tiger barbs or tetras?

[keen]

harlow everyone,

in a dilemma now, dun know whether to buy tiger barbs or tetras for my 2 feet tank. In it is mainly dwarf hairgrass.

Pros of barbs

1) very active and not timid.
2) hardy and less susceptible to illness

Cons of barbs

1) not as colorful as tetras
2) agressive, does not mingle well with other smaller fishes eg tetras

Pros of tetras

1) colourful and peaceful.

Cons
1) VERY TIMID, more susceptible to illness.

And also , wat is the ideal size one shd get for a 2 feet tank?

thanks,
pH

[driftw00d]

my vote goes to tiger barbs, those old-school four striped original ones, not those orange or green ones. they're very playful, and look good together, especially when you have 6 or more of them. tetras hardly ever school when they are accustomed in the tank.

if you had a bigger tank, there is even a chance of the barbs breeding and their young surviving.

[wynx]

[quote:e009ffd8b7="driftw00d"]my vote goes to tiger barbs, those old-school four striped original ones, not those orange or green ones. they're very playful, and look good together, especially when you have 6 or more of them. tetras hardly ever school when they are accustomed in the tank.

if you had a bigger tank, there is even a chance of the barbs breeding and their young surviving.[/quote:e009ffd8b7]

Hi there..I beg to differ. Unfortunately, there are more barbs than tiger barbs.For starters, Puntius Johorensis is particularly nice.

Some Barbs that can be found locally according to records of the nature society.

Common Barb or Two-spot Barb Puntius binotatus
Spanner Barb or T-Barb Puntius lateristriga
Six-banded Tiger Barb Puntius johorensis
Five-banded Tiger Barb Puntius partipentazona
Four-banded Tiger Barb Puntius tetrazona
Green Barb or Chinese Barb Puntius semifasciolatus


PS, I Like Barbs better these days.

[vinz]

I find barbs are more entertaining and much livelier. My vote is for barbs.

While the common Tiger barb isn't particularly colourful, they don't exactly blend into the background either. Their activity should make up for the lack of colours.

[budak]

I think tigers and rosy barbs will get too big for a 2 ft. Why not get Cherry barbs (Puntius titteya)? They are small (max 1.5 inch), lively, beautiful and hardy.

There are hundreds of species of barbs and tetras..... don't limit yourself to what you already know..... go read up and you will find out much more.

[BFG]

What about barbus rhomboocellatus? More beautiful than the Tiger barb.

[keen]

thanks everyone for your opinions.

i will most probably get barbs!

regards,
pH

[driftw00d]

yes there are many species of barbs, a less aggressive species than the Tiger Barb would be the Black Ruby Barb, but equally animated and fascinating. males tend to be bossy so if you have a small tank better keep one male and the rest are females.

matured males look like this:


females look like this:

[hwchoy]

[quote:854e9e6835="BFG"]What about barbus rhomboocellatus? More beautiful than the Tiger barb. [/quote:854e9e6835]

BFG, asian barbs are generally grouped under Puntius while Barbus is the general grouping for european and african barbs.

[hwchoy]

[quote:82d9eb3e="wynx"]
Hi there..I beg to differ. Unfortunately, there are more barbs than tiger barbs.For starters, Puntius Johorensis is particularly nice.

Some Barbs that can be found locally according to records of the nature society.

Common Barb or Two-spot Barb Puntius binotatus
Spanner Barb or T-Barb Puntius lateristriga
Six-banded Tiger Barb Puntius johorensis
Five-banded Tiger Barb Puntius partipentazona
Four-banded Tiger Barb Puntius tetrazona
Green Barb or Chinese Barb Puntius semifasciolatus


PS, I Like Barbs better these days.[/quote:82d9eb3e]

wynx, there has been errors in the science centre hand books, the pretty little six-banded barb is actually Puntius hexazona. The Puntius johorensis has horizontal stripes like the Puntius lineatus.

oh you forgot to mention the most common local barb Puntius elegans btw, the partipentazona, tetrazona and semifasciolatus are all non-native, they are escapee from the aquarium trade.

[chua]

Do barbs school?