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About Nicole Putnam
Expertise
I have kept between 4-8 aquariums at a time for over 7 years. I can answer most questions on freshwater tropical fish and goldfish, if I am provided with sufficient data! Pond questions, brackish questions and planted tank questions are not my expertise so I will probably refer you to other websites and/or forums if you ask me these. You can also find me on the Wet Web Media forum - check out the Freshwater Fish section, where I am a moderator.

Experience
I keep a few freshwater tanks: a 55 gallon community tank featuring kribensis and tetras, a 29 gallon subtropical tank with Odessa barbs and corydoras, another 29 gallon tank with two black moors, two 10 gallon tanks with small rasboras and tetras, shrimps and snails. NOTE: All bettas need heated, filtered tanks. Most betta ailments are environmental. A 5 gallon acrylic tank with hood and filter is readily available from pet stores, and with the addition of a heater (coupled with good husbandry) this setup will keep a betta healthy for life.

Publications
WetWebMedia.com and http://bb.wetwebmedia.com

Education/Credentials
I read Tropical Fish Hobbyist, Practical Fishkeeping and Aquarium Fish International. I've read many aquarium books cover to cover, and encourage you to do the same!

You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Pet Fish > Freshwater Aquarium > Tiger barbs

Freshwater Aquarium - Tiger barbs

Expert: Nicole Putnam - 10/24/2009

Question
I have recently set up my 55 gallon tank and the first thing i bought were tiger barbs. Little did i know and the pet store owner not helping, i found out that my cute little fish were mean. Realizing it was my own fault i researched and later put two tinfoil tetra with them. They seem to be doing fine together, but i wanted to know what kind of other types could i maybe try to join with them? (i have a back-up tank just in case)

Answer
Hi Correnna,

Tinfoil barbs will be fine in a 55 gallon tank for a little while, but they will soon get much too big. They need a tank of over 100 gallons in the long run. Look how huge they get!
http://www.totalfishkeeping.com/uploads/post-20-11626836850.jpg

I would return them and exchange them for more tiger barbs. They need to be in a group of at least 6 in order to establish a pecking order and keep the nippyness to a minimum. Barb tanks are really entertaining and there are all kinds of barbs that could work in a 55 gallon tank - rosy barbs, black ruby barbs, odessa barbs. There are at least two other variants of tiger barbs...an albino kind and a greenish kind. All three kinds of tiger barbs should school together.

If you like shiny fish, try silver dollars. They get big too, but are still much smaller than tinfoil barbs. They are vegetarian, so need fresh veggies (like slivers of cucumber, spinach, and zucchini) occasionally, along with algae wafers or Spirulina flake. Fast fish such as red eye tetras or giant danios can work well with barbs, also.

I hope that helps, take care!
Nicole

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