Sumatra Barb

Sumatra Barb is among numerous barb species that are commonly kept by freshwater aquarists. Its average lifespan is that of six years. Scientifically, it is known as Puntius tetrazona, Barbus tetrazona and Capoeta tetrazona. Its common names other than Sumatra Barb are Tiger Barb, Green Tiger Barb, Albino Tiger Barb. It is found in Indonesia, Sumatra, Borneo and probably Thailand. A big lot of this fish is a captive bred for the aquarium industry. Know more about Sumatra Barb from the following account.

Sumatra Barb is an omnivore. In the wild it eats small crustaceans, worms and plant matter. Thus, to your fresh water Sumatra Barb provide a varied diet of meaty foods and vegetables. Use a good quality flake food for your fish as a base. Feed it boiled zucchini and lettuce and supplement its diet with live or frozen foods like bloodworms and brine shrimp.

Sumatra Barb attains sexual maturity when it is six to seven weeks of age. Early morning the egg layers tend to spawn several hundred eggs in the clumps of plants. You can expect 300 eggs on an average from each spawn. The eggs that are spawned are adhesive. When spawning is over, it is necessary to remove the parents from the tank as they eat eggs if they find. Thus, by removing them from the tank, you avert the eggs from being eaten.

Color of the body of Sumatra Barb is yellow to red background with four very unique black stripes. On the outside of dorsal fins and also on the tail and ventral fins, there is red color. When this fish is in spawning mode, its snout turns bright red. This fish grows to the size of 2.75 inches or 7 cms in length. In terms of width, it becomes 1. 18 inch or 3 cms wide. It is often seen that it is smaller when kept in captivity.

The suggested size of Sumatra Barb tank is at least 24 inches or 60 cms and should hold at least 20 gallons of water. While setting up a tank for this fish, try to imitate its natural habitat. Provide ample space for swimming for the shoal. Include hiding spots in its tank as well. Preferably keep the aquarium well planted. Sumatra Barb will appreciate the presence of rocks and wood. Soft and slightly acidic water is best suited for this fish, thus pH should range from 6.0 to 7.0 and keep the dH below 10. Sometimes in tanks this fish is kept in the dH as low as 4. Required temperature is preferably 23 degree C to 26 degree C or 74 degree F to 79 degree F in the upper part of this range.

Sumatra Barb is a good community fish, especially with fast moving fish. It is learnt that this fish has a habit to nip at times, especially when it is kept in small groups or individually. To avoid this, keep it in a group of six or seven. It is not considered to be a good community fish by everyone as it nips the fins of long-finned and slow moving fish like angelfish and Gouramis.

Currently you can find a number of different captive bred hybrids of Sumatra Barb in the aquarium trade. These hybrids are generally bred for their colour. Although this fish is the most common Barb found in the aquarium hobby, there is still a great deal of confusion surrounding the various sub species or species. This lively and fast swimming fish needs a company. With help of the above account, take good care of this fish and keep it with you for a long time.