Albino Tiger Barb
Albino Tiger Barbs are an albino variant of the popular Tiger Barb, that throughout years of selective breeding have become very common within the aquarium hobby. With the exception of their albino coloration, the Albino Tiger Barb maintains all the same traits as the common Tiger Barb. In the wild Tiger Barbs are found living in a variety of natural tropical settings including clear shallow waters, turbid flowing streams and shallow murky waters.
Due to this variety of settings, the Tiger Barb has developed a wide tolerance to many varied water conditions. They will do well in an aquarium setup with warm tropical waters and either calm water or moderately turbid water currents. Albino Tiger Barbs do not grow too large, attaining a maximum size of about 3 inches in length.
With their attractive coloration and pattern, wide tolerance for various aquarium conditions and relatively long life span of 5 to 7 years, the Albino Tiger Barb has become an aquarium hobbyist favorite.
In the aquarium environment the Albino Tiger Barb is an active brightly colored species that will generally be found swimming at lower and mid levels of the aquarium. They have a reputation as being fin nippers; however, this reputation is somewhat unfair as barbs in general exhibit this as part of their natural behavior. It is important to keep Albino Tiger Barbs in groups of 4 or more, so that they can swim as a group and nip at each other instead of other aquarium species.
Albino Tiger Barbs will not injure each other with this behavior as it is something barb do amongst themselves and are well equipped for this type of behavior. The nipping only becomes a problem when Albino Tiger Barbs are kept singularly or in too small of numbers (less than four) that they may nip at others in the aquarium who can have their fins injured by this behavior. Albino Tiger Barbs will do best in aquariums that are brightly lit with a good amount of vegetation and some moderate water currents.
While they can be kept with all but the most shy of species, they are well suited to coexist well with other boisterous species like loaches, catfish, danios and other species of barbs. Ultimately, the key to successfully owning this barb species is to keep them in good sized groups (6 plus members) and provide them with plenty of mid-level plants and driftwood that they can playfully swim about.
What We Like About This Fish:
- Excellent banded coloration
- Peaceful disposition with fish and peaceful invertebrates too large to be considered prey
- Very active and noticeable fish in any aquarium
- Ideal for planted aquariums
- Will not bother ornamental plants
RECOMMENDED TANK PARAMETERS:
- Temperature: 70 - 79° F (21°-26° C)
- pH: 4.0 - 7.0
- KH: 1 - 5 dKH
- Minimum Tank Size: 15 gallons for a group of 6 - 8
CARE INFORMATION:
- Diet: Micropredator. Will easily accept high quality dry and frozen foods of appropriate size. Requires a varied diet for optimal health and coloration.
- Social Behavior: Peaceful, schooling/shoaling.
