Green Tiger Barb Bully

[Glitzy]

Hi there I have a 180 litre tank stocked with six green tiger barbs and six harlequin rasboras and a plec.
Tonight after feeding I noticed one of the green tiger barbs is chasing the other five round the tank, nipping.

Not doing it with harlequins and never seen this before, none of the fish look 'nipped'.

Now, I'm gradually restocking the tank and was wondering if getting more tigers would calm him? Would a bigger shoal do this? Or could it make matters worse?

 

[leighton_87]

Generally speaking a bigger shoal of tigers is always better - many people recommend 12 as a minimum but even another few will help.

Even if it doesn't calm him it will spread the aggression and make the fish are less bullied/stressed. Tigers are a hierarchical fish that create pecking orders amongst themselves so you are always going to get chasing/fighting no mater how large the group. This is one reason a lot of people like them as they are always up to something.

It is only a concern in smaller groups as the aggression is not as spread and sometimes if they do not have enough tigers to chase they may turn in other fish.

 

[Glitzy]

Ok. Would standard tigers shoal with greens?

 

[leighton_87]

I asked the same question a few months ago and got the answer probably but not always.

As far as I know they are the same species so I would think yes but I have never kept them so can't confirm

 

[Glitzy]

Will have a chat to LFS. They're very good.

 

[Mikey1]

never seen this before

 
then you obviously have very little experience with tiger barbs....
 
they are the biggest pain in the rear end fish out there, and generally speaking nothing but trouble

 

[leighton_87]

never seen this before

 
then you obviously have very little experience with tiger barbs....
 
they are the biggest pain in the rear end fish out there, and generally speaking nothing but trouble

Personally I couldn't disagree more - I know plenty of people that keep Tigers in suitable numbers and suitablly large tanks and almost every one of them absolutely love them and they are by far their favourite fish.True you can get certain tigers which are a pain but that can be said of any fish.They are a wonderful fish with great personalities in my opinion.

 

[Mikey1]

 


never seen this before

 
then you obviously have very little experience with tiger barbs....
 
they are the biggest pain in the rear end fish out there, and generally speaking nothing but trouble

Personally I couldn't disagree more - I know plenty of people that keep Tigers in suitable numbers and suitablly large tanks and almost every one of them absolutely love them and they are by far their favourite fish.True you can get certain tigers which are a pain but that can be said of any fish.They are a wonderful fish with great personalities in my opinion.
 
 
i guess i should have been more clear....
 
my comments were reffering to having tigers in the average sized community tank

 

[leighton_87]

Then I agree - they are not suited at all.

I would have loved some in my 125 litre tank but unless I made it a Tiger species tank I think it would have been difficult so I kept away from them. They can be community friendly in a big enough tank but you do need to think about tank mates.

In the same way I'd love an Oscar but it ain't going to happen in my current tank.

 

[Glitzy]

What I meant was I'd not seen them take a pop at each other before... One against all the others if you get me. The harlequins are all fine, no nipped fins and they don't get chased.
So now I have a shoal of 6 green tigers and 6 tigers. So far so good, all shoaling together. Will see what kind of hierarchy we get!

Did have a slightly WTF moment in LFS, another customer overhearing me talking to staff member recommended getting angels, gourami or a betta with them... Surely that'd be fin-rip city?!?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yeah, that's a BAD idea.  The only fish that can really deal with tigers, is other tigers.     Fight fire, with fire.  

 

[Mikey1]

barbs in general should only be kept with other barbs, and in large schools....
 
barbs in general dont really make very good community type fish, unless your talking about extremely small barbs that do not get very big, like cherry barbs.....i would never recommend any type of barb if you want a peaceful community tank

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I've heard really good things about five-banded barbs, but I've never kept them.

 

[leighton_87]

Five banded barbs are very shy and timid especially in high light or with fast moving or bigger tank mates. They would certainly not be classed as aggressive.

I have had black ruby barbs with no 'aggression' - yes they chase each other now again but no more than my tetras and I have never seen prolonged bullying or any nipping. In a similar way in which a couple of dogs would chase each other.

I've also heard similar good things about rosy barbs, golden barbs and checkered barbs to name but a few.

And one of the biggest barbs - Denison barbs - are one of the least aggressive fish going.

There are a lot of tetras which have much worse reputation for nipping - do not let Tiger barbs give the rest of barbs a bad reputation.

 

[SLIM]

Can i just say iv kept Tiger Barbs in a community tank and with angels with no problems or aggression what so ever. As said before, the trick is to keep them in large numbers. I currently have 25 tigers with 2 angels & 2 pearl Gouramis with no fighting or nipped fins.