My tiger barbs are being evicted!!

[gwlee7]

My eight little baby tiger barbs are so wild and nippy that they are going out of my community tank and will become a species tank in their very own 30 (US) gal long. I bet that will teach them to chase my little baby peppered cories.

I picked up the Aqua Clear 300 and the heater today and will get the 30 gal tank and stand from the other LFS tomorrow (Monday). What I am going to do so that I can go ahead and move them is kick start the new tank with one of the AC 300's off the 55 gallon tank and put the new filter on the 55 gallon tank with the other AC 300 that is already there. Also, I will put some of the gravel and one or two of the decorations from the 55 in the 30 as well. Of course, I'll keep a close watch on the water in both tanks and will change out as needed.

I'll slowly stock up the 30 until it is full of tigers. I figure I can go up to about 14 or 15. They can chase each other to their heart's content then.

 

[digital_run]

Hi gwlee7..
Tiger barb species tanks are a beautiful sight and im sure your tigers will love you for...yo could get some Green and Albino aswell as they all look good when schooling together. Ac are good filters...and you can just use an establised filter from your 55 and put it in your new AC. I'm sure you can even find a nice small plec to go in the tank if you want. i'd love to see some pictures once you have it all set-up

 

[Yenko]

I don't know about albinos, but I wouldn't get green barbs. They get ugly when they get old, are antisocial most of the time, females will become eggbound because males won't mate with them when normal tiger barbs are avaliable, and generally bad stuff will happen. My last green tiger barb died 3 months ago, and I'm glad I'm done with those fish.

Edit: It died because it would be harrased by the normal barbs (even though the green tiger barb was bigger), and would cram itself into crevices to escape. It suffocated.

 

[digital_run]

I don't know about albinos, but I wouldn't get green barbs.  They get ugly when they get old, are antisocial most of the time, females will become eggbound because males won't mate with them when normal tiger barbs are avaliable, and generally bad stuff will happen.  My last green tiger barb died 3 months ago, and I'm glad I'm done with those fish.
Edit:  It died because it would be harrased by the normal barbs (even though the green tiger barb was bigger), and would cram itself into crevices to escape.  It suffocated.

I guessi cant comment on your personal idea of Green tiger barbs...but they are the exact same fish with a different color and shouldn't be treated any differently then regular tiger barbs... I have a green tiger and i'd have to say that he is full of personality and fit in with a group of regular tigers with no problems at all....With any group of barbs there will sometimes be a single fish that cannot join the group and will be chased away...But...this has nothing to do with the color strain and he should have been returned or re-housed when you noticed problems. Any problems you had with your green you could of had with a regular tiger barb.

 

[elgecko]

It's a shame that Tiger Barbs are fin nippers. I really like them, but would not place any in my tanks.

 

[digital_run]

It's a shame that Tiger Barbs are fin nippers. I really like them, but would not place any in my tanks.

Tiger barbs get this reputation because people keep them in improper conditions. I've kept my group of 8 with various different fish including Gourami's which are suspose to be a big no-no and i've never had a problem. Tiger's need the proper numbers and a tank that can give them plenty of swimming room and they should be perfectly fine with little or no signs of aggression. There is of course individual fish which may be a little mean.

 

[rvm]

It's a shame that Tiger Barbs are fin nippers. I really like them, but would not place any in my tanks.

Tiger barbs get this reputation because people keep them in improper conditions. I've kept my group of 8 with various different fish including Gourami's which are suspose to be a big no-no and i've never had a problem. Tiger's need the proper numbers and a tank that can give them plenty of swimming room and they should be perfectly fine with little or no signs of aggression. There is of course individual fish which may be a little mean.

Yup, I've never had any problems with mine either. They're now in a species / growout tank, and have been kept with a sailfin plec in the past, and now have a smallish BGK in the tank with them, and I've never seen them bother any other fish but themselves!!

I also agree with your comment about green tigers. they are simply a different colour strain of exactly the same fish. I have 2 green ones and they get along fine with the others (2 albino and 4 striped!). Infact one of my greens is probably the most dominant male in the group!!

 

[digital_run]

Infact one of my greens is probably the most dominant male in the group!!

Me too... My green tiger which was introduced into a group of 7 was the smallest at the time...now he rules the pack with an iron fin.

 

[gwlee7]

I've just gotten back from picking up the tank!!!!! I am going to have black substrate with black background. That should set the colors of the barbs off nicely. If I would quit spending money on fish and aquariums, I could afford to get a digital camera and be able to post pics.

Regardless, I know that the barbs and I will both be happy this way. I love the fish but when two just barely an inch started wanting to chase my other babies already, I figured they would have live somewhere else. From everything I've read, 8 should have been enough to keep them busy with themselves but now, they can be by themselves!!!

I will keep you posted.

 

[gwlee7]

UPDATE: The tigers are doing great in their new home. I am already glad that I moved them. My other fishies are happy too I suppose

 

[digital_run]

Glad to hear ...How many do you plan on getting for that tank.!!

 

[gwlee7]

What do you think .....? Maybe 14 - 15 .....? They are in a 30 US gal long. 36" x 12" x 16".

I put in a black/charcoal gravel substrate and then a few of the "honey", white and grey bigger pebbles from my 55 gal. I used a black background and some silk plants that have a little burgandy in their leaves. The tigers look awsome in there. Wish I had a digital camera to show you.

 

[knvb7741]

hi gwlee7,

I think 14-15 should be good, but.... I'm verrry new to keeping tiger barbs but the 2 I have are great!! This sounds like a great idea and I wish I had the money do something like that! Im only 13 so I have very limited money oh well, maybe I could wait till my 20 gallon group dies out and then try it (which will hopefully be a while cause I like my 20 gallon set-up) good luck!

 

[digital_run]

Ya 14-15 should be good...would love to see some pics. Thought about any kind of bottom level fish like a small pleco...A bristlenose would be great in that tank

 

[gwlee7]

I now have 4 albinos and 7 striped (regular). The albinos are bit bigger than the others. One of the albino tigers must think he's a cichlid b/c he(she) spends a good part of the day trying to guard a small log tunnel. It's not being very successful because all of a sudden, the entire pack of 7 striped ones will cruise through the tunnel like a freight train and the albino comes out the other side chasing them I could spend the whole day just watching all the action in this tank.

This species tank was a good move