Tiger barb wiki

[cbui]Introduction
[ci]Tiger Barbs are a main stay of the aquarium hobby. They are one of the fish most often bred for stores and one of the most well known in the world. Similarly to goldfish, Angelfish and Bettas, these fish are easily recognizable to most due to their distinctive coloration and fast personalities. Along with their popularity comes a bit of confusion, as this species is often kept in tanks that tend to be on the smaller side given its inexhaustible amount of activity and decent size. This fish is also often stocked with other fish, incorrectly. They tend to an extremely nippy fish and require a the correct adjustments, accordingly.

[bcui]Appearance
[ci]Tiger Barbs, being one of the most common fish in the trade, are very recognizable and come with a few variations. The standard tiger barb has a gold body, a red anal fin and four black vertical stripes going down its body. They are shaped quite similarly to an arrowhead, being very pointed. Other variations include ones with green bodies as well as ones with bright orange bodies with pallet swaps for the stripes. These Barbs also have other variations including their Glofish form where they keep the dark black stripes but are genetically edited to display a neon green or a bright red body.  Other variations exist but will be addressed later in the negative genetic modification section. [IMG=V6J] [IMG=G7Y] [IMG=N2H] [IMG=D2N] [IMG=J5H] [IMG=Z1I]

[cbui]Geographical Range and Habitat
[ci]Tiger Barbs naturally come from Asia, specifically bodies of water near the islands Sumatra and Borneo in Indonesia. They are found in typically cleaner waters, spending their time in forest streams and tributaries. These water bodies usually have a substrate of mainly sand, with pebbles of varying sizes. In the wild, they feed on small crustaceans, worms and plant matter.

[cbui]Healthy Behavior
[ci]Tiger Barbs are one of the most active fish in the entire hobby. They should at all times be zooming around the tank in their large schools. Any signs of bloat or inactivity should be addressed as when a one of the fish in a group of Tiger Barbs starts to weaken and becomes less boisterous, they are known to be bullied, including other Tiger Barbs. If you start noticing nipped fins, this may be a sign that the Barbs require higher numbers to form a healthier school. Males will fight with each other over dominance so do not confuse this with either bullying or aggression due to low numbers.

[bcui]Tank Set Up
[ci]Barbs are often a resilient species that can do well at a lot of different temperatures. If your temperature is stable at a temperature they do well at, you may not require a heater for your tank. You do, however, need a filter. These guys prefer fast flow and very clean water to keep them happy. They also do not especially require that many hides. Plants will bring out their color but other than cleaning the water, is not a necessity. What is far more important is having them in a good sized group.

[cbui]Tank Maintenance
[ci]Tiger Barbs are resilient fish that will do ok in dirty water but much prefer it clean. Given their level of activity, they do have a semi high bioload but not extremely massive so a water change of 50% or higher weekly is recommended. Doing gravel vacs monthly will keep the water healthier for them as well. Feedings 6 days a week and one day of fasting is recommended. Make sure not to overfeed them. They may eat a lot but often won’t stop eating even if they’re full.

[cbui]Hardiness
[ci]Tiger Barbs are extremely hardy. They’re strong built fish that are generally hard to kill. If they have their proper flow and filtration, it’s quite difficult to not match their requirements. They obviously are still prone to diseases such as ich or internal parasites but are not especially prone to any diseases, nor do they have any specific to them. All Barbs generally are healthy but these in particular are a mainstay in the hobby for a reason.

[cbui]Diet
[ci]Barbs really like high amounts of protein in their diet. A good flake and or pellet food would sustain them but if you wish to supplement their diets, we recommend through the use of sanitized life foods such as Daphnia, Scuds or Blackworms. These foods have very high protein and are well suited to Tiger Barbs. As much as they like protein, their pellet/flake food should have some plant matter to suit their diets. Otherwise, there’s a chance they may eat live plants in the aquarium, even though it is uncommon.

[cbui]Compatibility
[Ci]Tiger Barbs are exceptionally nippy and active, making them not the best candidate for tank mates such as Discus, Gourami, Livebearers and other long finned fish that are not the most active. Though they are Nippy, they shouldn’t be kept with species like most African Cichlids that would have an easy time killing them. Other fish similar to them such as some Tetras, Rainbows and Loaches are a bit better suited to them as they either have an easy time avoiding them or can equally compete along side them. More than anything else, if you want to keep these guys with tank mates, they need a good sized school. Though the minimum is 6, we recommend somewhere in the range of 8-10 as a minimum amount that should be together to have the best chances of them living well together.

[cbui]Imported vs Wild Caught
[ci]Tiger Barbs are rarely caught from the wild due to the insane degree that they are bred to in aquaria. A wild caught tiger barb would be more aggressive and have less substantial coloration than ones bred in the hobby. Of course, no green or albino variations exist in the wild.

[cbui]Sexual Dimorphism
[ci]Being this species is a group scatter spawner, the difference between male and female variations isn’t not extremely apparent which is the same in most similar fish such as Danios and Tetras. Males tend to be a tiny bit smaller, skinnier and have brighter/darker colors.

[cbui]Negative Genetic Modification
[ci]Though this species is heavily bred, they tend to have very strong genes and their more edited variations have not suffered too greatly. Where the major concern with Tiger Barb breeding comes is from the longfin varieties. Tiger Barbs are exceptionally nippy, meaning making their fins any longer can be extremely detrimental to their health. As they nip at each other, they create injuries which leads to stress and a weaker slime coat. This leaves them open to diseases like ich which could potentially kill them. Though they are beautiful, long fin Tiger Barbs are extremely harmful to others of their species. Another variation of the Tiger Barb that has been bred to be quite a bit weaker are the Balloon Tiger Barbs. These fish have been bred to exhibit a larger belly by shortening their spines and curving the spine that they have left via scoliosis. This often leads to having a harder time swimming and shorter lifespans. [IMG=X8C] [IMG=X9Z]

[bcui]Common Misconceptions
[ci]A common mistake with Tiger Barbs is that they’re a fish that they are small. This is not quite the case. All Tiger Barbs found in pet stores unless sin display cases are are very young and often about half of their full size in length. Their very large sizes and activity rates is what leads us to recommend the minimum tank size that we do. They also would easily be considered one of the more aggressive community fish there is, resting right between community and semi aggressive.

[cibui]Sources
[ci][Main image|https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0614/1237/products/x10-tiger-barb-fish-package-freshwater-fish-package.jpg?v=1538463496]
[ci][Background image|https://www.whogivesafish.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Three-Tiger-Barb-Fish.jpg]
[ci] [Balloon Tiger Barb|https://images.app.goo.gl/HwPUHWXFhNeZW4XQ8]
[ci] [Long Fin Tiger Barb|https://images.app.goo.gl/32kWLyz1W3fAxk8y5]
[ci] [Green Glofish Tiger Barb|https://dqzrr9k4bjpzk.cloudfront.net/images/5391016/1115398948.jpg]
[ci] [Standard Tiger Barb|http://cichlidtips.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Puntigrus-tetrazona2-1024x683.jpg]
[ci] [Red Glofish Tiger Barb|https://s7d2.scene7.com/is/image/PetSmart/5251722?$pdp-placeholder-mobile$]
[ci] [Platinum Green Tiger Barb|https://www.azgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Green-Platinum-Tiger-Barb-Tropical-Fish.jpg]
[ci] [Albino Tiger Barb|https://www.allpondsolutions.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/4edc2a3e8ec5a6e55d1a2a0505551688/a/l/albino-tiger-barb-resize.jpg]
[ci] [Green Tiger Barb|https://m.liveaquaria.com/images/categories/large/lg_Green_Tiger_Barb_89753.jpg]
[ci] [Sandzaquatics|http://aminoapps.com/p/p8s8r9]
[ci] [Fishbase|https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Puntigrus-tetrazona]
[ci] [Seriously fish|https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/puntigrus-tetrazona/]
[ci] [Aquaticcommunity|http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/barbs/tigerbarb.php]
[ci] [Redlist|https://www.iucnredlist.org/]
[ci] [Liveaquaria|https://m.liveaquaria.com/product/993/?pcatid=993]