Odd looking Tiger Barbs

[crockwood]

So about 3 weeks ago, I bought 10 tiger barbs to put in the new 75 gallon tank I purchased. They were super cheap and I enjoyed my last tigers so I thought "why not?"

Well when I got them home I started inspecting closer and noticed several had a lot of red on their face going from the mouth up to the gill area. I assumed they had damage from beating each other up in an overpopulated tank. However now that time has passed, I'm fairly certain it's not damage and it is their actual coloration. The red has actually intensified. Most of them have typical tiger coloring, however a lot of them still have hints of red on their faces. Two of them have a LOT of red, including a little red in their eyes. These two also have coloring that is more typical of green tiger barbs.

Mostly what I'm wondering is if anyone else has seen "red faced" tiger barbs before.

Pictures are practically impossible because I don't have a high speed shutter camera, so I took a video with my phone and put it on YouTube. You can get a fairly good idea of what I'm talking about from it. At the end you get a bit better look at some of the darker ones.

Here's the link to the video.

 

[Crepe]

Those are some very active barbs you have. They will be fine, i don't think it's a problem. Probably just some natural tinting in the males.

 

[taylorodw]

When I was keeping Tiger Barbs I noticed that my most dominant one had orange that deepened almost to red in places... Maybe you just have some super manly males!

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

They really just look like a green barb and a tiger barb unless theyre hybrid (unethical like dyed) barbs

 

[Smitty]

The red noses are natural on the tiger barbs. You may also see some of the black stripes get a greenish color. They are trying to settle the domanency of the tank and it is perfectly natural.

They will also get really red noses when trying to "court" the females.

Have fun with them!

 

[crockwood]

Well, I figured out what they are thanks to a comment on the YouTube video.

They are actually Ruby Barbs, and I'm guessing the LFS didn't realize it. They had very little color other than the stripes (which is typical when stressed) and it didn't really show until I got home and they became settled. Some have that greenish black color on the back half, and some are more striped. In the ten "tigers" I bought it seems like half of them were real tigers and the others were the rubys. They are schooling (sort of, lol) together so all seems well.

I've owned true tigers before, as well as green and albino versions, so I knew what they looked like and was positive this was something different. The red on the face was too far from the little bit of vibrant orange typical barbs have on their fins and nose.

Anyways, figured I'd put that information here in case anyone else was curious or has a similar question.