales as well as its vertical stripes. Sexing: When mature, male tiger barbs will show bright red noses, his dorsal fin will have a red line above the mainly black fin and his ventral fins will turn bright red. When in spawning condition or fighting for a higher rank in the shoal, the males stripes turn a slight metallic green colour. And the tips to his upper body scales turn almost black and shine bright orange in certain light. The females however, keep their pale yellow noses (may turn slightly pale red at times, which makes it tricky to determine their sex in store). They only show a small area of red at

the tip of the dorsal fins, and ventral fins will stay pale red. In females, their stripes stay black. Ideal Tank: Tiger barbs have a notorious reputation as fin nippers. However, this can be overcome when kept in its ideal tank setup. I wouldnt recommend anything smaller than a 20 gallon tank for a shoal of at least 8 tiger barbs (this shoal can be divided into the 3 colour varieties stated above, therefore you do not need to keep just 8 normal tiger barbs). Its best to keep them in a shoal of at least 8 so they will not harass other fish species as much and will concentrate their aggression within their own shoal. The bigger the shoal the better, And do not keep them with highly territorial fish like African cichlids. I have a shoal of 8 in a 20 gallon tiger barb species setup, with 5 normal tiger barbs and 3 green tiger barbs, soon to add 3 of the albino variety J The tank should be well planted at the back of the aquarium, with plenty of open swimming space, as tiger barbs are constantly fast swimming fish. As they have a reputation as fin nippers, even when kept in a large shoal, should not be kept with long finned fish like bettas (fighters) and guppies. But kept in a shoal of at least 8 tiger barbs, they will do great in a community tank (without long fins). Size of fish: In the wild, tiger barbs can grow to three inches, although it is much smaller in aquaria, often no bigger than two inches. Temperature: Anything between 24 28 degrees Celsius. 27-28 for breeding. Breeding: Spawning and raising the fry is a relatively simple task. Set up a breeding tank of at least 20 gallons. Keep the water slightly acidic for breeding. The tank should have a heater, sponge filter, a layer or two of marbles on the tank bottom to hide and protect the eggs, and a few live plants. Lower the temperature to 25 degrees Celsius. Introduce the female first and condition on a variety of live, frozen or freeze dried foods like brine shrimp, the same goes for the male, but keep them separate for two days before introducing the male. When the female has filled with eggs put the male in the breeding tank in the afternoon. You will/should notice them instantly start to swim around each other and the male will head stand and spread all his fins right out and display to her, this will excite the female. The actual spawning will take place the following morning. The male will franticly chase her through plants, nipping at her anal and ventral fins, soon the female will allow him to catch up with her, he will force her against the plants and she will release 1 3 eggs, which the male will instantly fertilize. Then the eggs will fall into plants and in between the marbles. Sometimes marbles can be a bad choice as some fry may become stuck in between them. The marbles also mean that you cannot tell whether you have any eggs unless you can see under the tank. Feed the pair white worms or bloodworms to reduce the amount of falling eggs they eat. Females can hold 200-700 eggs and will release them 1-3 eggs at a time. They will keep this up until all her eggs have been released. After she has released all of her eggs the pair will simply loose interest with each other, it is time to remove the pair. Put the male back in the community tank, the female can be added to the community tank or you can put her in a recovery tank for 2 weeks, then add her to the community aquarium. You can carefully take the marbles out of the breeding tank, checking to make sure there are no eggs attached to them, leave the plants, heater and sponge filter in. Eggs that turn white can be removed as these are infertile and the fungus will spread to fertile eggs killing them! The eggs will hatch in around 48 hours. Raising the fry: Once the eggs have hatched, you will notice tiny fry stuck to plants and the tank sides. They look like tiny shards of glass with 2 black dots, the eyes.

Do not feed the fry until they are free swimming as the fry are absorbing their egg sacs, this usually takes around 5 days. Use this time to culture infusoria (tiny microscopic organisms that the fry can eat) and baby brine shrimp. As soon as the fry are free swimming they will be looking for food, now is the time to start feeding, they will eat anything that can fit into their tiny mouths, so start with infusoria. You can buy commercial fry food, but not as many fry can find that food, they prefer the food to swim to them. After a further 5 days, you can start to feed them newly hatched brine shrimp nauplii, this will sometimes turn their stomachs orange, it wont harm them, this is just the colour of the food. When the fry get a little bigger, you can start to feed them finely crushed tropical flakes (which you can make by crushing some flakes to powder). Then when a little older, you can move on to feed them a little older brine shrimp (juvenile) or daphnia, or crushed freeze-dried foods. When the fry reach a size of 11mm, you dont need to crush up their food as much. Carry that on until they reach 2-2.5cm, then you can feed them regular sized flakes and foods. Fry will need to be fed no more than 3 times a day, when feeding infusoria, a small amount in the morning can last all day! When the fish reach 2.5-3cm, you may add them to your community tank or sell them to your LFS (although phone them up first) My comments: Tiger barbs make an excellent addition to the community aquarium. One of my tanks is dedicated to the tiger barb and contains 27 of these lively beauties, they are a mixture of all 3 colourations of the species and look their best when in a well planted aquarium. This fish is for the intermediate hobbyist emperature range: 20 - 26C / 68 - 79F The tiger barb has long been one of the most popular and most kept aquarium fish species and there are today a wide variety of different color morphs available in the aquarium trade besides the common tiger barb. Such morphs include albino tiger barbs, green tiger barbs and golden tiger barbs. The tiger barb originates in South-East Asia and are native to Indonesia and Malaysia. They live on the Malay Peninsula, on the island of Sumatra and on the island of Borneo. The tiger barb can however today be found in many waters around the world where it voluntarily or involuntarily have been introduced by man. Countries where it has been introduced includes Australia, Singapore, Suriname and Colombia. Tiger barbs are suitable for beginner aquariums where they are best kept in large schools. Tiger barbs can often resort to fin nipping if they are kept in too small schools but this is seldom a problem if they are kept in large schools. It is however still recommended to avoid keeping tiger barbs with slow moving, long finned fish species. The average life span in a well kept aquarium is 6 years. Tiger barbs should preferably be kept in aquariums no smaller than 60 centimetres (24 inches) long. The aquarium should be decorated with hiding places among plants and plenty of room for swimming. Rocks and driftwood will also be appreciated. Tiger barbs are very easy to care for as long as you keep the water parameters within the ranges given in the beginning of this article. Try to keep the water temperature in the upper part of the recommended range, ideally 23 - 26 C (74-79 F). They are omnivorous and will accept almost all food that is presented to them and they willingly accepts flake food. Try to vary the diet of your tiger barbs as much as possible even if it possible to keep and breed tiger barbs on nothing but flake food.

Tiger barbs are easy to breed and the largest problem is usually to prevent the parents from eating the eggs and fry. They often spawn in regular community aquariums but it is rare for any fry to survive in a community aquarium. Most often the eggs get eaten well before hatching. They are easy to sex as the female tiger barb is larger and have a much rounder belly. Males have distinctive red noses, and above the black part of their dorsal fins you can see a characteristic red line. The dorsal fin of the female is mainly black. If you want to breed your tiger barbs it recommendable to setup a breeding aquarium with some kind of egg protection device in it that prevents the parents from eating the eggs. A layer of common glass marbles on the bottom of the tank will do well for this task. Fill the breeding aquarium with water from the main tank. Move a round female to the tank and a male to the breeding tank. They will likely spawn the next morning or at the very least the morning after if they are in spawning condition. If you fish hasn't spawned in tree days a recommend trying another pair instead. The eggs are sticky, do not float in freshwater and are usually slightly above 1 millimetre (0.04 inches) in length. The number of eggs usually ranges from 300 to 500. The fry becomes free swimming after about 5 days and can be fed newly hatched brine shrimp. The fry grows relatively fast and usually reaches sexual maturity in about seven weeks at what point they are 2-3 centimetres (0.8-1.2 inches). This is a short version of a more in depth tiger barbs and tiger barb breeding articles available at AC tropical fish where you also can read in depth article about a number of other barb fish

Coloration There are many different variations of the Tiger Barb available today. They range from the Albino to the Green, I will describe the "original" and in my opinion the prettiest, here. Counting the eye stripe there are four wide Black-Blue bands running across the body The third band starts at the Black base of the Dorsal fin and extends down to the start of the Anal fin. The Dorsal and Anal fins are a bright Red-Orange and the rest of the fins are a paler shade of Red. The rest of the body is a Brown-Orange color and the Back is almost like an

Olive Green. The scales viewed under the right light have an iridescent Gold or Brass look to them. Beautiful!

Maintenance The only drawback to these fish is their tendency to nip the fins of fish in the tank, especially angels. Single specimens tend to be aggressive and should not be kept. Tiger Barbs should be kept in a school of at least six fish. The tank should be sparsely planted with plenty of open space for swimming with a sandy bottom for digging. Feeding is not a problem as they will accept all types of food including flake and frozen, don't overfeed as they are ravenous eaters and will eat all you give them. They prefer a temperature of between 73 and 82F and a pH of 6 to 7.5 with soft to hard water.

Biotope Bottom areas of slow moving and calm waters on Sumatra and its' other locals.

Breeding Male tiger Barbs are slimmer and more colorful than the females. They breed similar to other Barb species. The breeding tank should have a thin layer or no substrate and a few leafy plants and be as large as possible. Condition the spawners with the best food possible for a few days before

transferring them to the breeding tank. They usually will spawn the morning after being introduced to the tank, a partial water change can also induce spawning. The female is the more active partner and will lead in the courtship. After chasing and false matings the pair will spawn in the plants, with the partners coming alongside each other and the male twisting around the female. The eggs are scattered among the plants and they can be quite large in number. Tigers, like most Barbs are spawn eaters and should be removed from the tank right after mating. The transparent eggs will hatch in about 24 hours at a temperature of 75 and the small young must be fed the finest of food like Brine shrimp Nauplii, once a little growth has taken place they are fairly easy to raise.

Learn More About Tiger Barbs

Keeping Healthy Tiger Barbs

To keep healthy Tiger Barbs in a home aquarium it is important that the tank has a completely established biological cycle before they are placed in the tank. Once the tank is cycled, a minimum of 6 Tiger Barbs can be placed in the tank. They are known for showing aggression and being fin nippers, so keeping a larger group of them is recommended for reducing the aggression. The tank should have an open swimming area with groups of plants around the sides. The water should be soft and slightly acidic with the temperature between 72 and 79 Fahrenheit. Tiger Barbs are prone to a parasitic infection called "Ich". It is a good idea to keep water quality of the tank up by doing frequent partial water changes of 10% to 20%. It is also a good idea to

keep some type of Ich medication handy should an infection break out.

Great Book on Tiger Barbs and Other Barbs

The Barbs Aquarium by: Oliver Lucanus, Gary Elson, Oliver Lucanas List Price: $7.99
This is a complete guide to setting up an aquarium to keep and breed various types of barbs. More that just tiger barbs, this book covers it all. For less than 10 bucks it is a great addition to any personal library.

Other Types of Barbs

Here are links to some information on other types of Barbs. Checker Barb Or Barbus Oligolepis
Checker Barb, Barbus Oligolepis Profile.

Cherry Barb Or Barbus Titteya

Cherry Barb, Barbus Titteya Profile.

Five-Banded Barb or Barbus Pentazona

Five-Banded Barb, Barbus Pentazona Profile.

Tiger Barb

Breeding Tiger Barbs

Tiger Barbs are egg layers that scatter their eggs over the aquarium substrate. They are also notorious for eating their eggs once they have finished spawning. They can be successfully bred if tank water conditions are kept optimal and the water temperature is kept closer to 79 or 80 Fahrenheit. Pairs of Tigers barbs will spawn if conditions are right and scatter their eggs over the aquarium substrate. One way to protect the eggs from being

eaten is to use a substrate that has plenty of spaces for the eggs to fall into. Marbles are a good choice for aquarium substrate in a Tiger Barb breeding tank. Once the pair has spawned, the parents should be removed from the breeding tank. The eggs will hatch within 36 hours of spawning. The fry should be fed infusoria or commercial liquid fry foods.

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A Look at Tiger Barbs on Wikipedia

The tiger barb (Puntius anchisporus)* or sumatra barb, is a species of tropical freshwater fish belonging to the Puntius genus of the minnow family. The natural geographic range

reportedly extends throughout the Malay peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo, with unsubstantiated sightings reported in Cambodia. Tiger barbs are also found in many other parts of Asia, and with little reliable collection data over long periods of time, definite conclusions about their natural geographic range versus established introductions are difficult. * The tiger barb was commonly named Puntius tetrazona. However, this is a different, rather similar species with no red in the fins. At present the tiger barb is thought to be P.