Tiger Barbs Nipping

[keeton]

sorry but i keep stealing peoples threads about stocking when asking question about tiger barbs
i love them so much, they look great and would love them in my new tank once its cycled properly.
do all tiger barbs nip other fish? or is it only large fish with big fins?
i was going for 6 tiger barbs with other small fish with small fins, my only concern is for my honey's but they dont have huge fins anyway. i can sacrifice 4or5 harlequins and up the tiger barbs to 10, which would make:
2 honey's
10 neons
10 tiger barbs
5 peppered catfish
2 bristle nose pleco
shrimp

thanks for all the advice so far guys

cheers

 

[tenohfive]

I've not kept them myself, but I've heard mixed stories - in some tanks they don't nip, in others they do - but I've heard enough stories of nipping to know that their reputation is deserved.

Think minxfishy recommended bigger groups of them - 10 plus.

Another alternative is the Pentazona Barb (5 banded barb) - as I mentioned elsewhere, I've just picked up 5 of them and I think they're fantastic fish. Their patterning and colouration is similar to Tigers, but they don't have the reputation for being nippy. Mine are certainly active enough - my only regret about them is that the LFS only had 5 - I want to add another 5 to get more of a shoal.

Pic below courtesy of google images:

 

[keeton]

do you think getting them as small/babies (not small enough to eat) as then they will be the same size as neon if not slightly smaller, as then they will mature with the other fish and tank and not nip as the have matured with them?
will see what happens.

cheers

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons is the tank?

 

[tenohfive]

do you think getting them as small/babies (not small enough to eat) as then they will be the same size as neon if not slightly smaller, as then they will mature with the other fish and tank and not nip as the have matured with them?
will see what happens.

cheers

Could work, but might not. Even once they're grown, something goes wrong (filter failure etc) to stress them out and its likely any aggressive behaviour will be brought out.

Personally I wouldn't risk it, I'd go with the pentazona instead. I went for them having thought about tigers but dismissed them for being too much of a risk.
Its very easy to say, "I'll take a chance" when you first start in the hobby (I know I took a few, and learned the hard way) but I'd seriously think about the pentazonas.

 

[keeton]

29/30gallon

 

[WILDER]

Tank size good.

They can be really nippy fish and it's up to you if you want to keep them.

 

[keeton]

i dont know what to do lol
would 10 be enough to keep it with in themselfs

 

[Amunet]

Getting them small won't make any difference.
For our 125gal, we got 6 small tiger barbs to begin with. As soon as they were comfy in the tank (took around 2 days), they started to nip at the killifish. They'd actually chase the poor killifish. Thankfully they were too small to do any damage, but it still caused stress.
I'm sure they would've nipped at the danios and rainbows as well but those fish are too fast for them.
We've since gotten 6 albino tigers as well and haven't had any nipping since.
In a 30gal tank.... *shrugs* I can't really comment on how they would act.
They definitely earn their reputation as fin nippers.

 

[WILDER]

Never kept them as seen to many threads about tiger barbs and problems with nipping and bullying other fish.

 

[tenohfive]

i dont know what to do lol
would 10 be enough to keep it with in themselfs

There is no hard and fast answer. Maybe yes, maybe no. I've heard of both scenarios in other peoples tanks. Getting tiger barbs with other fish that aren't as robust is a risk, its up to you whether or not you choose to take it.

 

[Jazzzz]

had 10 in a 30gallon and they went for plecs apple snails infact if it moved they would attack it

They went for my 25cm goldie in the 50gallon

 

[Cocomojo]

I had 5 (first mistake) all by themselves. The largest of the males took upon himself to strip all the other males of their fins... then when he had noone left to hurt he turned on his lil girlfriend.

 

[mancin]

I have 9 of them in my 29 Gallon along with a couple Platies and a BN Pleco. They have left the Platies alone completely. They have tried to nip at the Pleco a couple times when I drop an algae wafer in there, so I have to be sure to feed the Pleco at night when the Tigers are resting. I also used to have Tinfoil Barbs (before I knew how large they got -- they have been rehomed) and the Tigers left those alone as well. At least in my case, they definitely have spread their aggression amongst themselves. I think I have 1 Tiger right now with nipped fins, but the rest of them are doing OK. TBH, I don't have a ton of room to put any other fish in the 29 Gallon, and I'd be a little wary to based on what I've read as well. That being said, I love the fish, so that's primarly their tank.

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

I think I would agree with the idea of having as many tiger barbs as your tank will allow in order to keep their aggression down. I had a group of 6 in my tank, but recently rehomed the remaining ones. They left my other fish (polkadot loach) and amano shrimp alone, but they were constantly fighting amongst themselves. Not just the occasional mouth-locking and posturing, but pirhana-style bullying. One barb ended up with just his dorsal and caudal fins left... all other fins were eaten, another had both pectoral fins eaten off and it just got worse and worse. I kept them for a couple of years, just replacing the ones that were killed in the hopes of getting more peaceful fish but it just never happened. It's a real shame because they are beautiful fish and I absolutely love them, but my tank is only big enough to accomodate a group of 6 so I've resigned myself to not keeping them any more. I rehomed them to a friend with a really huge tank full of them (hopefully the evil little beggers will just get 'lost in the crowd'). So now I've just bought a pearl gourami and a trio of otocinclus to go in with my polkadot loach trio. I'm now aiming for a more peaceful community, as seeing fish being bullied to the extent of having no fins left at all is very stressful and upsetting to see
It sounds like you've got a tank big enough to keep a really decent sized shoal of tiger barbs, so in theory they will be less aggressive within a larger group like that. Try it and see... despite my tale of woe I don't want to put you off tiger barbs, because I still love them and would have them again if I had a big enough tank to keep 15 or so of them. I personally can't think of anything much more beautiful than an enormous planted tank with loads of tiger barbs! They really are a favourite of mine. I'm just not meant to keep them in a 30" tank!
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