Introducing more tiger barbs

[eugene]

hi everyone :

i have a small tank that houses 2 golden tiger barbs (albino barbs), a male and a female. i have heard that tiger barbs are very active and tends to be agressive towards each other when kept at small number...well, my male tiger, being larger in size, does chases the smaller female around at times, but they seems to be very affectionate to one another, they could be seen "kissing" each other (mouth to mouth) sometimes! the male does not seems to be acting in an aggresive manner towards the female tiger.

my dilemma now is that, i was thinking of getting a green tiger barb and a black stripe tiger barb into the tank, however, i am afraid that the introduction of 2 more barbs will affect the harmony of the 2 golden barbs. any thoughts from anyone?

Cheers
Eugene

 

[AquaNut]

How small is this tank, eugene? The thing is, tiger barbs aren't particularly well suited to life in a small tank, as they're very active fish and need some open space, but also appreciate planted areas for security at night and for grazing (barbs like greenery in their diet). Conversely, they like to be kept in schools, and with tigers the rule is usually the more, the better; it reduces aggression.

Unfortunately, the 'kissing' you describe is actually a form of aggression, not a form of affection. They are lip battling.

I'm not sure what you want to do with this info; I guess it depends on the size of your tank. Good luck.

 

[juliethegr8t]

I'd suggest adding them. You may have what looks like harmony now, but it may not stay that way when they get older, larger, or the male feels like spawning and the female doesn't! Schooling fish are always better with more, the more the merrier. Your tigers may have a little upset if you add the 2 others, but the aggression will be spread out over more fish, so whoever is being picked on will have a break. Make sure you have lots of hiding places in your tank - that should help too.

How small is your tank? Any way you could add 4 more? That would be best.

 

[Cstratton7]

good info guys. I also have tiger barbs, and when i first started out with the two they were fine, but as they settled in to their enviroment they turned their thoughts to other things such as pestering the other fish. If you have no other general species of fish in there it would be a great idea to add some more depending on you tank size of course. good luck.

 

[eugene]

hi again

the tank i am using measures just 10inches in length by 8 inches in height, width is 5.5inches. there is a underwater filter, a sponge filter and some decorative rocks and plants in the tank.

i understand that tiger barbs are extremely active and hence prefers a bigger tank. thats why i dun think i can add the numbers up till 6 coz its a little over crowded...i think...4 maybe a better number?

Regarding their aggresion towards each other, even when the male chases the female around, the female does not get scared away and always swims back to the male...now that u say the "kissing" stuffs are actually a form of aggression, i am all worried now...so i should get at least 2 more barbs to spread the aggression in the tank?


Regards
Eugene

 

[Cstratton7]

adding anymore fish is really pushing it. Those dimmensions come out to about a 2 gal tank and adding more fish would make for an uncomfortable enviroment.

 

[AquaNut]

I was thinking it sounds like about 3 gallons, and I wouldn't recommend keeping tiger barbs in something smaller than a 15 long at the bare minimum; 20 gallons would be better. I wouldn't add more of them.

 

[Eelzor]

tigar barbs are shoaling fish and like to be in larger groups, but yes, a bigger tank is needed first.

 

[eugene]

thanks for the info guys, maybe i should get those tigers back to my LFS to see if i can have it change to other fishes...so what fishes do you rekon i get for such a small tank? as i am new to fish keeping, i think the fishes that best suit me are those hardy ones...like the tiger barbs... i know one is the betta (fighting fish) but it would seem rather boring to see just 1 fish in a tank! thats why i did not want to get that.

 

[rsz]

don't know if your lfs does anything like this, but i've just discovered that if you want to restart your school, my lfs will take your old school and exchange it, so that you can get that many fish and buy some more to make a nice school of similar sized fish. depends if you're very attached or not, i suppose.