Puntigrus tetrazona
Note: Due
to variations within species, your item may not look identical to the image
provided
We have Albino, Green and Normal available subject to stock, please let us know on notes if you are looking for a set strain
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Synonyms
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Barbus tetrazona, Barbus tetrazona tetrazona,
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Distribution
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Native to Indonesia and Malaysia. Introduced to
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Sexual Dimorphism
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Males slimmer and more colourful. Females grow
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Maximum Size
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8cm (3.15?)
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Water Parameters
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Will acclimatise to a wide range of conditions.
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Temperature
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21-26 deg C (70-79 deg F)
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Compatibility
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Community with no long-finned fish
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Lighting
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No special requirements
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Care
Probably the best known and most commonly available of the
barb species, the Tiger Barb is undoubtedly the fish which has given other
members of this family such an undeserved bad reputation. In comparison to some
other species, they can be a little nippy, but kept under the right
circumstances, this can be controlled to a degree. Tiger Barbs should be kept
in large shoals, really 8-10 fish forming the minimum recommended size group.
These large sized groups normally keep them preoccupied with each other, rather
than focussing their attentions on different fish species within the same
aquarium. Common sense must be applied and no long-finned fish should be kept
with Tiger Barbs. As Tiger Barbs are such an active species, they should be
provided with a spacious aquarium aquascaped with robust plant species. Green
and Albino aquarium-bred strains are also available and these types can all be
kept together in shoals very successfully. Avoid any other colour varieties
offered as they are likely to have been dyed.
Feeding
Flake, green flake, micropellets, slow-sinking pellets (for
larger specimens), frozen foods such as mosquito larvae, brineshrimp, Mysis
shrimp etc.
Breeding
A separate spawning aquarium should be set up with soft,
slightly acidic water. The substrate should consist of marbles, and good
amounts of fine-leaved plants should be used. Spawning is often triggered by
the first rays of morning sunlight hitting the aquarium glass, and the female
can deposit up to 500 eggs amongst the plants/marbles. As spawning is such an
active affair, the parent fish are constantly hungry and often predate on the
eggs as they are laid. In order to stop this from happening, many aquarists use
a pipette to drop in small amounts of (defrosted) frozen mosquito larvae during
spawning, so that the adults turn their attention to this rather than the eggs.
Once spawning has ceased, acclimatise the parents back to main aquarium. The
eggs should hatch within 24-36 hours.