UBigBobby
Fish Fanatic
The pecking order in my Tiger barb tank seemed to be pretty straight forward for awhile. The lone regular TB male was #2, and the big dawg male albino was #1. This was pretty uncontested...until today. My male regular, and top male albino have been going at it for the #1 spot. I had never seen a TB fight back when challanged...they always just swam away and the aggressor would chase for a bit and then give up. Until today.
For anyone who doesn't know how it works, the 2 TB's fighting square off facing each other, and do a "kissing" action while nipping at each others lips. Then one will disengage and turn trying to nip at the other fish's pectoral fins. The other fish then does the same. So what you get are 2 fish moving a mile a minute pecking each others lips while spinning trying to grab ahold of a fin or two. This lasts anywhere form 10-20 seconds, to 2-3 minutes, until one of the fish gives up. They take a break and stay away from each other until one initiates another challenge. I'm not sure if this will result in death eventually, or just one giving in. In either event, I'm not stepping it and I'll let nature take its course.
It's great fun to watch though, and quite amazing. Here are some pics.
Initiating the fight:
Starting to spin and jockey for position:
Albino getting ready to lunge for regular's eye or Pectoral fin while the frog keeps score from under a plant:
Both fish trying to grab each others fins. As they do this the spin in circles trying to grab a fin while keeping their fins away from the other guy's mouth. This all happens so fast, I'm lucky to get clear pictures.
For anyone who doesn't know how it works, the 2 TB's fighting square off facing each other, and do a "kissing" action while nipping at each others lips. Then one will disengage and turn trying to nip at the other fish's pectoral fins. The other fish then does the same. So what you get are 2 fish moving a mile a minute pecking each others lips while spinning trying to grab ahold of a fin or two. This lasts anywhere form 10-20 seconds, to 2-3 minutes, until one of the fish gives up. They take a break and stay away from each other until one initiates another challenge. I'm not sure if this will result in death eventually, or just one giving in. In either event, I'm not stepping it and I'll let nature take its course.
It's great fun to watch though, and quite amazing. Here are some pics.
Initiating the fight:
Starting to spin and jockey for position:
Albino getting ready to lunge for regular's eye or Pectoral fin while the frog keeps score from under a plant:
Both fish trying to grab each others fins. As they do this the spin in circles trying to grab a fin while keeping their fins away from the other guy's mouth. This all happens so fast, I'm lucky to get clear pictures.
