Tiger Barb
Puntigrus tetrazona
Active striped shoaler with a fin-nipping streakIntermediate
- Lifespan
- 5-7 years
- Size
- 6-7 cm (2.5-3 in)
- Social needs
- Shoaling - keep 6-8+ to curb nipping
- Time
- Moderate (daily feed, weekly water changes)
- Cost
- Low-Medium
- Diet
- Omnivore
Overview
What is this animal?
- Tiger Barbs are active cyprinids from Southeast Asia, recognisable by the four black bars on a gold body.
- They are hardy and energetic but earn an intermediate rating for one reason: their tendency to nip fins.
- Kept in a large enough group, they direct that boisterous energy within the shoal rather than at tankmates.
- Get the group size or tankmate choice wrong, and they become a persistent problem for slower fish.
Temperament
- Tiger Barbs are lively, fast, and semi-aggressive, and they nip fins when kept in small groups.
- A shoal of eight or more keeps interaction internal and markedly reduces harassment of tankmates.
- Do not house them with long-finned or slow fish such as bettas, angelfish, or guppies.
- Suitable companions are similarly active, robust species like other barbs, danios, and larger tetras that can hold their own.
A good fit for
- Keepers wanting an active, characterful species
- Robust community tanks of fast fish
- Aquarists who can commit to a large group
- Those past the absolute-beginner stage
Common mistakes to avoid
- Keeping too few (increases fin-nipping)
- Mixing with long-finned or slow fish
- Undersized tanks restricting the shoal
- Overfeeding the fast, greedy eaters
Enclosure
Minimum 110 litres (29 US gallons) — for a group of 6
Cannot be kept alone. The minimum is 6, and the space above is for that group.
- Provide a tank of at least 110 litres (30 gallons) so a proper shoal can establish a pecking order and burn off energy.
- Target 22-26C (72-79F), pH 6.0-7.5, and soft to moderately hard water in a fully cycled, well-filtered setup.
- They appreciate some current, open swimming space, and planted edges or driftwood for cover.
- A secure lid is essential, as active barbs can jump, and good filtration handles their appetite and waste output.
Supplies
Setup
- Tank and stand
- Filter
- Heater and thermometer
- Substrate, plants and decor
- Liquid test kit
- Dechlorinator and starter supplies
Ongoing
- Quality micro-pellet or tropical flake
- Spirulina or vegetable flake
- Frozen daphnia, bloodworm and brine shrimp
- Veg clip
- Courgette or spinach for blanching
- Fine net for removing leftovers
- Small feeding spoon
Safe substrate: Inert aquarium gravel · Fine, smooth sand · Aquasoil for planted tanks
Care routine
Daily
- Check temperature and equipment
- Feed
- Head-count and look everyone over
Weekly
- Top up evaporationevery 3 days
- Check fins on slower tankmates
- Clean glass and clear algae
- Test the water
- Water change and gravel vacuum
Monthly
- Trim and thin the plantsevery 2 weeks
- Check supplies and reagent dates
- Rinse the filter media
Less often
- Replace chemical filter media (Carbon/Purigen)every 2 months
Vet: Quarterly group and fin review — every 3 months
Top resources for more info
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Diet
- Tiger Barbs are enthusiastic omnivores that do well on a varied diet.
- Offer a quality flake or sinking pellet as the base, rotated with frozen or live bloodworm, daphnia, and brine shrimp, plus some vegetable matter or algae-based food.
- Feed small amounts once or twice daily.
- Their eagerness at feeding time makes overfeeding easy, so measure portions to what they clear in about two minutes.
- A varied diet keeps colour rich and reduces food competition.
Health
- Tiger Barbs are generally hardy and suffer mainly from stress-linked disease when understocked, overcrowded, or kept in unstable water.
- Ich and fin rot are the common complaints, often appearing after temperature shifts or when nipping injuries become infected.
- Maintain stable parameters, quarantine new arrivals, and keep nitrate low with regular water changes.
- Watch for clamped fins and white spots, and address persistent in-group bullying, which can weaken a targeted individual.
Is your enclosure big enough?
Is this urgent?
In a fish tank the patient is usually the water. Test before you treat — dosing a healthy tank for a disease it does not have makes things worse.
Go now
Today
Soon
Never add a new fish to a tank that is not fully cycled, and never treat blind. A test kit is cheaper than the fish.
This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it — and the time to find one is before you need one.
What it really costs
Setup, monthly, first year and across a whole life, itemised and with the electricity worked out from the actual wattage. Published figures for the same animal disagree by a factor of four, so the calculator shows ranges rather than picking one.
Bedding and substrate
Substrate in an aquarium is a filter as much as a floor. Most of the biology lives in and on it.
Safe
With a caveat
Never
This is our general list for freshwater fish. We have not built one specific to Barbs yet.
My kit says 0.25 ppm. Is that dangerous?
A liquid kit measures total ammonia, but only the un-ionised fraction is really toxic, and that fraction is governed by pH and temperature — each whole pH unit multiplies it roughly tenfold. So the same reading can be nearly harmless in one tank and lethal in another; this works out which one you are in.
Compare with other animals
The same axes for every animal, side by side — the way the guides are written makes that a fair comparison rather than two articles.
Barbs, side by side
Same axes, same care guides — the honest way to choose between types.
See all Barbs side by side →
