Gold Barb Bullying

[mike31]

Hi,

I have a 60L tank with 4 gold barbs and 8 glowlight tetra.

One of my male gold barbs is being bullied and has taken to hiding in the corner under my filter, behind a plant.

He has started to develop a sore on his side and seems very unhappy, hides constantly.

I have two male gold barb and two female gold barbs.

At first I assumed it was the other male that was trying to be dominant, but as I kept a closer eye on them it is the female who is prodding him.

They have been in the tank around 3 months and have always swam around together and acted very happy until the last 2 weeks.

They are fed plenty as the gold barbs are pigs and I have to give extra just so the tetra get some food.

Could this be because they have gotten used to the tank and started to breed?

Thanks for any advice. (will try and post pictures soon)

 

[lyotim88]

idk if it's a sign of breeding but i think it's a sign that you need a bigger group. I'd get 2 more gold barbs

 

[mike31]

idk if it's a sign of breeding but i think it's a sign that you need a bigger group. I'd get 2 more gold barbs

I was thinking that, I will get two more tomorrow... I read that you should have at least 6 gold barbs housed together.

Just seems odd that this has just started up, they have been more than happy for the last few months.

 

[Anna Robinson]

Hmmm, are you sure it's the bullying that caused the health problem? Could it be that the barb became sick, and then began to be picked on because he was weak? Gold barbs aren't that aggressive towards each other, even in small groups, and yours previously got on well. Was there a lot of chasing before he started hiding, or did he start hiding first? Perhaps the female is picking at the flesh on his side to nibble where it's sore, like fish do.

It won't hurt to get more gold barbs anyway, but the ideal solution is obviously to separate him in a hospital tank and treat the sore - that would solve the problem no matter what the cause.

 

[mike31]

Hmmm, are you sure it's the bullying that caused the health problem? Could it be that the barb became sick, and then began to be picked on because he was weak? Gold barbs aren't that aggressive towards each other, even in small groups, and yours previously got on well. Was there a lot of chasing before he started hiding, or did he start hiding first? Perhaps the female is picking at the flesh on his side to nibble where it's sore, like fish do.

It won't hurt to get more gold barbs anyway, but the ideal solution is obviously to separate him in a hospital tank and treat the sore - that would solve the problem no matter what the cause.

These 4 fish were fine together, there is still no sign of ill health of the fish in question apart from the sore on his side.
The female IS picking at the flesh on his side to nibble where it's sore, like fish do... thats what i meant by bullying
What worries me is that getting more gold barbs will only increase the level of harassment he suffers.
I don't really have the means to separate him I am going to buy some more plants so he has more places to hide.

From the pic he is the middle one with the obvious white sore... the female on the right is the one prodding at him.

 

[mike31]

Interestingly, I have removed the injured fish last night and this morning the aggressive female is biting at the same area of the other male and female.

So i'm guessing introducing more gold barbs would be pointless as she would be aggressive to them too.

I have added back the injured male and removed the aggressive female... the three of them now seem happy in each others company but I am left with one aggressive female...

Could she be nipping at them because she is hungry?

 

[Anna Robinson]

If you're feeding well I doubt she's actually hungry, but like all fish she'll be constantly interested in food.

It sounds as though she's now learned this behaviour. Probably the first male developed the sore from another cause, she picked at it, found it was fresh fish flesh and was tasty, and carried on doing it, possibly making it much worse in the process. When he was taken away, she tried to get the same thing off the other two fish, as she's learned it's nice!

If she's left on her own, she'll probably forget this behaviour, but it might start up again. If you can't return her to the shop or re-home her, try keeping her separated for as long as you can, to help her 'forget'. Certainly keep her away from the first male until he's healed, as the smell of the open would would probably trigger a return of her behaviour immediately.

 

[angelalaraee]

My female golden barb I believe is pregnant and she literally killed every fish I had in the tank with her, including her mate/best friend. She wasn't picking or nipping at any of them for the first few weeks after i got them all then like 2 weeks ago, she started biting my guppies tails and fins and not long after I noticed the damage, id come back a little later and they would be dead. Then I finally caught her chasing one of the guppies and had him pinned up in one of the plants. 1 hr later, I found him inside the plant, dead. Then yesterday i found one my corys dead then today the other cory and the other barb were dead. So now shes by herself. Do you think she began to become aggressive since shes pregnant?