Is my tiger barb being bullied?

I have 9 different barbs (4 tiger, 3 gold, 2 green) all chilling out in my tank together. I got them in batches to put less stress on the tank as I didn’t want the cycle to crash so the 4 tiger barbs have been chilling together for a couple of weeks. The day after I added the new barbs I noticed one of the tigers was looking a little sad and it’s fins were a little torn, I kept an eye on it and it doesn’t seem to be eating. I’m wondering if it’s the new tank mates stressing him out (they’ve only been here 2 or 3 days) or if he’s being bullied by the very large and in charge barb who eats all the food. I can’t see any sign of illness and my water parameters are good.

is there anything I can do for him?

 

Well, he is obviously low on the pecking order amongst the originals. Now that there are new barbs in the tank, that whole pecking order needs to be figured out now. Should be sorted before too long.

 

I got barbs too and whenever there is someone new they pick on them for a few days until they get used to their new tankmate

 

Hey Cam1112
Keep up with water changes to help avoid a secondary infection around the nipped fins. Extra water changes will do no harm.

What you are seeing is normal, don’t panic.
The term bullied may describe what you are seeing but it’s not really the correct term for what is natural and normal behaviour. It’s very likely they will all settle down soon?

 

Rearranging the tank setup may help. Feeding a bit extra can help ensure the new guy gets a share too.

 

As long as all the barbs are of similar size, you should be OK in a while As long as the tank is big enough to accommodate 9 adult barbs. If you tank is less than 20 gallons (80 liters) you are going to have constant issues with bullying due to overcrowding.

It is always best to keep a minimum of six barbs of each species as they are shoaling fish. Green barbs are color variants of tiger barbs, but because of the interbreeding required to develop the variant, the greens tend to be less healthy than tiger barbs. The green barbs mighy shoal with you tiger barbs, but they might not.

Likewise gold barbs are shoaling species and should be kept in small groups.

A 20 gallon tank (80 liters) is the minimum tank size for barbs. For your current stocking of 9 barbs, a tank size of 29 gallons (120 liters) would be considered minimum. Ideally, you would get a tank of 40 gallons or larger and keep a minimum of 5-6 barbs of each type in the tank.

 

We have a 29 with 11 tiger barb ( one unexpected baby ) there is a little chasing here n there but never any damage… breaking line of site and heavily planted with some hiding spots will help. Eventually I’d like to put them in a 40 that’s doing nothing under a table but their all doing so well I fear something will happen if I move them.
Edit… the first picture is after a 75% WC . We always raise the plants up around the top and sides to give them the center

 

With a 29 gallon tank, you should be OK with your current stocking.

You might want to consider thinning some of your vegetation. Barbs like moving around the tank and the plants seem to confine them to the center of the tank.

 

With a 29 gallon tank, you should be OK with your current stocking.

You might want to consider thinning some of your vegetation. Barbs like moving around the tank and the plants seem to confine them to the center of the tank.

They have been in there 2+ years there is a lot of room around the back and front edges as well. Thanks for your opinion though.