The Bullying Barb

[Tom van Deijnen]

Hi all,

One of my five-banded barbs has started to bully the other 5 when it is feeding time. He doesn't do it all the time (I assume it's a he, how can I telll? He shows the best colours and has red fins, and is the biggest of the group), but most feeding times he won't let the other barbs get to the food, he'll chase them back to their "home" (there is a corner behind some plants where they like to retreat together). Sometimes he allows the other the others to their food though. He leaves the cory's alone.

Is there a way to remedy this?

Thanks!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hi all,

One of my five-banded barbs has started to bully the other 5 when it is feeding time. He doesn't do it all the time (I assume it's a he, how can I telll? He shows the best colours and has red fins, and is the biggest of the group), but most feeding times he won't let the other barbs get to the food, he'll chase them back to their "home" (there is a corner behind some plants where they like to retreat together). Sometimes he allows the other the others to their food though. He leaves the cory's alone.

Is there a way to remedy this?

Thanks!

How many gallons is the tank and what other fish (and how many) do you have in it?
Usually the most successful solution to sorting out agression in fish which school together is to add more, which will either re-arange the pecking orders (which will change the bully from being the most dominant fish out of the group, to a less dominant position in the pecking order) or disperse the agression between the fish to levels much more tolerable.

However, if your tank isn't providing these fish enough space, or is overstocked or has unsuitable fish in it or is just an unsuitable habitat in general, this could be the reason why the barb is unhappy and thus the source of the problem most be dealt with appropriately .

Is the tank planted at all, and if so, how dense is the planting roughly?

 

[Tom van Deijnen]

Oh, I thought that entering details in the "aquarium and fish" box in my profile would automatically append this at the bottom of a post. Guess it doesn't then...

Anyway, this is what I have:
Rekord-80 tank (80 liter tank)
6x barbus pentazona
4x corydoras metae
6x amano shrimp
lots of live plants (including java fern, vallis, giant vallis, anubias, cryptocoryne, hygrophila, hornwort, about 70 cuttings/plants in total)
mopani wood and blue quartz

As this is a new tank, the barbs have been in there about 5 weeks, and the cory's about 1.5 (I believe the bullying started before the cory's were added, but not 100% sure).

I believe I have about 30cm of fish body length left, so there is room to add more barbs. I may add 1 or two more plants as well, something with lots of leaves.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Oh, I thought that entering details in the "aquarium and fish" box in my profile would automatically append this at the bottom of a post. Guess it doesn't then...

Anyway, this is what I have:
Rekord-80 tank (80 liter tank)
6x barbus pentazona
4x corydoras metae
6x amano shrimp
lots of live plants (including java fern, vallis, giant vallis, anubias, cryptocoryne, hygrophila, hornwort, about 70 cuttings/plants in total)
mopani wood and blue quartz

As this is a new tank, the barbs have been in there about 5 weeks, and the cory's about 1.5 (I believe the bullying started before the cory's were added, but not 100% sure).

I believe I have about 30cm of fish body length left, so there is room to add more barbs. I may add 1 or two more plants as well, something with lots of leaves.

80 litres = 21.13 US gallons, five banded barbs need at least 20 to 30gallons minimum. You can add some more barbs, perhaps another 2-3 would be ok, but if you upgrade the tank to a 30gal that would be far better as this could be a space related issue with the barbs as well as they are quite active fish (your tank is rather small for these active barbs, how long and wide is it?).

Make sure to test your water quality for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates as if it has only been set up for 5 weeks, its most likely cycling, so adding new fish may not be a good idea if water quality is unstable.
Five banded barbs do best in heavily planted tanks with some large clear spaces;

http/www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cl...;articleid=2582

 

[Tom van Deijnen]

My tank is 80x31x38cm (WxLxH), do you reckon that's too small? Unfortunately, upgrading to a bigger tank is not an option for me. I am keeping a close eye on the water chemistry, I did cycle the tank before adding fish, but I guess that adding new stock will make it go through a small cycle anyway?

To start with I will add some more plants this weekend and then I'll patiently await the time for adding more stock...

Thanks for your advice, I let you know how I get on!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

My tank is 80x31x38cm (WxLxH), do you reckon that's too small? Unfortunately, upgrading to a bigger tank is not an option for me. I am keeping a close eye on the water chemistry, I did cycle the tank before adding fish, but I guess that adding new stock will make it go through a small cycle anyway?

To start with I will add some more plants this weekend and then I'll patiently await the time for adding more stock...

Thanks for your advice, I let you know how I get on!

That sounds ok for now, add a couple of barbs and see how they get along- they'll next at least 2 weeks or more before they are properly settled in and you can see any constant different behavior. If the old bad bullying problem comes back though after a month, it would most likely mean its a space related issue and nothing can be done about the problem apart from upgrading the tank.

Always make sure you test your water quality before you add the barbs (nitrites and ammonia should be 0 and no more, while nitrates should be preferably under 40) as if there are any unnoticed water quality problems, these may drastically worsen with the arival of more fish. Because the tank is so new, i would advise only adding 1-2 barbs a week .
Good luck

 

[Tom van Deijnen]

Thought I'd just let you know that the bullying problem has (finally) gone. Adding more plants and barbs seem to be the solution.

Thanks for all the advise!

Tom