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Like the subject says... are green tiger barbs natural?

if they are, i'd like to get a couple to go with the barbs i already have... if not (at the risk of sounding like a PETA activist), i don't really want to support something like painting, injecting, or tattooing.

no i don't think so i think they're realy crossbred

Green barbs have not been tattoed or dyed. They are the regualar stripey barbs that have been specially bred so that the stripes all run together. If you look in the stores, almost every speciman has a few off-stripe black/green spots. They bred together a bunch of these so that eventually the green all ran together. The best green barb specimens are completly green, no silver spots with the exception of a saddle of silver right under the pectoral fins.

Now, whether you support selective breeding is a different question. If you chose not to, you probably cannot buy most any bettas, or guppies, or and long-finned varieties, or lyre-tails, or albinos. All of these have been selectively bred.

Finally, since there is a smaller initial population, the later generations do share many genes. Oftentimes siblings had to be bred together to keep the desired traits. This may lead to some of the specimens to be weaker genetically -- a little most susceptible to diseases maybe, possibly not as hardy, etc.

Tiger barbs are one of the more popular fish, so many many are bred each year. Depending upon where you get them, they can be very fragile to very hardy. And I mean the green ones, too. I have a few green barbs that have been through fishy hell and back and still swimming strong. And, yes, I've had a few that didnt last much more than a week. If at all possible, try to find a local breeder through a fish club, otherwise get all chummy with your local LFS employees so they can tell you how the fish have done since the LFS has had them in their tanks and help you pick the best specimens.

Last edited by bignose at 29-Aug-2005 23:58

i_spaz_out

If I remember correctly some time ago I saw some and was told they were a selective breeding but apprently are very common now.

Keith

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They are not Dyed & where selectly breeded so the green colour will take all over their body.


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IM(Limited)E with a mix of green and regular tiger barbs, it doesn't work.

However I've seen that other people on the board have been able to keep the two together without one ripping holes in the stomach of the other (sorry was that too graphic ). If you are planning on keeping them together with regular tiger barbs I'd suggest adding the full school all @one time to help minimize the picking on of the new fish. Understanding of course that you will need to take steps to prevent a mini cycle from occuring based on how many you add.

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