# do tiger barb's eat moss\plants?



## a1Matt (9 Jul 2009)

I have been smitten by the green tiger barb! (Puntius tetrazona\Barbus tetrazona).  I've seen them in MA and instantly knew they would look just right in my tank.

Question is.... do they eat plants and\or mosses?

I have seen some postings that say they eat BBA.  This seems great, but if they eat BBA I expect they are likely to nibble my mosses as well. Which (sadly) would rule them out for my tank.

I'd prefer comments based on experience rather than conjecture!

So far I have found, from experience that....
SAE's like nibbling on all mosses.  
Snowball shrimp devour Leptodictyum riparium (Stringy moss) and nibble on Taiwan moss (taxiphyllum alternans).
Amanos devour Fontinalis antipyretica (Willow Moss) but leave all other mosses alone completely.
Never had problems with any other fish\moss\plant combo!


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## Joecoral (9 Jul 2009)

I've never heard of them eating plants or moss, but I may be wrong, couldn't say for certain


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## Superman (9 Jul 2009)

Then I had tiger barbs in a planted tank, they didn't bother any of the plants.
They are great little fish but do get aggressive with shrimp and snails etc.
Given time they do get rather large.


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## a1Matt (9 Jul 2009)

I have seen reports they grow up 3" (I presume that is end to end excluding the tail).I know that they are stocky little beggars when in good nick which makes them look bigger.

How large did they get for you Clark?

EDIT: They would be joining 9 amanos, 2 otos and 3 dwarf cories in a 160L tank


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## Superman (9 Jul 2009)

Mine got to about 2" after getting them at about 1-2cm (swapping measures here!) and I saw some in shops much bigger.
I loved them for their behaviour and got on with some danios very well, but they really went for my Cherry Shrimp and Apple Snail.
I removed them after a while as they didn't suite my planted tank anymore.

The blue/green or platinum ones look nice, but I personally would get some cherry barbs or something.


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## a1Matt (9 Jul 2009)

The size does put me off a little, 2" is OK, but 3" is pushing it a bit... it may well upset the scale of the tank. Cherry barbs are a better size, but there is something about the green ones that has captivated me!  I can really visualise them sitting against my crypts.


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## Superman (9 Jul 2009)

Dont get me wrong they were great fish, I just found them not my taste after moving to planted tanks.
My tiger barbs did tend to stay out of the plants for most of the time, but then some did like to hide away.
It's great seeing them display to each other too.


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