Strange Tiger Barb Behavior!

[kevinjames]

i have six tiger barbs in a 130l tank. all seem very healthy but found some acting perculiar. they seem to hang vertically with their mouths pointing down and seem to shake all their fns at the same time. at first i thought the worst but they seem to be fine afterwards and have been doing this for nearly a week now. can anyone shed any light on this strange behavior???

 

[lexie72]

Has the tank been fully cycled? If so what are the tanks nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, PH, and temp at? My tiger barbs usually only do this on any kind of "regular" basis when they are under stress. Also, when I had 5 tiger barbs, 2 would do this very often until I added more tiger barbs to the tank. I hope this helps.

Lex

 

[millym]

hi
as said can you give us some more info on tank, ammonia, nitrite etc, how long has it been set up etc??
tiger barbs are very sensitive to nitrite and will often go in the 'nose down' position if theres nitrite in a tank. they are not good fish to start out with in an uncycled tank for this reason, they really need a fully mature cycled tank.
however if your tank is mature, tbs go 'nose down' to rest/sleep as well & also will often turn nose down & quiver their fins as a sort of display. this behaviour often preludes their dominance fights where you will see 2 tbs spinning around nose to nose ( jousting as we call it ) trying to sort out who is to be king for the day. i love watching them in their little fights esp as all the other tbs gather round to watch the fight & often will try to join in. they can go on for ages!!! hillarious

 

[kevinjames]

thanx for4 replys. all my levels are normal and the tanks been running now for about 4-5 months. i have 6 tiger barbs and they do chase each other and i agree its entertaining. i dnt think i have any dangerous levels present but that they are trying to display themselves. they also swim side by side with all their fins out wide which i assume is a type of behaviour which is trying to clarify a pecking order between themselves.