tiger barbs are mean!! what do i do?

I have 3 tiger barbs in a 20 gallon tank and 1 of them always picks on the other tigers but they always get away and they all leave the other fish alone but the other fish won't go near them and then when I put a cory in the tank they ate his dorsal fin what should I do?

 

I learned the hardway also. he got one of my angels ..then I learned on here that tigers are big time nippers...have any other tanks ? they also recommend 6 or more so they can form a school...goodluck!

 

I have another but ive got my guppys in there I don't want them to get hurt they are fine for now but should I return them or get more if I get more I have to get rid of something else I'm overstocked as it is

 

sorry didnt see you had others than the barbs n cory..yes id return them ...they will continue to nip the poor fella....

 

Tiger barbs will often be less aggressive if they are kept in a group of 6 or more. This allows them to set up a definite pecking order.
Unfortunately, it looks like there isn't much more room in that tank, so I'm not sure if this is doable.

 

You have to check out the profile of fish before you buy....take it to heart that when it says they are agressive, you will have problems in a community tank. I don't want this to sound mean, because it happens to all of us....Believe me!

At this point you could take the barbs back, IF the store will take them, which you should check out before you try......OR get three more, and put your cory over with the guppies.....you would have to do lots of water testing and changing to keep them in the 20, but it is probably do able.

You need to create lots of line of site breaks......driftwood, plants, rocks. This can help other fish get away from them.

 

I moved my cory into the other tank he seems happier now and the tigers stay to themselves in the 20 gallon u just think the other fish are afraid ofthem because they are so much bigger than the rest ill try and return them this weekend though

 

When I got my first ten gallon tank I wanted to get nice peaceful fish that I would not have to worry about adding other fish to. So I went to the fish story and explained to the nice man that I wanted some peaceful fish that would live all happy and nice with other fish. Knowing what I know now I would think that the man would have pointed me in the way of come nice Mollies or some Danios but off to the barb section we went. I went home that day with two Tiger Barbs and two cherry barbs, nice peaceful no-nip fish…so I thought. My tigers have since killed three guppies, one of the cherry barbs, three dwarf clawed frogs and a cory cat. Over time I learned to put fast moving fish that are larger than my tigers with them, and to create a shoal of at least four; larger shoals work well too. It has been a long time since I found a chewed up fish in my tank. It took a year or so but in time you learn what can and can not live together in a tank. That said I do love my tigers. They are the most fun fish in the tank.

 

Unfortunately I learned the hard way too. I bought three, and one killed the other two before I took him back to the store. They can be very aggressive to other tiger barbs, so you's need 6 or 7 (as said before) so that they can have an established pecking order, and that one fish in particular doesn't get picked on by others. Remember you can mix them to give a bit more variety (for example, have two normal tiger barbs, two green and two albino.)

 

I agree whith what people are saying about tiger barbs being in larger groups. I started out with 5 a few months ago. Now I have 8 along with my red tailed shark in my 29g. The barbs are very well behaved. Every once in a while the males with fight with each other to establish dominance, but other than that they are good together. The shark is the one that gets aggressive, but only around feeding time. Pretty soon the lot of them will be in a 40 gallon with 3 more tiger barbs and (maybe) 3 cherry barbs.

 

I was about to say my barbs are generally well behaved - as I looked over to the tank to witness some kind of strange nipping attack going on between two of them - kind of looks like they are dancing!!

2 minutes later it is all peaceful again... Never seen that one before...

Anyway, I keep barbs (11 tigers, 6 cherry) with a rainbow shark who as said above gets aggressive at feeding time. They all (usually) leave the gouramis alone, but because of the nature of barbs I would never think of keeping them with my guppies.

Think Tiger barbs are awesome!! Frustrating that at times that they aren't community fish so I'm limited to what I can keep them with, but there is such variety within the family...

 

I have 3 tanks running now. A 10 gallon with a pleco and guppies, a 29 gallon with 11 tiger barbs now and a red tail shark, and a 29 gallon with 6 giant danios. My girlfriend and her daughter are always checking out the tiger barb tank. They are fun to watch. The interact with eachother a lot more than the other fish. It is especially fun at feeding time. I have seen a school of pirahna eating and the tiger barbs are just as fun to watch. They practically jump out of the tank when going after floating food.

 

Agree about the feeding - mine play "tough footy" with the algae disc. My partner thinks they regularly play 'tiggy' too...

 

I love my tigers, I was very sad to lose my green tiger today. She was one of the more peaceful tigers, but still had her moments. She was getting old and I knew it was going to happen sooner or latter but it is always sad to see them go.

 

Tiger barbs chewed my Betta boy Will's finnage completely down to his torso......I would never own them again.....They are very aggressive...

 

Tiger barbs chewed my Betta boy Will's finnage completely down to his torso......I would never own them again.....They are very aggressive...

But WHY would you put a Betta in with a Tiger barb???

If you put a Betta in with anything it needs to be a peaceful fish that won't fin nip - Tigers are aggressive and will fin nip (if not in a larger group)...

In the right combinations of fish they are truely amazing to watch.

I love my tigers, I was very sad to lose my green tiger today. She was one of the more peaceful tigers, but still had her moments. She was getting old and I knew it was going to happen sooner or latter but it is always sad to see them go.

Sorry to hear about your loss

 

But WHY would you put a Betta in with a Tiger barb???

If you put a Betta in with anything it needs to be a peaceful fish that won't fin nip - Tigers are aggressive and will fin nip (if not in a larger group)...

In the right combinations of fish they are truely amazing to watch.

I put them together because the uninformed employees of Petsmart sold them to me.....Looking back now, I could kick sone A--.....We all live and learn....

Will is still alive...The Tiger barbs aren't...They died during a power outage....

 

Agree about the feeding - mine play "tough footy" with the algae disc. My partner thinks they regularly play 'tiggy' too...

Tough footy and tiggy?

I love my tigers, I was very sad to lose my green tiger today. She was one of the more peaceful tigers, but still had her moments. She was getting old and I knew it was going to happen sooner or latter but it is always sad to see them go.

Sorry for the loss of your fish Karma_Sea, it's hard to lose one of out water babies.

 

I put them together because the uninformed employees of Petsmart sold them to me.....Looking back now, I could kick sone A--.....We all live and learn....

Will is still alive...The Tiger barbs aren't...They died during a power outage....

Oh, okay - sorry...
I hate the fact we can't trust the pet stores!! I did once... it so often turns out to be a mistake....

Lucy: Meant "touch footy"... they grab the algae disc and when they get caught drop it and the next one pick it up and is off... until he gets caught...

"tiggy" hmm, probably an australian term ... Chase? One will chase all the others, touch one and then it is it's turn to chase...

Maybe I just see too much in what they do...

 

lol, I don't think you see too much....that must be fun to watch.....

touch footy=take away
tiggy = tag

 

Love it - my Television blew up at easter and I haven't bothered to replace it ...

On those rare occasions we want to see something we just watch the little old one I got about 15 years ago!!

So much more interesting stuff happening in the tanks!

 

soooo are neon tetra's good with tiger barb?????

 

Tiger Barbs do best with other barbs ONLY I would say( plecos are usually good too) ....I have 4 small tiger barbs with 2 small albino and four tinfoil barbs....the tiger barbs are so aggressive they keep even the much larger tinfoil barbs in line.....I keep 8 neon tetras in a larger more peaceful community tank with 1 blue dwarf gourami, 2 swordtails, and 3 Cherry barbs....and even the cherrys used to nip the neons sometimes....

 

soooo are neon tetra's good with tiger barb?????

I've been reading about tiger barbs, I'm considering them for my empty 30g.
I wouldn't put neons in with them.

 

The tigers in my 29 gallon with a Ret-Tailed Shark are fine. If you have enough of them they are great fish. And they are really fun to watch too.

 

soooo are neon tetra's good with tiger barb?????

I wouldn't go for neons - but might work...

My tigers have congo tetras with them (they are way cool!!), and pearl danios

 

I don't think the neons would be happy with the tiger barbs. They are too mild mannered and the tigers are too aggressive.