How many Tiger Barbs?
- Thread starter mayreee
- Start date
Were you planning on putting in anything else? What type of barbs? They can be very nippy fish, and in groups smaller than 6, this is a real problem for most types. I have cherries, though, and they are much less aggressive. I'd say at least 6, but you won't be able to add any other mid-water fish, just a few bottom dwellers appropriate to the tank.
Then you definitely want at least 6. Barbs have a hierarchy, of sorts--the largest one is dominant, and will bully the others, followed by the next largest, etc. This means the smallest fish gets lots of bullying, but with 6 it's spread out a bit more and no one fish gets beaten up all the time. Provide lots of cover--plants, rock work, wood, etc, so there's plenty of places for them to hide from each other. Plants can be real or fake, since the goal is to provide cover.
just a word of advice on tiger barbs: i started out with 11 of them, and now have 7. they're still relatively young, but one grew faster than the others and became VERY aggressive. he chased around everyone, but the smallest would always get the most stressed out. it got to the point where the smallest would stop eating and eventually died. it happened a few more times before i really caught on to it. and this was going on in a 46 gallon planted tank with lots of hiding spaces, which is considerably larger than a 10 gallon. i tried removing him for a few days, then putting him back, but within a few hours of being put back he was chasing and nipping and bullying again. i now have the largest one by himself in a ten gallon, and the others seem to be doing much better . i'm trying to take him back to the LFS. the point is, watch out, because they can be a lot of fun to watch, but they can also be nasty little guys, and a ten gallon may be on the small side if a lot of bullying is going on.