These cute and colorful fish are another popular staple of the aquarium trade. The common tiger barb variety is the one shown, but there have also been bred other varieties, including green, red and albino forms.
The biggest warning I'd have for these fish is that they are NIPPY and given the chance, can tear apart the fins of fish like angelfish. So get them only for the active tank full of fish that can take care of themselves, such as a tank full of danios, other barbs, or hardy tetras like the serpae. Fish like barbs and tetras are schooling fish, and need to be kept in small groups of 4-6 individuals (this can also decrease their nippiness towards other fish). These barbs can be kept in a 10 gallon aquarium, but do even better in larger tanks.
They are active, hardy, and take all sorts of foods. Like all barbs and tetras, they scatter their eggs and show no parental care; they are not hard to breed in a shallow long tank that has a grill or layer of plants/marbles at the bottom. Females are usually broader and bigger than males. Unlike livebearers, these fish will hardly ever breed in the community tank. Barbs will eat their own eggs and fry, so the parents must be removed after the eggs are laid.