# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Cyprinids >  Do tiger barbs eat plants?

## ahkarboy

has anyone kept tiger barbs in their planted tanks before? How was it? I've heard that they nibble leaves

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## Jungle-mania

They nibble on other fishes too. I haven't seen them decimating any plants so far and I do see them in both planted tanks and planted ponds.

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## GaspingGurami

My fiancee does. They are fin nippers. All the angelfish, gouramies, etc died as the result of infection from fins that get constantly nibbled on.

We went on a trip without feeding them 3-4 days. Came back to see the BBA on nana leaves gone, and the tiger barbs have a bright red fins. Never seen them eat plants but BBA since.

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## bryan

Keep the tigerbarbs in small shoals(6?) and they will not bother the others as they will be too busy entertaining each other. They may nibble on the tender and small leaf plants so you might want to test them with cheaper plants.

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## Justikanz

Tiger barbs do great in planted community tanks!  :Smile: 

I have 6... and they look gorgeous with the bright orange fins... Those who saw them thought so too.

However, it is important that the tigers are kept in a small school (5 and above). They become fin nippers if they are kept singly or in 2s or 3s... Once a small school is introduced, they keep their 'aggression' and curiosity to themselves and will leave others alone.

Oh, they leave plants alone... Never seen them eat plants.

And a point to note... It is difficult to keep tiger barbs recently. Most probably due to the health of the stock. Most seem to be wild caught and succumb to diseases or just die easily. Thus, be prepared to buy more fish to maintain the small school. Once they got past the initial stage, they will do fine and shine.  :Smile:

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## Fei Miao

tempted to do one  :Razz: 
Thomas, is yours a tiger barbs only tank? any pics?

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## Justikanz

Nope. A community tank. They are in my 4ft tank with loads of other barbs and tetras. Eh, were you not among the guys who went my place during lunch time?...  :Huh?:

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## Fei Miao

> Nope. A community tank. They are in my 4ft tank with loads of other barbs and tetras. Eh, were you not among the guys who went my place during lunch time?...


nope, didn't join the group then..

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## diki

I have kept them with swordtails before. Later the tank was converted to planted tank and some plants (Cabomba caroliniana) may taste better since there is always leaves lying round. Other than that, no major problem with them when I keep them. The tiger barbs that I had were feeder fishes that I saved after I kept feeder swordtails in a 2 ft tank. Mine are actually hardy and not much deaths when I kept them. Maybe I was lucky then. It was like 2 years back when I got them.

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## ahkarboy

I'm tempted to re-do my 5fter and chuck in about 60 tiger barbs. Its ok right?

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## Justikanz

Wow... 60 seems to be a big number. These fishies grow quite big leh... The guys in my tank are about 2 inches long and being almost diamond shaped, the are about that high too.

Would suggest you try 20 first and see if you like the effect. Too many and they might not school well.

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## ahkarboy

Woah 2 inches is pretty big but they're so small in the lfs about a bit bigger than the rummy noses

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## budak

There are quite a few species of fish commonly referred to as "tiger barbs."

Systomus/Puntius partipentazona is a Thai species that has been introduced to Malaysia/Singapore and is commonly sold as feeders. This species doesn't get as large as Puntius tetrazona and the body is much less deep. P. tetrazona is native to Sumatra and Borneo (and likely west Malaysia as well). 

There are also the rare "tiger barbs, P. hexazona and P. pentazona (some think these are the same), which are much smaller, have a distinct red/purplish tinge to their bodies and come from more specialised habitats like freshwater and peat swamps.

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## ahkarboy

My 20 tiger barbs have just owned one of my rummy nose last night. I put the 20 tiger barbs in the tank for less than 3 hours and when i come back, i see a dead rummy nose on the floor with it's head unattached to tis body

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## hwchoy

> Woah 2 inches is pretty big but they're so small in the lfs about a bit bigger than the rummy noses


they can get rather big given swimming space. I had some of them in a pond 9x15 metres and when I finally managed to catch some during pond cleaning, they are the size of my palm!

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## mickthefish

choy they must have looked great at that size, ive only ever seen them at the 2-3inch size,
i'd love to see them fit in the palm of my hand, across the span of my palm it measures 4ins.

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## hwchoy

mick they look monstrous when placed in a normal fish tank. I never knew they were so huge simply because the pond was very big. The other inhabitants of the pond are about 20 10-inch tinfoil barbs, 2 1ft+ giant gourami and an 18-inch red tail cat. They all look small when in the pond  :Very Happy: 

unfortunately that pond is in my office, which is a protected place so no visits and no pictures. I have a picture of the monster tiger barb though, will put it up.

actually they're probably 3+ inches, I said they're the size of my palm, not my hand!

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## mickthefish

yes please choy, can't wait to see it.

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## mickthefish

choy where's the picture?.
iwant to see it bud.

mick

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## ranmasatome

i also want.. :Grin:

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## Cherries Lover

bro,

Best to keep them in a tank of just them alone...

Tiger Barbs normally are not friendly fishes with the rest. Plants might be tear off by them so best not to with plants...

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## Justikanz

Tiger barbs have NO problems with plants. My plants are fine with them. There are some misconceptions with tiger barbs and barbs in general. Not all barbs eat plants like they have no tomorrow. And tiger barbs do NOT necessarily go around tearing other fish's tails...

Tiger barbs are not unfriendly... They are just creatures that are just too playful. If kept in a small group of at least 5, they will 'play' amongst themselves and will generally ignore others. If you keep less than 5, then they will disturb their tank mates. They are fast, so if you keep slow fish with long fins with them, then you are inviting them to tear the fins. My group of 6 tiger barbs are doing VERY well in my community tank and non of my smaller fishes are disturbed by this group.

A point to note is that tiger barbs do not always remain as small as when they are being sold. They can grow to slightly more than 2" in length and their body 'height' is about 2" as well when they are well fed... They are definitely not for the smaller tanks.

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## Cherries Lover

Oh okie... I rear tiger barbs back then when I am much younger....
That was the impression i got by then... Noted with thanks...  :Smug:

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## redcaptrio

> Tiger barbs have NO problems with plants. My plants are fine with them. There are some misconceptions with tiger barbs and barbs in general. Not all barbs eat plants like they have no tomorrow. And tiger barbs do NOT necessarily go around tearing other fish's tails...
> 
> Tiger barbs are not unfriendly... They are just creatures that are just too playful. If kept in a small group of at least 5, they will 'play' amongst themselves and will generally ignore others. If you keep less than 5, then they will disturb their tank mates. They are fast, so if you keep slow fish with long fins with them, then you are inviting them to tear the fins. My group of 6 tiger barbs are doing VERY well in my community tank and non of my smaller fishes are disturbed by this group.
> 
> A point to note is that tiger barbs do not always remain as small as when they are being sold. They can grow to slightly more than 2" in length and their body 'height' is about 2" as well when they are well fed... They are definitely not for the smaller tanks.


this seems to be a thread a long time ago but i have a question Justikanz.. how many tiger barbs do you recommend in a 40 gal (US) tiger-barb only tank? and what plants do you keep with them that they have no problem with.. im planning to keep them in a planted tank.
thanks!  :Wink:

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## joeyttk

I have 45 tiger barbs in my 6feet today. I do see that they like shady area (i.e. under floating plants). I have confirmed that they will nibble at the roots of those floating plants, but I have not saw them "attack" my plants.

My floating plants has very short roots but they will live to see another day

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## a1matt

I am reviving this old thread as I am thinking of getting some tiger barbs (between 15 and 20 in my 160l).

My tank is well planted with lots of mosses in it, has anyone kept tiger barbs with mosses?

(Already I know form experience that my amano shrimp will eat all willow moss they can see, and snowballs will eat all stringy moss, and also nibble on taiwan moss! Do not get me started on SAE's!!!)

Thanks!
(this is my first post here, but I have visited many times, it is a great source of knowledge and inspiration, thanks everyone  :Smile:  )

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