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Tiger barb
Above left: Tiger barb photo contributed by Peter Routon, CA, USA. © Peter Routon
Above centre and right: Green and Golden varieties of Tiger Barb, photos taken at Wharf Aquatics
© Sean Evans
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| Common name: | Tiger barb, Sumatra barb |
| Scientific name: | Puntius tetrazona |
| Synonyms: | Barbus tetrazona, Capoeta tetrazona (not valid) |
| Size: | Up to 3" (7.5cm), but often smaller in aquaria. |
| Origin: | Indonesia and Borneo. |
| Tank setup: | Use robust or artificial plants around the back and sides of the tank, leaving plenty of
open swimming space at the front for this active shoaling fish. |
| Compatibility: | Often included in a community tank, but has a reputation as a fin-nipper.
This tendency is likely to be much reduced if kept as a shoal of at least 5-6 or more individuals. |
| Temperature: | 20-26oC (68-79oF) |
| Water chemistry: | Fairly soft, slightly acidic preferred (pH 6.5-7), especially for breeding. However, they will
thrive in harder and more alkaline water, as long as extremes are avoided. |
| Feeding: | Omnivorous, most foods accepted - flake, granular food, frozen/live foods. |
| Sexing: | Males tend to be more colourful and are smaller and slimmer than females. |
| Breeding: | Typical egg scatterer. It may be best to allow pairs to develop from
within the shoal. A separate tank is advisable for spawning, so that the adults can be returned to the
main tank after spawning, to avoid the eggs being eaten. |
| Comments: |
This fish is available in two additional colour varieties: green and golden. The green variety,
(sometimes referred to as mossy barbs) has dark green patches, the golden variety lacks the
black bars. They have a reputation as fin nippers, but this can be avoided to some extent by
keeping as a large shoal, where they will spend most of their time establishing a pecking order
amongst themselves. However, it may still be risky to keep them with slow-swimming long-finned fish, such as
male Siamese Fighters (Betta splendens) or male Guppies.
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