When researching to buy a pet fish, one of the questions people normally ask is, ‘ are the fish beginner-friendly fish? and are they hardy?. There are many fish that are not beginner fish because they are very hard to maintain and could die easily, sometimes without even an identifiable cause. In this article, we are going to look at Tiger Barbs and see if they are hardy and beginner fish or if they could die easily.
Do Tiger Barbs die easily? Tiger Barbs are hardy fish and could survive in tough conditions, they don’t die easily.
Tiger Barbs are small and semi-aggressive schooling fish, they could barely grow up to 3 inches and they are colorful because they have 3 colors which are red on their fin, yellow, and black on their body.
These fish are not very expensive to maintain, that’s why they are regarded as beginner-friendly fish.
Being hardy fish, they don’t die easily, and they are tough because they could survive in some conditions which other fish might not survive.
Being hardy and tough means they don’t die so easily but that doesn’t in any way mean that they don’t die, they do when they are in a life-threatening condition or environment, which we will look into in a short while.
They are tropical freshwater fish and dwell in warm water and their ideal temperature is 68-80°F, pH 6.0 and 8.0, and water hardness should be between 5 to 19 dGH.
Their average lifespan is 7 years, but in the wild, they could live far more than that.
Although they don’t die easily, but they could die, now let’s see why they may die.
Why Are My Tiger Barbs Dying?
Some of the reasons why your Tiger Barbs may be dying mysteriously are:
1. Lack of feeding/ Poor Quality Diets: It is an undeniable fact that all living things’ survival depends on food, and without it, none will survive, so this is applicable to fish too.
On average, Tiger Barbs should be fed once or twice per day with quality foods too or they will suffer from malnutrition and may become sick and die in the process.
Many people do leave their fish and travel without considering how their fish survives. The fact is, you shouldn’t do that. Buy an Automatic feeder instead and keep it for your fish when you travel to avoid starvation and malnutrition.
Again the quality of foods they eat matters a lot. Buy quality foods for your fish and they will be healthy and bouncing.
Tiger Barbs are omnivores and could eat foods such as Flakes, worms, Peas, Zucchini, Lettuce, Shrimp, etc so feed them quality foods.
2. Aggression: Although these fish are aggressive themselves, but they shouldn’t be kept with aggressive and bigger fish for them not to be bullied or even be eaten due to their small size.
it is not even recommended to keep their fry with the adults nor smaller Tiger Barbs with bigger ones, or they will eat or even bully them to death.
Although they school, but they do that with their size and will harm smaller ones among them.
Again they are not good parenting fish too because they could cannibalize on their fry.
So, if yours are dying, you might have to check if bullying or aggression is going on in the tank and correct it by separating the aggressive or bigger ones to a different tank.
So, get another tank and transfer the bigger or smaller ones so that they will stop killing and injuring each other.
Also getting the tank planted with many hiding places could help if you already have a big tank that is at least 10 gallons per fish.
3. Poor Living Condition: One of the things that could kill them is poor living conditions.
When we say poor living conditions, this includes their living conditions such as quality of water, temperature, pH, and tank size too.
All these are very necessary for their survival, for instance, they need to be in a water temperature between 68-80°F because they are tropical fish, so they need a heater, get them one.
This tank size should be able to give enough rooms of at least 10 gallons per fish, and their water should be regularly checked at least once in 2 weeks to know if toxins such as ammonia, chlorine, nitrites, etc have developed in their tanks.
To be able to check your water, you need water testing kits, so get them and keep an eye on your aquarium water.
Do a change of water at least once a week if there are some toxins in the water and do it every 2 weeks if the water seems okay to avoid giving those toxins a chance to breed.
4. Sickness/Diseases: These might be the reason why your Tiger Barbs are dying mysteriously.
Sometimes there might not be something wrong to you about the water and tank because you take proper care of them, but still, an animal will fall sick and die, unless you take it to a vet, which will diagnose it and find out the real problem.
We don’t in any way give medical advice here, so if you notice that your fish is sick or at least looks unhealthy and inactive, you might want to get the attention of a vet for proper medication and medical advice if possible.
5. Old age: As I explained above, every living thing has its lifespan and when it elapses, the creature will die.
Tiger Barbs have a lifespan which is 7 years on average, although they could last more than that in the wild due to their environment and the foods they eat.
If your fish are of the same age, they might start dying one after the other when they get to the end of their lifespan, and you might be wondering why, this is because they are very old to live.
So, if your Tiger Barbs are dying, you might have to calculate their age and know if it’s out of old age or if there is another thing involved.
Are Tiger Barbs Hard To Keep Alive?
Tiger Barbs are hardy fish and do not die so easily, so they are not hard to keep alive.
Earlier in this article, we call these fish beginner-friendly fish because they are so easy to keep and take care of without running into many troubles.
So, they are not hard to keep and not hard to keep alive too.
How Do You Keep Tiger Barbs Alive?
Tiger Barbs are easy to care for, so keeping them alive is not hard as they are hardy fish, just keep them in their ideal temperature, pH, and water type and feed them with quality foods daily and they will be very healthy and lively.
There is no other way to keep Tiger Barbs Alive than to give them proper care and attention.
Conclusion
Although Tiger Barbs don’t die so easily, you should give them proper care so that they won’t die.
I hope this article is helpful, why not share it on social media or with your friend and family to help them out with their fish.
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