Help! Something Wrong Between Guppy & Tigerfish.

[fishluver160]

Ok, ever since I went to a fish shop and bought some tigerfish, my guppies were acting weird. I realized each time the tigerfish swim close to my guppies, ZOOM! There goes my guppy. Before I had my tigerfishes, my guppy always liked to swim in the place where there is no plants nor rocks, now they seemed to be always hiding at the plants and rocks. My aunt said the tigerfish WILL bite their tails, on the other hand, the shop I bought it from, said theres no problem with tigerfish and guppy mixed together. But my platys and swordtails are ok, I think. Please faster reply, I am worried my guppies die.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Based on the guppies behavior, i would say they are intimidated and at a risk for being bullied. I don't know muh about your fish, but i did a google search on it, and everything I found said this fish will grow to be fairly large, and also prefers meaty foods. From that, i would say tigerfish and guppies are not good tankmates. You may want to consider re-homing the tigerfish, or atleast dividing your tank.

 

[dwarfgourami]

By tigerfish, do you mean tiger barb- puntius tetrazona?

If so, your aunt was right to warn you and the guppies are wise in making themselves scarce: these guys are well known fin nippers and the last thing you want to have around if you're a relatively slowmoving fish with a long flowing fancy tail. Quite possibly the shop knew this too- but they have a living to make.

You need to find a way of separating these fish, before the guppies stop eating and die from stress, or develop stress-related illnesses. If you have two tanks, split them up, if not see about getting the ?barbs back to the shop. Btw how many ?barbs have you added? They (if they are tiger barbs) are recommended in schools of 7-8 to keep down aggression, but even in these numbers I would not keep them with guppies.

 

[fishluver160]

Infact I have 9 tiger barbs/fish, and my guppies are still eating... and hiding. Anyway, I will try separate them, I thank you very much!