AquaNexus verified profile
Tiger barb
Puntigrus tetrazona
Tiger barb is Puntigrus tetrazona, an active Sumatran and Bornean schooling barb that needs twelve or more fish and careful avoidance of slow long-finned tankmates.
Outcome: PASSED Permanent ID: 682
Profile overview
- Scientific Name
- Puntigrus tetrazona
- Identity and search names
- Tiger barb, Sumatran barb, Puntigrus tetrazona, Puntius tetrazona, Barbus tetrazona, green tiger barb, albino tiger barb
- Category
- Freshwater fish
- Subgroup
- Barbs
- Environment
- Freshwater aquarium
- Origin
- Sumatra and Borneo in Indonesia
- Care
- Beginner
- Adult Size
- About 5–7 cm total length
- Lifespan
- 5–7 years
- Tank
- At least 150 L for twelve or more, with long open swimming space
- Temp
- 22–27 °C
- pH
- 6.0–8.0
- Hardness
- Soft to moderately hard
- Salinity
- Freshwater; no routine salt addition
- Lighting
- Normal aquarium lighting
- Placement
- Mid water
- Diet
- Omnivore taking aquatic invertebrates, algae, detritus, plant material and prepared foods
- Filtration
- Use mature biological filtration with effective mechanical solids capture and turnover matched to the species’ natural flow needs. Protect intakes, preserve established media during cleaning and keep ammonia and nitrite at zero.
- Aeration
- Maintain continuous surface agitation and dependable dissolved oxygen across the whole aquarium. Increase oxygen reserve in warm water, strong-current systems, dense groups, medication periods and power interruptions.
- Maintenance
- Observe feeding, respiration, body condition and social behaviour daily; test nitrogen waste and key chemistry on a schedule; clean mechanical media before trapped waste decomposes; and perform regular temperature- and chemistry-matched water changes.
- Welfare
- Maintain the stated adult space and social structure, verify feeding, and intervene early when injury, exclusion, weight loss, abnormal respiration or altered behaviour appears. Tiger barbs are not gentle community fish simply because they are common. Under-sized groups and short tanks intensify fin damage, and released aquarium fish can establish outside their native range.
- Biosecurity
- Never release fish, fry, eggs, aquarium water, sediment, plants or live foods into drains, dams or natural waterways. Confirm current Australian import conditions and South Australian possession, trade and movement rules before acquisition or transfer.
- Review Status
- PASSED
- Source Status
- CURRENT — accepted identity or explicitly bounded species profile; husbandry, welfare, sources and Australian/South Australian biosecurity rechecked. CURRENT
App-ready care, welfare and biosecurity details
Identity Scope
Single-species profile for Puntigrus tetrazona. Preserve permanent AquaNexus ID 682, slug tiger-barb and route /species/tiger-barb/; retain former combinations, locality labels and trade names only as searchable aliases.
Adult Size And Space
Expected adult size: About 5–7 cm total length. Minimum permanent housing: At least 150 L for twelve or more, with long open swimming space. Plan around adult dimensions, activity, social structure, aggression, oxygen demand and waste production rather than sale size.
Social Structure
Keep at least twelve; larger groups spread display and fin-nipping behaviour and reduce pressure on other fish
Swimming Zone
Primary zone: Mid water. Keep that zone usable for movement, feeding, refuge and escape.
Feeding Ecology
Omnivore taking aquatic invertebrates, algae, detritus, plant material and prepared foods
Feeding Plan
Offer varied prepared foods and small live or frozen prey once or twice daily; include plant material
Water Stability
Maintain 22–27 °C; pH 6.0–8.0; hardness or minerals: Soft to moderately hard; salinity: Freshwater; no routine salt addition. Stable oxygenation and nitrogen-cycle control matter more than chasing one exact value.
Habitat Structure
Long aquarium with open midwater space, planted or wooded margins, moderate current and strong oxygenation
Compatibility Plan
Choose robust active fish without trailing fins; do not combine with slow gouramis, bettas or long-finned strains that invite persistent nipping
Breeding Plan
Egg scatterer Parental care: No parental care; adults eat eggs.
Quarantine
Quarantine new fish in a separate cycled aquarium with dedicated equipment. Match temperature and mineral chemistry gradually, confirm feeding, respiration, skin, fins and waste, and never add transport water to the established aquarium.
Welfare Checks
Maintain the stated adult space and social structure, verify feeding, and intervene early when injury, exclusion, weight loss, abnormal respiration or altered behaviour appears. Tiger barbs are not gentle community fish simply because they are common. Under-sized groups and short tanks intensify fin damage, and released aquarium fish can establish outside their native range.
Biosecurity And Release
Never release fish, fry, eggs, aquarium water, sediment, plants or live foods into drains, dams or natural waterways. Confirm current Australian import conditions and South Australian possession, trade and movement rules before acquisition or transfer.
Main Risk
Tiger barbs are not gentle community fish simply because they are common. Under-sized groups and short tanks intensify fin damage, and released aquarium fish can establish outside their native range.
Adult Projected Load
Plan filtration and stocking for the full adult size (About 5–7 cm total length), the complete social group and peak feeding waste, not the current shop size. Permanent housing remains At least 150 L for twelve or more, with long open swimming space.
Filtration
Use mature biological filtration with effective mechanical solids capture and turnover matched to the species’ natural flow needs. Protect intakes, preserve established media during cleaning and keep ammonia and nitrite at zero.
Aeration
Maintain continuous surface agitation and dependable dissolved oxygen across the whole aquarium. Increase oxygen reserve in warm water, strong-current systems, dense groups, medication periods and power interruptions.
Maintenance
Observe feeding, respiration, body condition and social behaviour daily; test nitrogen waste and key chemistry on a schedule; clean mechanical media before trapped waste decomposes; and perform regular temperature- and chemistry-matched water changes.
Overridable Warnings
Warnings are decision support, not permission to ignore welfare limits. Override only with specimen-specific evidence, equivalent risk controls and a recorded reason; never override legal, biosecurity, provenance or no-release requirements.
Sources and review basis
- Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes — Puntigrus tetrazona: Taxonomy — accepted name, former combinations, synonyms and identity cross-check
- USGS NAS — Tiger barb Puntigrus tetrazona: Distribution and biosecurity — native range, introduced occurrences and aquarium-release pathway
- IUCN Red List search — Puntigrus tetrazona: Conservation and provenance — wild status, locality and collection-risk cross-check
- PIRSA — South Australian noxious fish list: Australian biosecurity — current South Australian possession, trade and movement restrictions
- DAFF — importing live ornamental fish to Australia: Australian biosecurity — national live-fish import pathways and permitted-species warning
AquaNexus uses original editorial synthesis. Exact import, possession, movement and disposal requirements must be rechecked with the current authority before acquisition or transfer.