plz help me with my tiger barbs

[fish_keeper2]

i have a 10 gal with 3 danios, 5 tiger barbs, 3 otos, and 1 cory(i know this is over stocked and im upgrading in a few months) recently 1 of my tiger barbs started harrassing the 2 middle sized ones(i have 1 larger one, 2 middle sized one, and 2 smaller ones) and yet leaves the smallest ones alone. i have seperated the 2 getting harrassed so that they arent stressed out too much. should i remove the large one and put the two being harrassed back in thank once theyve had time to relax a little. could i possibly sqeeze in 2 more to allow the agrression to be spred out over several fish instead of the 2 since i will be upgrading soon. or should i just remove the large aggressive one untill i get a larger tank. oh ya if it means anything the nose on the large one turned orangy red a few days ago.

 

[jarcher1390]

they are sorting there pecking order. it might lead to death but what kind of hidding is there in the tank a new tank will make it better but they will fight ive got a 6,2,2 foot tank and they fought but ive only 1 know. they are all so in breeding season which can lead to fighting

 

[Barracuda518]

Ive had problems with Tiger Barbs in the past nipping at the fins of other fish, specially if they are smaller then the barbs...Ive also read that its best to keep the Tiger Barbs all the same size in a school of 6 or more..

 

[abstract]

to answer the questions...i wouldn't squeeze any more fish in there, nor would i remove the problem-causing tiger barb - chances are another of the TB's will step up to harrass the others...you really need to upgrade to a larger tank and have a school of 6+ ...from my experience anything less than a 20long (or 29 gallon) is too small for tiger barbs and will lead to agression issues

 

[fish_keeper2]

thanks for helping....im planning on atleast a 29 gal anyway. they dont seem to be finding its just that the large one chase around the 2 middle sized ones and they get so stressed out that they dont stay balanced and are breathing heavily. when i removed they were fine again after a few min. should put in lots more plants so they have more hiding places? and does the orangy red nose on my largest tiger barb mean anything....also i didnt intentionaly get dif sized barbs. i picked up 2 one day. then a week later 3 more. they were all from the same stock and sold as "medium" tiger barbs. there is about a 1/4 to 1/3 inch dif between all the small and medium and medium and large. i dont get why the large one doesnt bother the 2 smallest ones though or my other fish.

 

[Barracuda518]

thanks for helping....im planning on atleast a 29 gal anyway. they dont seem to be finding its just that the large one chase around the 2 middle sized ones and they get so stressed out that they dont stay balanced and are breathing heavily. when i removed they were fine again after a few min. should put in lots more plants so they have more hiding places? and does the orangy red nose on my largest tiger barb mean anything....also i didnt intentionaly get dif sized barbs. i picked up 2 one day. then a week later 3 more. they were all from the same stock and sold as "medium" tiger barbs. there is about a 1/4 to 1/3 inch dif between all the small and medium and medium and large. i dont get why the large one doesnt bother the 2 smallest ones though or my other fish.

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You might want to keep an eye on the other 2 smaller tiger barbs that are in the tank with the bigger one, since you have removed the other 2. When there is a school of 6 or more tiger barbs, the smaller ones can hide in the school and might not get picked on as much. Like Abstract said, With only 3 tiger barbs, the biggest one will step up and be more aggressive. I had the same problem you had, different sized barbs in a 30 gallon tank, and took the smaller ones back and matched the size the best I could...Even with all the Barbs the same size, I still had problems with them being a little aggresive...hope this helps...

 

[fish_keeper2]

i understand what u said....ive been watching them for the past hour so and the large one erally doesnt care about the small ones....all that can change anytime though. hopefully it doesnt

 

[max11180]

I had 8 tiger barbs and had no problems at all. The only time they got a little boisterious, was when i removed 2 for breeding for a few days.. I used the most boisterous male and the biggest female.. as a result of the big fish going, they rest of them fought out a new pecking order, and had to fight it out again when they went back in. There was no massive damage, just a couple of split fins.

5 of the their 1st brood are now in the tank with them (making the tank occupants 13 tiger barbs, 4 clown loach, and 4 corys), and although they are half the size of the parents, they seem to get along great. My tank is quite heavily planted, and there is a large piece of bog wood in one end, and a couple of smaller pieces at the other so there is plenty of cover if need be for the little ones.

The Bright red/orange nose probably signifies that he's a male. Males also have brighter red/orange on their fins (especially the tail fin on my barbs). Also the black stripes are generally pure black .. females tend to have a greenish sheen, and are generally darker overall.

Hope that helped a little

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

I agree with Jarcher that they are sorting their pecking order. The reason your larger tiger is harrasing the medium one is because he sees them as the main threat to what he thinks is his 'leader' role hopefully when they know their positions he will leave them alone and the nipping will become playfighting which is nice to watch. I also agree with the others that it's maybe the lack of space. (But as your fixing that it should be ok)

 

[fish_keeper2]

well i just finished moving stuff around and added some more plants in to the tank(i removed all the barbs first and then put them back in all at the same time)they seem to be fine now(after one was harrassed and then hid behind the filter for like 10 min) the one that got harrassed the most has a dark shadowing on the edge of its scales....does that mean its a female.....if so could that mean they are breeding....if they are where/how do they lay the eeg, what the eggs look like, and how long do they hatch(the temp in my tank stays around 84 during the day due to the summer heat)

 

[max11180]

It could be the start fo breeding yes.. mine tend to breed after a water change. The male usually chases the females round for a while, till he finds one he's happy with. They usually both then go to the roots of plants and go side by side and appear to shake quite vigourously. This releases the eggs + sperm into the base of the plant.
The Eggs are self adhesive, and are approx 1mm diameter (generally) clear spheres, sometimes slightly cloudy, kind of creamy colour. The TB's do eat eggs, so if you want to keep them, try and remove them somehow. If the rest of the barbs are around the eggs don't stand a chance.. as 2 are laying them, the rest are eating them
If you do isolate, or remove some eggs, they hatch the next day usually.. but good luck finding the fry! They are crystal clear, apart from the 2 black eyes which are about 0.25 - 05.mm, i thought at 1st there was shards of glass in the tank! . They usually attach themselves to the tank sides, and hang their till the yolk sack is disolved.

 

[fish_keeper2]

oh wow....if this is what is going on would putting more plants in help keep the other tbs from finding the eggs....how will the fry fair in the tanks if the eggs dont get eaten, and there are lots of hiding places.....how long before the fry are able to come out and move around the tank with out being eaten

 

[fish_keeper2]

update: i decided to put my TBs in my 20 gal with my rainbow shark and 3 spot gourami. it seems to be going well except my rainbow shark will chase the TBs away when he sees them near his caves. he hasnt been able to catch them yet and hurt them at all. is this normal behavor for the shark? on a sad note i think one of my TBs got way too stressed out. it stays in hidding near(usualy behind it) my filter and it takes a long time for it to relize theres food when i feed them. it is breathing heavily and swims at a slight angle like it has the beginnings of swim bladder problems. what could be wrong with it. i dobt it has to do with my water as my other 4 TBs, rainbow shark, and gourami are just fine. once/if he dies could i add some more TBs(i wont add more than 3). if so will the green and albinos ones school with the normal colored ones.

 

[fish_keeper2]

BUMP

 

[max11180]

no reason why they shouldn't all school together. when i put the juvelines in, they mixed in no problem, just a bit of a mad half hour as they set up the pecking order to accomodate the new comers.
They school with anything stripy really.. mine quite happily swim around with clown loach, and a blue acara (quite a mystery how the acara fry got in that tank, but he's surviving!?).

Going back to the egg question above.. the chances of any eggs surviving in the tank is very, very slim.. TB's are scavengers after all, and good ones too. But if, miraculously, some did survive the chances of the fry surviving are virtually nill. In the natural habitat, the eggs, and fry are swept downstream, away from the barbs, and thus into some relative safety.