The tiger barb usually attains sexual maturity at a body length of in total length, or at approximately six to seven weeks of age. The females are larger with a rounder belly and a mainly black dorsal fin, while the males have a bright, red nose with a distinct red line above the black on their dorsal fins. The egg-layers tend to spawn several hundred eggs in the early morning in clumps of plants. On average, 300 eggs can be expected from each spawn in a mature broodstock population, although the number of eggs released will increase with the maturity and size of the fish. Spawned eggs are adhesive, negatively buoyant in freshwater and average 1.18 ± 0.05 mm in diameter.