"Inherited" new tank - what is this fish??

[MicroFish]

Friends of ours moved recently and we inherited their 50g tank (no room at the new inn), complete w/ community of fish. Most of the fish are Barbs of some sort (incl. an enormous Tinfoil Barb and two gorgeous long-finned rosies along w/ their two grown fry - one long-finned and one normal), and there is also a giantic pleco and two Giant Danios (one has a spinal deformity but has been around forever).

There is one fish in this tank that has me stumped. The fish is medium sized (small compared to the rest in the tank though), green or bluish colored, with orange/red fins. This fish is gorgeous but I haven't a clue as to what it is! Help? It's sort of shaped like a tetra, if that's any help. I've been looking online for a while now and haven't found anything that looks remotely like this fish. I'd like to get a few more so any help identifying this one would be great.

Thanks in advance!

Sheila

[William]

Betta...?

[MicroFish]

Nope, definitely not a Betta. I'm actually thinking it may be some sort of Barb even... curiouser and curiouser.

Sheila

[yv1]

possibly a green tiger barb??? they have orangish fins and blue-green bodies...

is this it?

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...21&pCatId=1005

[RogerMcAllen]

Do you have a picture?

[MicroFish]

Don't have a picture yet but I plan to get one... I saw some green tiger barbs at PetsMart today and they didn't look the same... but the desciption I've seen matches perfectly! He actually looks like a tiger barb in shape, just not the same color at all. He's blue though, not green......... ??

Went to the Green Tiger Barb page above and though my fish is the same shape, the color isn't the same. He doesn't have any silver on the bottom and he's far more colorful than that. He does have the orange "beak" though, so maybe this is what he is! Thanks for the link - I'll have to look for more that are colored like him.

Sheila

[karlseith]

Just a thought, could it be a turquois rainbow?

[Crow]

I've got some green tiger barbs that are darker than any others I've seen, with a definate blue tint when the light hits them right. The orange on their fins and beak is much deeper too than other tiger barbs. The only white is right around and under their gills. Definately a beautiful variation. I love 'em.

There's one LFS in Richmond VA that regularly carries this strain, but I haven't seen them anywhere else. Not that I've travelled far and wide searching for it though.

[Crow]

And just to point out how different these GTB's look compared to normal ones, they were among the first fish I ever bought. When I went looking for more of them, I went to a different LFS and their GTB's where so much lighter by comparison that I thought they were sick. I didn't go back to that LFS for some time b/c I thought they were trying to sell me sick fish.

Now that I know that that's what GTB's usually look like, I go to that LFS all the time. It's a perfectly good LFS. But that's how significant the difference is.