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The
species Barbus tetrazona is not a cichlid. It belongs to the Family Cyprinidae
(carp-like fishes). Its common name is "Tiger barb"
and one just needs to take one glance in the photos above to find
out why. There are three color morphs of this species. The normal
one (silver body with black vertical stripes) the green (green body
with black vertical stripes) and the albino (yellow body with white
patches in the place of the stripes). In the lower photo one albino
tiger barb is visible. Although not cichlids these are among the
best fish for a beginner and, why not, the advanced aquarist. This
species is characterized by a number of advantages very rarely seen
in other species. They are very social schooling fish (you should
always keep more than six of them, a dozen is preferable). They are
not shy so you can see them all day long. Moreover they are very
good swimmers and they use the whole tank. They will not attack
plants so they are also a first class colorful selection even for
planted tanks. Not really aggressive but they may occasionally nip
on long fins of slow species (gouramis, siamese fighting fish,
discus etc.), which can be avoided if kept in large schools.
Provided with shelter (usually overhanging leaves) they may spawn
and lay their eggs on the lower surface.
Some people use
these fish as dither fish in African cichlid tanks (especially with
mbunas) to reduce aggression among the latter. It is believed that
mbunas will chase and attack the barbs instead of attacking each
other. Moreover, they are used by the mbunas as a
"warning" for enemy approach. It is true that tiger barbs
are quite fast and they can serve the task of dither fish. However,
my experience is that, sooner rather than later, the mbuna will kill
them. They may stay in the tank for a year (even longer) but you
will always see them with wounds, missing fins and, in the end,
floating. Although beyond the scope of this brief information note,
I believe that our decision to keep African cichlids should work on
its own. The hobbyist must carefully arrange his tank and select the
species he is going to keep (according to his tank dimensions) and
not rely on the torture of other fish in order to keep aggression at
bay. These beautiful species doesn't stand a chance to survive,
basically because it doesn't belong to the African cichlid
environment and its genetic code will not warn it about what is
happening. I have repeatedly seen tiger barbs closing in the
spawning site of my Pseudotropheus lombardoi (while the male was
spawning) to investigate what is happening. Nine times out of ten, a
barb would end up with wounds. |
