general info on tiger barbs

[bear78]

can anyone give me some info on tiger barbs? my kids seen some at the lfs and r very excited about getting some. so i caved. told them that in a week or so we would get some. have got new basic setup goin right now. 10 gal. heated to 76 and basic hobf. any info will be greatly appreciated. thanks
bear

 

[chasgood]

Should you or shouldnt you get Tiger barbs. That really depends on a few things.
Tigers when full grown are 3 to 3.5 inches long. They are a schooling fish. They do best in a group of 5 or more. Tigers are a semi aggressive fish. They should not be kept with slow fish, very small fish or fish with long fins or tails. Fin nipping is the biggest problem. On the plus side they are very active and fun to watch.
The basic rule of thumb for stocking a tank is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. The tail does not count in the length. 5 fish at 3 inches each is 15 inches of fish in a 10 gallon tank. You might get by with 4 but you wont have room for any other type of fish.
In this site there is a forum called fish or plant profiles. In there you will find a thread called links to FW profile sites. These sites give info on hundreds of fish. How big they get, temperment, Type of water they like, food and other things needed to know before buying them. Many of these sites also have articles on maintaning a aquarium.
Good luck and welcome to AA.

 

[Bioworldmaker]

I am a tiger barb lover, those are by far my favorite fish...

They are active, not shy at all, semi-agressive, schooling fish, so the *minimum* I would recommend is 6. Plus, they make a wonderful display together. Very, very easy to care for.

Since they are semi-agressive, and **based on your tank size**, I would do a species tank, that is, only tiger barbs. I would take in ONLY 6-8 of them (because they grow REALLY fast).

--- edit here ---
I just saw the previous post, saying you may get away with 4. I really woudn't do that though, cause I tried before and all I got were 4 scared barbs hidding behind the filter). The rule for 1in of fish per 1gal of water is somewhat open to debate but I don't think there would be a problem with 8 barbs in a 10gal because they are tight schoolers)... In fish, pretty much a lot is debatable... LOL
--- end of edit----


Your tank may look a little empty but, believe me, once they get growing it wont. Don't get more than that unless you are planning on expanding to a larger tank later...
Also, it is good to give them plenty of room for swimming around, they are fast swimmers!

To get over the feeling of empty tank, throw in some wide-leaf plants (like the amazon sword) and maybe a small piece of driftwood... They like to "sleep" about the leaves. When they "sleep" they do a "nose stand", so cute...


Here goes the data:

Max size: 3 inches
Water parameters: pH slightly acidic, about 6.8
(but they aren't that picky about that, so as long it is within the 6.5 to 7.5 they will be fine.)
What they eat: anything, ranging from cucumber to pelets.
Temperature: 75-80F

Oh, good fish choice!

While you wait to get the fish, get the water started if you didn't yet.

 

[Fruitbat]

Here's a link to a profile I wrote on Tiger Barbs. Hope it helps a little! http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=19556

 

[Endgame319]

IMO Tigers need lots of swimming space and a tank of 20g+ is needed. I kept mine in a 10g temporarily and they were not chasing each other any more, and they looked very unhappy. Now they're swimming end to end in my 55g. Also know that t-barbs will not only nip long finned fish. They will also nip slower, helpless fish such as cories.

BTW, great profile FB

 

[bugsy66]

I would like to know how many tiger barbs can be kept in a 25 gal?

bugsy

 

[bugsy66]

I would like to know how many tiger barbs can be kept in a 25 gal?

bugsy

 

[Endgame319]

Maybe 10-12 and a loach or two. And thats if you have good filtration.

 

[Sesos]

So, keeping TB's with loaches and plants would be ok?

 

[swanandmokashi]

yes Loaches are ok with tiger barbs (as far as my research goes)

 

[bear78]

need more info on tiger barbs

ok thanks for all the info i went and got a small school of 5 all bout the same size. everything seems good but its only been day 1. (hopefully everything stays that way)
day 2 tiger trouble 4 of the 5 r doin good one has been nipped pretty bad. but seems to be ok he hides alot in the plant leaves. of the other 4, 3 have grouped together and r being chased and bullied by the 5 he is the most aggresive of the bunch. all my tanks r full even my qt (have a sick betta) and not real sure what to do bout the aggressive tiger. hes not much bigger then the rest in case anyone was wondering.

 

[bear78]

finally they r getting used to each other they all r schooling together. its funny they all sleep in the same plant pretty much at the same time.

 

[Fruitbat]

bear78....

Chances are very good that the one that is doing the chasing is a male that is taking his shot at dominance. He'll chase the females and the other males until they realize that he's the boss.

Glad to hear they're getting along fairly well.

 

[bear78]

im thinkin i might get 2 more for the tank that way i truly have a small school. that will bring the total to 7 w/no other fish besides tigers. will that upset the balance?

and just out of curiosity how hard is it to breed tigers?

 

[Fruitbat]

Should be OK to add another 2 but they might get picked on a bit as they get things sorted out. Tiger Barbs are not particularly hard to breed but they are pretty handy egg-eaters so you'll probably need a separate tank for breeding.

 

[Bioworldmaker]

I don't think that will be a prob, actually it will be good for the other fish... They will feel better in a larger group..

 

[bear78]

got tiger trouble. one of my newest tigers is startin to swim unregular. he stays near the surface and will swim in circles looks like hes doin loopty loops. other 4 r fine. what should i do. my qt tank is occupied. "when it rains it pours"

 

[krap101]

err that doesnt sound good. id return it unless you got room in ur house for another quarentine tank :0. and after he gets better you can use it as a regular tank. but you probally dont so id exchange it. there are ways you can treat it but its possible it can spread to the other barbs.

most people ask these questions (i probally cant help much myself) wuts ur ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. are there any visible things wrong with the fish. is it swimming upside down, sideways or just zigzaged. when one of my panda corys had popeye it couldnt swim straight and had a hard time balancing on the sand. when my gouramis had swim bladder disease they swam upside down (kinda) and sideways. dont know how to treat popeye but swimbladder i think you gotta feed em some peas

 

[bear78]

well he was swimin upside down and side ways pretty much every which way but straight and then he stopped and next thing i know im pullin him off the hob. and no i dont have room for another qt tank or another tank period. besides my apartment manager told me that if i bring in one more fish tank im gonna get charged a pet deposit of $250. so i gotta deal w/the 3 that i have. ok so whats the deal w/the peas? ive been feedin them tropical fish flakes. what else besides bloodworms and brine shrimp.

 

[chasgood]

Tigers are not picky eaters. I have 3 types of flake food plus the bloodworms and shrimp pellets.
Sorry to hear about the sick tiger. Cant help with that.