View Full Version : Tiger Barbs fighting eachother
Hi, I'm new to the site and new to the hobby, but have been reading this site for about a month now trying to learn as much as I can. I've researched a lot before starting, and am trying my best to start slow in order to try and encounter the least amount of problems.
The question I have is regarding my Tiger Barbs. Here is what my tank contains (I've had it for 2 weeks now):
Original purchase:
20g tank
2 tiger barbs
2 orange platies
2 australian.. umm... forget the exact name, but they have yellow tails, and are larger than the average community fish.
Since then I have added a few others, as my tank was pretty empty with only 6 small fish:
1 week later:
2 tiger barbs
2 silver tipped orange fish. haha sorry i can't recall their exact name
then one of the Tiger barbs died. It was one of the newly added barbs. Bought them on a friday, it died on the monday. I watched them closely, and because both the new tiger barbs had distinguishing markings, I can tell them apart from the orignal barbs i purchased. The original barbs (one in specific) harasses the new barbs constantly... he chases them non-stop. Basically, he did this until this one died. He is slightly... and I mean just slightly bigger than the others. Now the second new barb is feeling the same effects as the one that died. It is chased constantly and now it never moves until it's being chased... it's constantly in hiding. (One thing I Need to add is more plants, as there aren't many in my tank - 4 semi-large plastic plants and a sunken car - i'll post a pic at the bottom of the post).
I'm at work now and I have a feeling when I get home this other barb will have died as well. I've also noticed this barb has begun chasing the other original barb as well. I'm not sure what to do. He's not extremely aggressive... as in he doesn't really attack, just chases until the other barb stops and hides. I really like tiger barbs but am afraid each one I buy is going to be killed by this controlling barb. I've considered buying a larger barb to teach him a lesson, but haha, I want to look at other options first.
I know barbs can be semi-aggressive with their own kind, but I've never heard of them killing in a fashion like this. And these are small barbs, too. They are definitely no where near full-grown and neither is this guy.
Anyways, sorry for such a long post, and I'm looking forward to learning more, as I can see there are a lot of very "fish-smart" people on this board. The info I've already obtained from this site in a few short weeks had helped me tremedously. I basically knew nothing a few weeks, and like to think I know a decent amount for someone who's been in the hobby for 2 weeks :)
Oh, in addition, yesterday I added 2 irredecent sharks to the mix. I love these lil' guys :)
Edit: Oh, and here is a picture of my tank. The pic was taken the day I purchased it, so only 6 fish were in the tank at this time.
http://www.cablelan.net/revscene/files/fish1.jpg
http://www.cablelan.net/revscene/files/fish2.jpg
Rocketman
02-05-2004, 6:35 PM
You have an australian rainbow fish. Some stores call them simply australians.
Tiger barbs are semi aggressive towards their own kind...thats all i can think of.
VictorSmalls
02-05-2004, 6:36 PM
from my experiance, tiger barbs either need more room than you have to just keep 2 or 3 of them than you have. In most cases tiger barbs will fight and nip fins unless they are kept in a school. 5 and up is usually a good number. Im guessing that the australian refers to australian rainbows?
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0583&view_records=1
If so I believe that they might get a bit to big for your 20 if you decied to go with a few more of the barbs. Either way, it looks like you might have a choice to make.
VictorSmalls
02-05-2004, 6:38 PM
The Iridescent Shark will get far to big for your 20G
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0207&view_records=1
I have 2 in my 75 and they are getting a bit to big for it.
I plan on upgrading to larger tank soon... when I bought this one, I thought it'd be huge, but I've already realized I'll need a bigger one. So that won't be a problem.
Originally posted by VictorSmalls
Im guessing that the australian refers to australian rainbows?
http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0583&view_records=1
It might be, but I'm not sure. I can't tell by that pic. They don't really look like that... same colors, but they are long fish... similar build to a salmon or kokanee, but obviously much smaller :)
Rocketman
02-05-2004, 7:06 PM
Irridescent sharks are really bad fish for tanks. They're skittish and just not good for tanks.
ConMan
02-05-2004, 9:55 PM
Get the tiger barbs into groups of at least 6. It may have been a territoral fight between two males or females. My most successful shoal was at 12 individuals due to tank limitations.
If you have a larger group, there are too many targets to focus on, and submissive fish get turns to rest as the barbs create levels of dominance. After they get into their niches in the shoal they'll still have minor skirmishes, but you shouldn't have casualties.
Iridescents get really big, but experience is the greatest teacher of all, so good luck.
With the platies, my advice is to only have 1 male in the tank and a few females.
Have fun and don't stress. Experience is everything.
Originally posted by Rocketman
Irridescent sharks are really bad fish for tanks. They're skittish and just not good for tanks.
Why else?
And if they're not good for tanks... what would be better for them?
Ok, this is probably a really stupid question to some of you... but how do I tell if they're male or female, other than the obvious physical differences?
As far as the platties... how do I tell? Do they look different.. or..?
ConMan
02-05-2004, 10:21 PM
The males are usually smaller and more colorful than the females.
Platies aren't my expertise, but hopefully the lfs you go to has well informed staff, or other people on the site may know more about them.
sigmatauntaylor
02-05-2004, 10:55 PM
check on the bottom side of the platy if it has only fins than it is female if it has fins and something that looks more like a tube than it is male. the tube (gonopodum sp?) is what the platy uses to deliver sperm, it should point towards the butt of the fish
chefkeith
02-06-2004, 12:03 AM
Tiger Barbs will maim each other if given the chance. The only way to avoid this is too get a longer/wider tank (tank height is not really an issue) and to build up the party to atleast 6. Lots of plants and driftwood help alot too, the obstacles make for an easy get away.
Is it just me, or does the rear stripe of that barb look like it has velvet?
anonapersona
02-06-2004, 9:52 AM
I have a few comments, but I do not keep Tiger Barbs so this is sort of general.
First, invest in more plants and decor. As you noticed the chasing is likely to end when the aggressor looses sight of the one he's after.
Then, go on and get several more tiger barbs, like 4 or 6, to add to this tank at the same time. I ordinarily prefer to suggest keeping new fish in Quarantine, but this may be the exception. You need at least six, more is better. And you may yet have some losses.
Add all of these fish at once, and rearrange the tank at the same time. The dominant fish will be terribbly stressed by this, he may get ill. Here he had everything all under control, maybe even a female for his own control, now the tank is full of fish, running and hiding everywhere, the tiny despot is toppled. When you add one or two at a time, he can destroy them, but adding 6 or 7 will totally overwhelm him. He will spend all his time trying to get everyone back in line, but they all look alike and keep running away, he can't concentrate on any one fish long enough to kill him.
Now, I don't know how many you can fit in that tank. Tiger barbs are sort of bulky.
You may need to get rid of some of the other fish to fit in the size group you need for the barbs. Persoanlly, I'd keep the barbs and nothing else, but I like that sort of tank, it allows for more natural behavior IMO. Maybe one or two other fish that fit into a different niche, like a bottom dweller or top dweller, but no other midlevel fish.
Now there may be some preferences on males to females, my serpae tetras have 4 males and 2 females (just chance in the picking) With 4 males 3 of them spend their time strutting and sparring with each other, the other keeps the females hiding in the bushes. I'd just try to get some of each, don't pick just males.
vaheelsfan
02-06-2004, 9:54 AM
Originally posted by Gunn
Why else?
And if they're not good for tanks... what would be better for them?
A large pond. Stores will sell things that they shouldn't. Irridescent sharks can grow to three feet naturally. I think in Asia they actually raise them as a food source. These were the first fish I wanted to buy when I got an aquarium, but "luckily" they were in with some silver dollars that were being treated for ich. I looked them up on the internet to show my wife what they looked like, and that's when I found out how large they can get.
The pic was taken the day I purchased it, so only 6 fish were in the tank at this time.
I assume that this means you added the fish the day you bought the tank. Did you use Bio-Spira on your tank? If not, your tank hasn't cycled yet and you shouldn't add any more fish at all. until it has completed the cycle. When it has cycled and you add more fish, you should have more than five barbs. This way, it won't just be one chasing the other all of the time, and the agression will be spread out.
Rocketman
02-06-2004, 2:29 PM
About Irridescent sharks...if you want me to elaborate I will. Basically though, a few years ago someone put it to me this way - if you put a baby in a 2ft by 2ft box, what will happen to it? Sure, it may be fine albeit extremely uncomfertable for awile, but soon it will simply become to cramped and die. Something will kill your Irridescents before their size does, however. They simply don't like being confined in small, (less than 500G) spaces and become very skittish when they are. You can tell by looking at their abnormal behavior. A Jewel, (or tetra, barb, etc) will wonder around his tank, under rocks and so forth. He will weave through plants and sometimes stay perfectly motionless. However, an Irridescent shark will simply swim back and forth along the glass, and except for a few exceptions won't do much else.