Tiger Barbs are hardy and easy-to-breed fish that don’t require much special care or components in a tank.
They can also share a tank fairly easily with a bunch of other species.
They do, though, like to live in schools, so if you’re looking for the perfect number of Tiger Barbs to have in your tank, six is the minimum and twelve is the maximum.
Related: How Do Tiger Barbs Behave During Mating?
Do Tiger Barbs Lay Eggs?
When it comes to breeding, Tiger Barbs are not so different from other kinds of fish.
Most species require the separation of the males from the females and for Tiger Barbs, despite the records of individuals spawning when in schools, it might be a good idea to do it.
Regarding the question in the title, yes, they do.
Tiger Barbs are egg-layers and that aspect demands extra care for a few reasons.
First of all, this kind of fish normally eats its own eggs and even the fry, so it’s best to keep the spawn in a separate tank from the adults.
Secondly, Tiger Barbs are egg-scatters, which means the female will swim around laying eggs as it goes and the male will then fertilize them.
Read: Male vs Female Tiger Barbs
Lastly, the temperature and acidity of the spawning tank should be slightly different from the tank that holds the adults.
The temperature should be around 75 to 88°F, or 24 to 31°C and the pH levels should be risen to 7.0 to 7.5, which means a little more alkaline.
So, if you’re looking to breed Tiger Barbs, first check if there aren’t any females already carrying eggs.
Their bellies should get swollen as their bodies get a little plumper. If you cannot recognize males from females, the latter should be a little smaller and plumper than the first.
There are some aspects that can help Tiger Barbs breed and the first one is feeding. Most owners keep their diet based on flakes, which are easy to find and to feed.
However, giving your fish a balanced diet, which includes boiled vegetables, lettuce and spinach leaves, and some meaty food such as bloodworms or daphnia should help them breed.
Still on feeding, when in mating season, the couple that is separated from the rest of the school can also receive a special spawning diet.
This spawning-inducing diet includes food with a higher protein level and freeze-dried Tubifex is definitely one of the favourites among owners.
Apart from that, live food such as brine shrimp, daphnia, and bloodworms are also highly effective.
However, be careful when feeding bloodworms to pregnant Tiger Barb females as they can, if ingested in high quantities, infect the female or even the eggs.
Regarding other aspects, hiding spots and plenty of live plants should also help them mate.
Tiger Barb eggs take around 36 hours to hatch, so keep an eye out for the moment they are fertilized so the adults can be removed from the spawning tank in order to stop them from eating the eggs and fry.
