How to Take Care of Tiger Barbs

The tiger barb, Puntius tetrazona, is native to the waters of Sumatra, Indonesia and Borneo. You can easily identify it by the four dark vertical bands that are on its body, which are reminiscent of a tiger's strips. This schooling fish is ideal for a community tank, and is one of the most popular species, despite its reputation for being a notorious fin nipper.

Things You'll Need

• 24 gallon tank
• Heater and filter
• 6 or more tiger barbs
• Decorations (fake plants, live plants, driftwood, rocks)
• Fish food

Instructions

1. Clean your tank once you acquire it. Fill the tank about ¼ full of hot water and then clean the inside and outside of the tank with a dish towel. The tank may have been sitting for awhile and accumulated dust and other waste. Empty and dry the tank then fill it with room temperature water. Now you should wait 24 hours till you get your Tiger Barb.

2. Set up your tank to create ideal tank conditions for your tiger barbs. Install a filter and attach the heater. Set it to maintain the water temperature between 70 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit (21 to 25 degrees Celsius). keep the dH range at 3.0 to 9.0. Install a filter to keep the tank water clean.

3. Add your substrate. If you use sand or gravel, be sure to rinse it out first with hot water to clean it. Plant some aquarium plants to provide your tiger barbs with a hiding place. However, keep the plants along the tank's perimeter to maximize swimming space. Put in your decorations such as driftwood and rocks.

4. Provide your tiger barbs with at least five or six fellow tiger barbs as tank mates. This is important, because they are schooling fish. Secondly, if you do not keep them in a large enough school of fellow barbs, they do tend to turn into fin nippers.

5. Provide your school of tiger barbs with other tank mates, if desired. Tiger barbs are safe with smaller fish. Since they swim in the middle level, they are perfect tank mates for top level fish like the Zebra barb, and bottom-level fish such as Plecos. Avoid the larger, slower moving species.

6. Feed your Tiger Barbs with tropical fish flakes. They are omnivorous, so you should supplement this with both plant material and live food such as blood worms.