Tiger Barb Characteristic Question

[rachh004]

I have 7 tiger barbs in a 55 gallon tank. Most of them seem to sleep vertical. Their face is facing down with their tail up. They all seem to do this at night. Sometimes some do it in the middle of the day. Is this normal barb behavior? When I got them this kind of confused me because non of my other fish do it.
I also have 6 black skirt tetra, 1 guppy, 2 rasboras, 2 zebra loach, 1 clown pleco, and 3 panda catfish

 

[millym]

Hi
have kept tb's for over 6 years and yes they do rest/sleep with their noses down its normal. they can however also go nose down if you have nitrites in your tank but as long as your params are ok its normal barb sleeping psoition

 

[milkton]

do they never stop doing it or does it happens most of the time? ... because if you always see your barbs with their tail up and head down they might have a bladder disease.

 

[Colin_T]

I'm surprised you have a guppy in the tank and it hasn't been eaten

You need some more rasboras as they prefer to be in groups.

Tiger barbs are greedy feeders and often take in air when eating at the surface. This air can cause them to have trouble keeping buoyant and sometimes results in them floating around the tank, or swimming with their head down and tail up.
Offering more frozen or live food can help prevent this. Otherwise soak the dry food for a few seconds before feeding it. It should sink a bit quicker and help prevent the fish gulping air when they eat.