Description: Four tiger-like black vertical stripes on an orange-yellow body make it obvious where this member of the barb family got its common name. Red edged fins and nose add even more color to the popular Tiger Barb. In recent years, selective breeding has created several color variations that include green, black, red, and albino. Reaching an adult size of 21/2 to 3 inches, they are large enough to avoid being eaten by large fish, yet small enough to keep a school of them in a modest sized tank.
This colorful barb is frequently chosen for a community tank, unfortunately they are not an ideal choice for all aquariums. When kept singly or in groups of two three, they will terrorize almost any fish that is unfortunate enough to reside in the same tank. Yet if they are kept in groups of a half dozen or more, they will usually keep their quarrelling to themselves.
Regardless of the numbers kept, it is never advisable to keep Tigers in the same tank with docile, slow moving, or long finned fish such as Angelfish or Bettas. For a striking display, set up a species-specific tank with a half dozen of each color variation, complimented by live plants. When well cared for, Tiger Barbs have a life span of five to seven years.
Habitat/Care: Tigers tolerate a wide range of water conditions, but do best in soft, slightly acidic water. The ideal tank should have a large open area for swimming, with an abundance of live or artificial plants around the periphery of the tank. Temperature is not critical, and this fish can even be kept in an unheated tank. Provide good lighting, and a fine substrate to complete the setup.
Diet: Accepting of virtually any food, they should be given a variety of foods to maintain a healthy immune system. Include quality flake food as well as live and frozen foods such as brine shrimp, bloodworms and beef heart. They will quickly gobble up small aquatic invertebrates and even cooked vegetables.
Breeding: Egg-scatterers that provide no parental care, Tiger Barbs will eat their own eggs if they have the opportunity. Therefore, set up a separate breeding tank, which can double as a grow-out tank for the fry. Females have a broader more rounded belly, and are larger than the more highly colored males. To acquire a breeding pair, keep at least a half dozen and allow them to pair off. Condition the breeders with live foods, and once a pair has been established, move them to a separate breeding tank.
The breeding tank should have soft acidic water, fine-leaved plants, and a bare bottom. Some breeders use marbles for the bottom, which allow the eggs to drop safely out of the parents grasp. Keep in mind that if the bottom is bare, it is particularly critical to observe them and move the parents immediately after spawning, as they will consume the eggs. Spawning will take usually place in the morning. If the breeding pair does not spawn within a day or two, a partial water change with water that is a degree or two warmer than the tank will usually trigger spawning. The female will lay about 200 eggs transparent yellowish colored eggs, which the male will immediately fertilize. As soon as the eggs have been fertilized, the breeding pair should be removed from the tank. The eggs will hatch in approximately 36 hours, and the fry will be free swimming after five days. Feed the fry newly hatched brine shrimp until large enough to accept finely crushed flake food.

The brilliant coloration, and long flowing fins of the Betta make it one of the most well known of aquarium fish. Colors range from red to blue to white. Females are not as highly colored, and have much shorter fins. A well conditioned breeding female will often display horizontal stripes.
Habitat/Care: Bettas are one of the most recognized, most colorful, and often most controversial fish in the freshwater hobby. Debates rage about the appropriateness of keeping them in small bowls. To fully understand their needs it is important to become familiar with their native habitat.Bettas originate in the shallow waters in Thailand (formerly called Siam, hence their name), Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and parts of China. They proliferate rice paddies, shallow ponds, and even slow moving streams. Although many fish keepers are aware that Bettas come from shallow waters, what is often overlooked is the water temperature.The home countries of the Betta are tropical, which means the water temperature is quite warm, often into the 80's. Bettas thrive on heat, and will become increasingly listless when the water temperature falls below 75 degrees F. Water temperature is perhaps the biggest argument against keeping a betta in a tiny bowl (which cannot readily be heat controlled).Even though Bettas do well in waters low in dissolved oxygen, that does not mean they require less oxygen than other fish. Bettas have a special respiratory organ that allows them to breath air directly from the surface. In fact they inherently must do so. In experiments where the labyrinth organ was removed, the fish died from suffocation even though the water was saturated with oxygen. For this reason, Bettas must have access to the water surface to breath air directly from the atmosphere.Optimally the water for keeping healthy Bettas should be soft, warm, with a neutral to slightly acidic pH. Water movement should be kept to a minimum, which means that power filters and powerheads are not suitable. Bettas may be kept in a community tank as long as the water conditions are met, and if no aggressive or fin-nipping fish are present. However, only one male may be kept in each aquarium, unless they are separated by a barrier. The use of plastic boxes that hang inside the aquarium are a suitable option for keeping more than one betta in a tank, or for keeping them in a tank with fish that might nip their fins. Females will generally not fight with each other, and may be kept in the same tank. NOTE: Selling a betta in a vase with a Peace Lily has become in vogue. However, a flower vase is not a suitable environment for the betta. For more information check the additional information links to the right.
Diet

In nature Bettas subsist almost exclusively on insects and insect larvae. They are built with an upturned mouth that is well suited to snatching any hapless insect that might fall into the water. Internally their digestive system is geared for meat, having a much shorter alimentary track than vegetarian fish. For this reason, live foods are the ideal diet for the betta, however they will adapt to eating flake foods and frozen and freeze dried foods.Brine shrimp, Daphnia, plankton, tubifex, glassworms, and beef heart, are all excellent options that may be found frozen or freeze dried. If flake food is fed, it should be supplemented with frozen and freeze-dried foods, and if possible live foods.

Breeding

In the world of fighting fish, it’s the father who takes care of the brood. The female will simply mate, lay eggs and swim off to resume her independent life.
The male will blow an elaborate bubble nest at the water surface when it’s ready to spawn. It secretes a mucus coating from its mouth to form a floating nest of bubbles. In the wild, the bubble nest is usually built under a floating leaf or object to prevent it from being destroyed by water currents or wind.
The Breeding Process
Introduce the male (usually more colorful, and with long flowing fins) into the spawning tank. Make sure the tank is devoid of any currents to prevent the bubble nest form being destroyed. Then put the female (usually more drab-looking with shorter fins) in a jar, and suspend the jar within the tank.
Upon seeing the female, the male may start building a nest and returning intermittently to display itself to the female, while the female will darken and display vertical bars on its body if it is ready to mate.
Once the nest is build (usually in a day), release the female into the tank. An initial round of chasing will ensure. As the male tends to be rather aggressive during this stage, it is a good idea to put plants such as java moss in the tank to provide hiding places for the female.
During mating, the male wraps itself over the female, while the female releases eggs to be fertilized by the male. The male will then pick up the eggs and place them into the bubble nest. This process will be repeated until the female has expelled all her eggs.
What’s Next After Mating?
Remove the female once mating has ceased, otherwise the male may harass it to death. Leave the male to tend to the eggs. It will take 36 to 48 hours for the eggs to hatch.
The hatching will cling onto the bubble nest. In a few days’ time, they will start to swim freely and look for food such as micro-organisms or newly hatched brine shrimp. Remove the male lest it starts eating up the hatchlings

DESCRIPTION
The betta splendens(siamese fighting fish) is a graceful and beautiful fish.It is sometimes called the "egg laying mammal".It is very social and will fight to death because of teritory and mate.The fighting fish can be found in many colurs and types.Look at the chart below.


Long-tail(veiled)-------leon(Japan),malaysian,thailand and amazon.This are used for breeding(red ones only) and show off
Short-tail----------------turkey(brazil),malaysian,thailand and indonesion(this is the rarest of all fishes which is totally in white)used for fighting.