long story short, i had a 20 gallon tank with tetras, platys, and my favorite, tiger barbs. i think i had around 6 and they kept their aggression to themselves. this tank was up and running with no problems for well over a year.
about 2 months ago, i got a 55 gallon tank. i didn't have any fish that i moved from the old tank to the other, but i put about 6 tiger barbs in there with 2 small iridescent sharks and 3 small bala sharks. from the very beginning, a couple of my tiger barbs would break off from the group and mercilessly pick on my iridescent sharks, even though they were very fast moving and don't have "flowing" fins. i realize that my tank is not big enough for the ID sharks in the long run anyway, so i took them out and gave them to a friend.
not long after, i added one rainbow shark and everything was fine. the barbs didn't bother the bala sharks and obviously not the rainbow either. my wife wanted to add 2 pink kissing gouramis. i had heard they can be aggressive themselves, and they were much larger than my tiger barbs. well i guess mine were wimps or something, because the barbs attacked them constantly. the barbs did nothing but just keep trying to slowly swim away. i planned to return the gouramis but my wife wanted to keep them instead of the barbs.
i reluctantly gave away the tiger barbs to another friend. now i really miss them. even though they can be aggressive, they are colorful and active and for this reason have always been one of my favorites. i just miss not having any. so now, i'm tempted to get about 10 and add them into my community which currently has 3 bala sharks, 1 rainbow shark, and the 2 pink gouramis.
question #1: is it possible that having a larger number (10 this time instead of 6) could make the barbs behave themselves? maybe i just got a couple that were particularly mean.
question #2: is it possible that since the tiger barbs (this time) would be introduced into a community tank, rather than having been there first and having the other fish introduced to them, they might be a little more peaceful?
i just really miss my barbs. like i said, they never bothered the bala sharks or the rainbow shark, so if i absolutely had to, i guess i could get rid of the gouramis.
i appreciate any insight you might be able to give me. i know it's never a for sure thing, as different fish have different personalities, but does this sound like it's worth a shot?
about 2 months ago, i got a 55 gallon tank. i didn't have any fish that i moved from the old tank to the other, but i put about 6 tiger barbs in there with 2 small iridescent sharks and 3 small bala sharks. from the very beginning, a couple of my tiger barbs would break off from the group and mercilessly pick on my iridescent sharks, even though they were very fast moving and don't have "flowing" fins. i realize that my tank is not big enough for the ID sharks in the long run anyway, so i took them out and gave them to a friend.
not long after, i added one rainbow shark and everything was fine. the barbs didn't bother the bala sharks and obviously not the rainbow either. my wife wanted to add 2 pink kissing gouramis. i had heard they can be aggressive themselves, and they were much larger than my tiger barbs. well i guess mine were wimps or something, because the barbs attacked them constantly. the barbs did nothing but just keep trying to slowly swim away. i planned to return the gouramis but my wife wanted to keep them instead of the barbs.
i reluctantly gave away the tiger barbs to another friend. now i really miss them. even though they can be aggressive, they are colorful and active and for this reason have always been one of my favorites. i just miss not having any. so now, i'm tempted to get about 10 and add them into my community which currently has 3 bala sharks, 1 rainbow shark, and the 2 pink gouramis.
question #1: is it possible that having a larger number (10 this time instead of 6) could make the barbs behave themselves? maybe i just got a couple that were particularly mean.
question #2: is it possible that since the tiger barbs (this time) would be introduced into a community tank, rather than having been there first and having the other fish introduced to them, they might be a little more peaceful?
i just really miss my barbs. like i said, they never bothered the bala sharks or the rainbow shark, so if i absolutely had to, i guess i could get rid of the gouramis.
i appreciate any insight you might be able to give me. i know it's never a for sure thing, as different fish have different personalities, but does this sound like it's worth a shot?
