Tiger Barb – The Fin-Nipper
Growing upto about 7 centimeters long and 3 centimeters wide, the Tiger Barb, can be smaller if kept in captivity. An active schooling fish, best kept in groups of 5 or more, they need a decent sized aquarium. They are particularly sensitive to the parasite “Ich” so make sure you take care.
Counting the eye stripe they have 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 an olive green. Selective breeding has created several color variations that include green, black, red, and albino. When well cared for, Tiger Barbs have a life span of five to seven years.
Every time I go to buy fish, I am tempted to pick up a few of these as well, but their reputation as a fin-nipper ensures that I don’t. They are infamous for terrorising all the other fish in the aquarium,and are definitely not suited for the community tank with slow moving fish like the Bettas, Angels or Tetras. They do however work well with many fast moving fish such as danios, platys and most catfish. When in large enough groups, however, they tend to spend most of their time chasing each other and leave other species of fish alone.
Aquarium setup
They dwell primarily at the water’s mid-level. One of the best tankmates for the tiger barb is a clown loach, which will school with the tiger barbs and act as they do, and the tigers act as the loaches do.
Tiger barbs tolerate a wide range of water conditions, but do best in soft, slightly acidic water. The tank should be well-lit with ample vegetation, and have a large open area for swimming.
Feeding your Tiger Barb
These barbs are omnivorous and will consume pretty much anything. Ideally, give them a variety of foods to maintain a healthy immune system. Include quality flake food as well as live and frozen foods such as brine shrimp, bloodworms, beef heart, or even cooked vegetables.
Breeding
Tiger Barbs will eat their own eggs if they have the opportunity, so make sure you have a separate breeding tank, which can double as a grow-out tank for the fry. Females have a broader more rounded belly, and are larger than the more highly colored males. To acquire a breeding pair, keep at least a half dozen and allow them to pair off. Feed them live food (preferably white worms) during the spawning.
The breeding tank should have soft acidic water, fine-leaved plants, and either a bare bottom,or preferably, a substrate of marbles.
Spawning usually takes place in the morning. If the pair does not spawn within a day or two, a partial water change with water that is a degree or two warmer than the tank should trigger it.
The female will lay anything between 200 and 1000 transparent yellowish colored eggs, which the male will immediately fertilize.
As soon as the eggs have been fertilized, the breeding pair should be removed from the tank. The eggs will hatch in approximately 36 hours, and the fry will be free swimming after five days. Feed the fry newly hatched brine shrimp or white worms, until large enough to accept finely crushed flake food.
Fishy Facts:
Scientific Name: Barbus schuberti
Family: Cyprinidae
Origin: Borneo, Indonesia, Sumatra
Adult Size: 3 inches (7 cm)
Social life: Active schooling fish, nips fins. Not to be paired with slow moving fish
Lifespan: 5 – 7 years
Tank Level: Mid dweller
Minimum Tank Size: 20 gallon
Diet: Eats most foods. Give them a variety of foods to maintain a healthy immune system. Include quality flake food as well as live and frozen foods such as brine shrimp, bloodworms, beef heart, or even cooked vegetables.
Breeding: Egglayer
Care: Fairly easy. Beware of Ich
Temperature: 68-79 F (20-26 C)
Companions: Danios, Gouramis, Loaches, Doradids, Loricarids, Epalzeorhynchus.
Gender: The females are larger with a rounder belly and a mainly black dorsal fin while the males have a bright, red nose with a distinct red line above the black on their dorsal fin.
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