# Tiger Barb aggresive toward other Tiger Barb



## mytygerbarbisgay (Feb 3, 2007)

I've got a fairly new 55 gallon, in which I have a mix of mollies, tetras, balas, crayfish and tiger barbs. I've had this striped black and orange tiger barb for awhile now and just a few days ago I introduced a new tiger barb, well two, but one died almost immediately....anyway, it is of the mostly green/emerald variety. The orange tiger barb constantly chases around the new green tiger barb. At first it seems they got along great, as a matter of fact, the green tiger barb always seemed to want to school with the other but now if they get anywhere close to each other, the orange tiger barb chases down the green one for a long time. It seems like it tries to chase it to the other side of the tank and then leaves it alone. And then when the green tiger barb gets the courage to come back, it gets chased back again. My orange tiger barb gets along perfectly with all the other fish I named above. No one even flinches when he comes near. But it seems he really hates the green tiger barb. Obviously, if this keeps up I need to get rid of one, I don't want to torture the green one to death. But which one should I get rid of??? Should I get rid of the aggressive orange one, or the new green one that is the victim of the aggression?


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## Lupin (Nov 21, 2006)

How many tiger barbs do you have? You need to keep them to at least 6-8 as the minimum. Failing that will result to them bullying each other and other fish without spreading out their aggression to the members of their own species. They also establish pecking orders as other fish like tetras do.

Another thing: I would recommend taking out your crayfish and put it in a tank on its own. Crayfish will attack your fish unfortunately.


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

Yeah, you'll want more than two so the aggression of the dominant fish isn't directed toward just one other fish.


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## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

In addition to greater numbers, try to get only males which are thinner and have better fin display colors. I had problems with my 7 barbs until I removed the one female that came with the gang from the pet store. now with all males they still chase each other around, but such infrequent tiffs only last 10-20 seconds and never result in injury. also try to get them all around the same size relative to each other, and it's best to buy them all at once since they've probably been together since birth, not a few at a time that could be from different breeder batches. see if your pet store will let you return these barbs, then buy 5 or more from the same fresh batch the breeder shipped recently.


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## mytygerbarbisgay (Feb 3, 2007)

yeah I have just the two tiger barbs...I don't want to get 7 of them I don't think...I don't find them interesting enough to get 7 or 8 of them and have those take up the space of a fish I really wanted...so do you guys think its best that I get rid of both tiger barbs then if Im not going to do the 7 or 8?

bluebell, I know the crayfish is a potential predator to my fish and yes he does reach for them every so often when they come near but honestly he is so much slower than they are, he never even comes close to catching them. its really funny watching him try. if he ever does get ahold of and kill one of the fish then I will move him. however I did get a mini aquatic frog that went missing so I think that was him. I wont be getting anymore frogs.


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## sevenrider860 (Dec 16, 2006)

If you don't want 6 or 7 tiger barbs then I would not keep any. As has been pointed out, the idea is to keep the aggression from being directed at a single fish of the same species or other species in your tank. Tiger barbs will "generally" not bother the other fish too much if the have enough of their own in the tank.

There is a very good chance that if you remove only one of the barbs, the remaining barb will start bothering the other fish in the tank.


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## AnneRiceBowl (May 18, 2006)

Everyone here has given great advice on the tiger barbs. The key to successful keeping of them is to keep them in a large school/shoal. The bigger the better. Also, I recommend moving the 2 bala sharks. They get too big for your tank and 2 isn't enough. They also need a school/shoal of at least 4. You could also keep the fish you have and just get a 125 gallon. That way can keep the fish you have, add on the the 1/2 schools you have, and still have room for something else.


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## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

mytygerbarbisgay said:


> I did get a mini aquatic frog that went missing so I think that was him.


you definitely cannot mix crayfish with frogs. crayfish are often on the hunt, and frogs will freeze up rather than escape when a crayfish is upon them, then become an easy meal. I currently have dwarf African frogs sharing the same tank bottom with Thai red claw crabs, and they are getting along nicely the past 2 Months in my heavily planted 29gal. the best rule of thumb with a crayfish is; any animal in your tank that you can catch with your own hand, such as a frog or fancy goldfish, the crayfish will catch just as well. in the case of snails, any snail you can crush in your fingertips, a crayfish will eat, so while my ramshorns are in danger, my harder shelled adult Malaysian trumpet snails are safe from my 3' Yabbie crayfish.


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## AnneRiceBowl (May 18, 2006)

spypet said:


> my 3' Yabbie crayfish.


LOL. Gotta a pic?


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## EricSilver (Feb 23, 2004)

mytygerbarbisgay said:


> ...I don't want to get 7 of them I don't think...I don't find them interesting enough


If you get 7 or 8 more, they will become *very* interesting...
:icon_lol:


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## pjs102187 (Jan 23, 2009)

*Tiger barb murder any Tiger barb*

I am new to all this fish stuff......... But I bought two young tiger barbs at went to live with a bunch of older bards including One older tiger barb in my 20 gallon tank. I say that one of my younger barbs always hide under the flat stone I had in the tank... the reason being it was being attack by the other younger tiger barb. Then I came home and find the young tiger barb that was being harassed by the other dead behind a rock. MURDER. SO I gave my died tiger barb a proper death and flush it down my toilet.  I am going to get a 29 gallon tank form my cousin so hopefully this will not happen again. I didn't even get to name it. But it will have a name and it's name was Hiderunder.:angel:


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

read up on a species of fish before you buy.
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/barbs/tigerbarb.php


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## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

one day my mom decided to buy two tiger barbs to put in my tank with gouramis tetras and some other smaller fish. one of them was albino and the other was a regular one. the regular one chased all of my fish around for like two weeks on and off, but one day my dwarf gourami got stuck in a crack in some driftwood and died. Also the albino tiger barb died, but after that, now they are all doing fine and the remaining tiger barb doesnt bother any of the fish. He doesn't even nip at my golden gouramis long fins. He just does his own thing.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

As much time as I spend in the aquairum store... it always baffles my mind when someone buys a couple of schooling fish that live in schools of thousands in the wild... then they wonder why there are aggression, pining, lack of color, issues.


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

I work at a LFS and when people want just one tetra or barb, I simply tell them no. If they can't buy a few more to keep the fish happier, they shouldn't buy them at all. It drives me crazy when the people ask you why their one and only Neon Tetra hid in the corner for a week and finally died, but then won't believe you when you say they need to be in a school.


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## physpaw (Jun 30, 2015)

is tiger barb aggression only among males or is there aggressive behavior between male and female. Can I keep one male and one female tiger barb without aggressive interaction between them?


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## Anders247 (Oct 16, 2014)

physpaw said:


> is tiger barb aggression only among males or is there aggressive behavior between male and female. Can I keep one male and one female tiger barb without aggressive interaction between them?


No, they are schooling fish and need a group of 6+.
With tiger barbs, they should be kept in a group of 15+ to reduce aggression.


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## ROYWS3 (Feb 1, 2014)

Only one other person mentioned the bala issue. Those two should be returned to the LFS as well. You need both a bigger school and a bigger tank to keep them properly.

It would behoove you to get into the habit of researching fish choices before you make them


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## Anders247 (Oct 16, 2014)

ROYWS3 said:


> Only one other person mentioned the bala issue. Those two should be returned to the LFS as well. You need both a bigger school and a bigger tank to keep them properly.
> 
> It would behoove you to get into the habit of researching fish choices before you make them


Lol, this is from 2007.


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## ROYWS3 (Feb 1, 2014)

Anders247 said:


> Lol, this is from 2007.


but, but, but -- you answered it the day before I did . . .


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## Anders247 (Oct 16, 2014)

I was answering someone who asked a question on this thread on the 30th of June.
Not the OP from 2007.


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## Marie (Nov 13, 2015)

mytygerbarbisgay said:


> I've got a fairly new 55 gallon, in which I have a mix of mollies, tetras, balas, crayfish and tiger barbs. I've had this striped black and orange tiger barb for awhile now and just a few days ago I introduced a new tiger barb, well two, but one died almost immediately....anyway, it is of the mostly green/emerald variety. The orange tiger barb constantly chases around the new green tiger barb. At first it seems they got along great, as a matter of fact, the green tiger barb always seemed to want to school with the other but now if they get anywhere close to each other, the orange tiger barb chases down the green one for a long time. It seems like it tries to chase it to the other side of the tank and then leaves it alone. And then when the green tiger barb gets the courage to come back, it gets chased back again. My orange tiger barb gets along perfectly with all the other fish I named above. No one even flinches when he comes near. But it seems he really hates the green tiger barb. Obviously, if this keeps up I need to get rid of one, I don't want to torture the green one to death. But which one should I get rid of??? Should I get rid of the aggressive orange one, or the new green one that is the victim of the aggression?


Barb tips:
1. Keep barbs in group of 6 to 8.
2. Have 1 Male and the rest female, or have a ratio of 1Male:3Females
3. Do not keep barbs with slow moving fish 
4. For community tanks to work, keep groups of each kind in 6 or more. 
5. If barbs are fighting, normally displayed by head to head spinning round& round, it means they are both males fighting for dominance.
6. If one barb is chasing the others, it means you have male chasing females. 
7. Barbs like to chase. It is in their nature. Despite this, they are a schooling fish. 
8. Feed fish once a day only at the same time every day. This way, they will spend most of their time scavenging for food and will not chase each other as much. 


Source: 
Our tank : 55 Gal community 
Our Fish : 11 Cichlids, 4 Tiger barbs, 1 Skunk Botia, 1 Dalmatian Molly, 1 Sword Tail, 2 Gold Dust and 18 Guppies
Number of Fatalities: 6
Cause of Death: 
1. Gourami - Stress. This is a slow moving fish mixed with fast moving fish which was a wrong decision
2. Dalmatian Molly - Jumped out of a prison tank. We separated this female fish bec. it kept bullying the female Swordtail.
3. Swordtail (Female)- Jumped out of prison tank. We separated this female fish bec. it kept bullying its mate
4. Swordtail (Male) - Got sick from imbalance in the water. It just hid for days and came out dead. 
5. Cichlid - Food Choke. We gave a sinker but it was too big. We thought they will just nip on it like dogs to bones. The rest did. But this one just swallowed the entire giant sinker. 
6. Baby Cichlid: Temperature shock 

Number of Fights: Too many to count
Reasons for Fights: 
1. Male tiger barb was alone, very anti-social in a community tank of 8 fishes which was our trial tank. Barb would nip on other fish
2. Male guppy wants to mate, female guppy refused. Resulted in horrible fin nipping and male guppy hiding. 
3. Skunk botia would chase everyone especially the tiger barb trying to claim territory 
4. Male tiger barb fighting another barb. They were both males and would just chase and fight all day. Went to the store to replace w/fem. 
5. Dalmatian Molly bullying sword tail. Apparently because she is trying to claim "Queendom". 
6. Female swordtail bullying the male sword tail. Male wants to mate, female refused. 
7. Our then newly bought yellow cichlids (2) ate a bunch of our guppy fry. They thought they were food. We forgot to feed them before releasing them in the tank. They were so hungry and ate the fry. 
8. Tiger barb bullying our gourami to death thinking it was a green tiger barb coz they both have stripes. 

Our Solution: 
1. More females. 
2. Add more fish.
3. Add more kinds of fish. 
4. Add young fish, not adults. 
5. Introduce new fish slowly by first feeding it, then keeping it in plastic bag for 1 hour before transfering new fish to main tank. 
6. Add more plants for fish to hide. 
7. Add stones and corals for them to hide. 
8. Feed once daily so they will be busy looking for food. 
9. Rearrange tank every now and then to eradicate territorial claims. 
10. We separated the baby fish until they are big enough to mix. 
11. We separated the skunk, and introduced it to guppy fry through a see through divider. We made the skunk's tank dim so it would come out. Skunk didnt eat the fry at all. 

Results: 
1. NO MORE NIPPING AND FIGHTING. EVENTUALLY THE SKUNK WAS ABLE TO GET OUT OF ITS HIDING PLACE AND SWIM FREELY. 
2. THE TIGER BARB WOULD STILL CHASE THE FEMALES. BUT THATS IT, HE DOESNT NIP ON THEM, AND THE FEMALE BARBS ARE ABLE TO TOLERATE IT. 

It feels great to defy the odds, considering we have very naturally aggressive fishes in our tank. I think its important to note that its possible to keep cichlids, barbs, skunk and all other mild tempered fish together as long as you have a great aquarium with a "jungle area", a big tank, and more females than males ratio. Also, it would help to keep them varied in always a group of 6 or more, except for skunk. We only have one skunk the whole time because skunk it is also carnivorous.


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