A lot of new aquarists more or less automatically purchase guppies, neon tetras and perhaps an algae eating catfish for their first aquarium, without realising that the aquatic hobby is filled with other fish species that are excellent for beginners. If you want to try something else, why not take a closer look at some of the many interesting barb species? If you are a beginner aquarist, the Cherry barb is for instance a great choice since it is a hardy and adaptable fish that can be successfully kept even by novice aquarists. The Cherry barb is beautiful and with add activity to your aquarium, as long as you keep at least five, preferably more, Cherry barbs together. The Cherry barb is a schooling fish and keeping too few of them will make the fishes frightened and stressed, which in turn can make them shy, passive and prone to illness. They can also loose their colours.
If you are a beginner aquarist interested in breeding fish, why not get a group of Tiger barbs? The Tiger barb is known to frequently spawn in captivity without much coaxing from the aquarist. It is also a hardy fish that will adapt itself to a wide range of temperatures.
There are however some barbs that you should stay away from if you are a beginner aquarist. Getting aggressive barb species is for instance a bad idea since a beginner aquarist seldom knows enough about how to reduce violence in the aquarium. Since a majority of new aquarists have small aquariums, it is also important to stay away from barb species that grow too big. The popular Tinfoil barb can for instance be 14 inches (35 centimetres) long and you must keep at least five of these fishes together since it is a schooling species.