Barb Question

[LetsBeFriends]

i currently have 2 tiger barbs and 1 green tiger barb, the green on is the biggest, however the one tiger barb is quickly becoming the boss of the three, he has grown very rapidly, however, the last tiger barb haas not grown since i got him, and is bullied by the bigger tiger barb, the little barb does get to eat enough he just isn't growing, any thoughts???, also im thinking of getting more green barbs, will they school ether with the tiger barbs or can the tell they are not exactly the same.

 

[Lateral Line]

Tiger Barbs are a notoriously aggressive species. With most shoaling fish it is important to keep a good sized group, at least 6 fish say. With Tiger Barbs it is even more important - vital even. The aggression of the dominant fish(es) is then dilluted amongst the rest of the group, nobody has to take too much. In small groups, the dominant fish focus on the weakest until it dies, then shift to the next and so on until just the dominant fish remains.

Under the stress of continual bullying, it is unsuprising the weaker fish is not thriving.

If your tank has sufficient space, (and TB's are active fish liking a lot of swimming space), I'd suggest increasing the size of your group. Note also that TB's are aggressive towards other species. A larger group however tends to keep the aggression more focussed onto their own power struggles and less on the other tank occupants.

 

[LetsBeFriends]

will the green tiger barbs shole with the regular tiger barbs???

 

[Lateral Line]

Green TB's are the same species as regular, (as are a couple of other man-made morphs). They will treat each other the same.

 

[LetsBeFriends]

ok thanks for the help

 

[scotslasszoe]

I Have 15 tiger barbs and 2 green barbs and my greens dont shoal with the tigers they sorto stay together themselfs.

I did put in 6 Green Barbs and the tigers killed of 4 of them.

Zoe

 

[LetsBeFriends]

hmm, then i have difficult decision to make, do i buy two more greens or buy two more tigers, i really do not know which to do(i only really have room for two more and my fish store only sells theirs barbs in pairs and i refuse to buy from petsmart)

 

[LetsBeFriends]

any suggestions on what to get?

 

[Lateral Line]

Well, what do you want?

If your shop only sells pairs, you could argue that as they are the same species, a regular and a green are just as much a pair as any other combination. If you prefer greens, get greens, if you prefer regular get regular. You would not be hugely overstocking if you got a pair of each, which with TB's is maybe not a bad idea.

I have not seen anyone else here that has had regulars attack greens, quite the contrary. If you search the board, most people state that their mixed groups work well together.

 

[LetsBeFriends]

i think i am going to get a pair of each and hope for the best, thanks for the help