Tiger barb

Puntigrus tetrazona

Also known as Sumatra barb

FreshwaterFish

Tiger barb (Puntigrus tetrazona) — Editor General of Wiki · CC BY-SA 4.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 68–79°F (20–26°C)
pH: 6.0–8.0
Adult size: 2.8 in (7 cm)
Minimum tank: 20 gal (75 L)
Temperament: Aggressive
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Beginner
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Very common
Origin: Sumatra
Family: Cyprinidae

Overview

This fish is nippy, so the key is numbers: keep at least six, and more is better, in a tank around 75 liters so it focuses its energy on its own group. It is an active mid-water swimmer. Water can run soft to fairly hard, pH 6 to 8, at 20 to 26 C. It is an easy eater, taking flake, micro-pellets, and frozen foods like bloodworms and brine shrimp. Avoid long-finned or slow tankmates like bettas and angelfish; it will shred trailing fins.

In the wild

The tiger barb comes from Sumatra and nearby parts of Southeast Asia, living in clear, moderately moving streams with lots of plants, wood, and leaf litter. The water is usually soft and slightly acidic to neutral. A planted tank with some open swimming room and gentle current suits it well. It does fine across a fairly wide range, from around 20 up to the mid 20s C.

Good to know

This is a cyprinid, family Cyprinidae, reaching about 7 cm, with the bold black bars on a gold-orange body that give it its name. It is an egg-scattering species with no parental care; the parents will eat the eggs if left in the tank, and the eggs hatch in roughly a day or two. It is widespread and not considered at risk in the wild.

Did you know

Most of the fin-nipping problem comes from keeping too few. In a small group they pester other fish, but in a large school they spend their time chasing and sorting out rank among themselves, which keeps them off their tankmates. Bumping the group size up is usually the fix, not removing the barb.