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
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
