Tiger Barb Tank

[Vspeck23]

Im pretty happy with my tank setup so far, if you want to see pictures i have another thread of the build.
 
I was just reading up on breeding The tiger barbs and researching what i had bought since im new to Tiger Barbs or barbs ! I also didnt know they are egg layers since i have been used to live bearers and that fact sword tails !
 
One of the things i read up on that stuck out is that you have to separate the sex's  before ou breed blah blah blah .. and that you can distinguish what sex of fish you have... so as you do while reading '' your fish has this .. looking at the fish in your tank.. and confirming your type of fish has that part and what have you'' :
 
I realised i only have one male ! and 5 females..
 
is this bad good or does it not matter ?
 
i also caught 2 fish chasing each other through the cabomba ( witch tiger barbs apparently like ) so there is some flirty shizzle going on in there, 
 
is this normal for it to be this early on in the tanks life ( bearing in mind they did come from the same batch at the shop)
 
when i chose the fish i was looking for big and strong and pronounced barbs and tried to distinguish sex's 
 
Now realising they don't have gravid spots because they are egg layers ? i was relying on my instincts to determine colors and sizes and pronounced fins like sword tails 
 
also flake food is fine but bloodworms will these be a good source of protein ?
 
P.s Not looking to breed yet so the water is not that generous with the temperatures ! ( currently set to 26°C - 75°F )
 
 
Any help and tips or anything will be appreciated or even to be told im on the right lines  
 

 

[catfish4ever]

I started on tiger barbs about 2 months ago, bought 5 and instantly fell in love with them, they chase each other a lot but do no harm, they have bulked up a lot and are active and have a great appetite, I now have 5 tiger barbs 2 gold barbs 2 ruby black barbs and 1 green tiger barbs and they all shoal happily together ( I hope their happy and healthy anyways, I don't like jinxing things just incase )

 

[Ninjouzata]

You want more females than males so you are fine

 

[carmstrong]

 to TFF!
 
Your tank sounds interesting!
 
Any pics so we can see? 

 

[Vspeck23]

sorry for the late replys i have been settling in to my new job haha ! thanks for the info i have some photos and i will see if i can snap some this instant as im typing this ... haha kind of a live feed ish 
 
 
 
So here are the barbs them selves !!!
 

 

 

 
What do you reckon ? was the best photos out of the lot i took i used an external LED light to give me a faster shutter speed ... will be making a decent lighting setup for my tank soon instead of 2 Neon blue cold cathodes 

 

[Ch4rlie]

Looks good
 
What size of tank is this BTW, I don't see any mention of this unless I missed it

 

[Vspeck23]

its only a small tanks its a 20 litres bow front one , i dont really have room YET for a bigger one in my room , i have another 30 litre box tank aswell will be a breeder...
 
Also will be making a really large tank with the double glazing i have been acquiring  

 

[Ch4rlie]

Ah, got a little bad news for you
 
20 litre tank is extremely small for Tiger Barbs to be totally honest with you am afraid. Only suggestions i'd be happy with for  a 20L / 5 gal tank is a single Betta Splenden or perhaps shrimps only set up.
 
I'd strongly suggest, if you can get this or have space for, is 20 US gals / 80 Litre tank, thats minimum size imho since they need space to swim as they're fairly active and need space to swim away from nippy tank mates.
 
Here is some information you may have not known about, hope it helps.
 
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/puntius-tetrazona/

 

[Vspeck23]

Yeah i was affraid the tank was going to be a bit small , i know for now that they arent very big and they are still small little fish i am looking in to getting a bigger tank something like a 50 inch tank thats more wider that taller i will be making it from glass i have from toughened double glazing pains i will be getting round to it soon ish and i will be using the 2 smaller tanks as breeders ?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Sounds like a plan, although better sooner than later otherwise you may get issues before you know it with your barbs.

 

[Vspeck23]

what kind of issues will i be facing and symptoms 

 ? also these will be measurements for  the tank ...

 

[Ch4rlie]

That would be a nice sized tank, although we on the forum usually use US gals and litres, that tank of 20L x 45W x 20H is 295 litres or 78 US Gals
 
Issues with tiger barbs tend to be fin nipping and bullying, with no space to escape to, there is the possibility of barbs getting injured on tank glass or decor in confined space, leads to stress which leads to disease kinda thing at worst.

 

[catfish4ever]

Tiger barbs I only just realised have been nipping my rainbowfish and ruining his fins

 

[Vspeck23]

okay i will be looking out for bullying etc.. i have notice they play alot all together and there never really is an outcast and at the most they seperate in to 2 equal groups but i will see whats happening more closely, I have another tank thats slightly bigger coming tonight witch i am buying for £30 and it comes with a heater hood and a pump and lights etc ...

 

[Vspeck23]

Some pictures of the Barbs ... most of them are hanging out in their log but im not going to kick them out for the catwalk ...  

 

 

 
And as for people saying watch out for fighting and nipping etc.. they have all been in that log now for hours.. its about 5 inch by 3 inch and its a resin cast aswel and all 6 of them crammed in there

 and they have just been chilling in there occasionally going out for a swim aswel.