The Barbs have the reputation for being aggressive fish. In reality, this is a fairly large group of fish, so each species needs to be looked at separately.
Tiger Barbs
The Tiger Barb, Puntius tetrazona has probably the worst reputation of all the small barbs. It is certainly true that the Tiger Barb can be a fin nipper. It is fairly common in our shop that someone has a problem with their fins being nipped. They do have a Tiger Barb in their fish collection, but tend to reject the idea that it is the culprit because it is not only a little fish, but they only have one of them. I am forced to tell them that a single Tiger Barb is usually worse than a school.
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| Five tiger barbs (Puntius tetrazona) and one neon tetra (Paracheirodon innesi) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
This is something common to many fast schooling fish. If there are not enough to form a school, they will try to join up with other species of fish, but these may be slower fish and are in danger of getting their fins nipped.
Once in our shop a male Guppy somehow got put into an aquarium full of Tiger Barbs. I took it out as soon as I saw it, but it must have been in overnight. The Tiger Barbs were ignoring the Guppy.
Rosy Barbs
This is another Barb with a bad reputation. Certainly it is a fast, boisterous fish that can be a problem to other fish. This barb grows larger than any of the others mentioned, and more space is needed.
Gold Barbs
Gold Barbs are more peaceful than most of the barbs, but I would still recommend that at least four be kept together. Unlike the first two fish mentioned, this fish is sometimes kept successfully with slower longer finned fish.
Cherry Barbs
This Barb is not typical of the barb group. They do not have such a strong schooling tendency. Although some people regard them as an aggressive fish, this had not been my own observation. Although they do not necessarily form schools, I would still recommend that several be kept together.
In Conclusion
The barbs listed certainly can be aggressive, and some matching of tank mates is necessary. All of them are suitable community fish for a tank of fast schooling fish with Corydoras Catfish like the Peppered catfish as scavengers.
I would not recommend any of them as companions for very slow, long finned fish like the Siamese Fighting Fish.
Steve Challis has Fact Sheets on all the fish named in this article at http://www.bettatrading.com.au. including a lot of information about the Siamese Fighting fish at http://www.bettatrading.com.au/Siamese-Fighting-Fish-Fact-Sheet.php.
Article Source: EzineArticles
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