Tiger Barb Help?

[xamdarb]

ok when i first started fish keeping i did not know that tiger barbs should be in groups so they can form a school.
since i had only one tiger babr he killed one of my fish, so once he died i went out and bought 2 small tiger barbs so i have 3. The only problem now is that i had one tiger barb for about 8 months and he is very lartge compared to the others and he is harrasing them. I usualy would not be worried but since these tiger barbs are so small will the other one hurt them or will they be able to fend for themselfs tell they reach a larger size?

 

[dthoffsett]

Tiger barbs really need to be in a school of 6 or more. When kept in smaller groups there just aren't enough fish to spread the agression around so that no one fish gets picked on all the time. Sounds like your larger tiger is the dominant one, it'll continue to pick on the other ones, unless you can get him more to chase.

What is your tank size and other occupants?

 

[xamdarb]

tank size is a 55g
with a green severum
common pleco (i know it will grow to large)
3 tiger barbs
a convict

 

[phlawed]

tank size is a 55g
with a green severum
common pleco (i know it will grow to large)
3 tiger barbs
a convict

intresting tank hehe but agree a minimum of 8 barbs to make them healthy. They are called a schooling fish, but in my experience they rarely school unless feeding or chasing. You will find that 3-4 will swim around chasing each other while the others kinda do their own thing. At times though, they will swim as a school. If your lucky at night(moonlights help), you will see the largest two barbs spare for dominance. Its quite amazing really. The others make a circle around the two fighters. One eventually leaves and the school will follow the winner. Only saw this twice though, both about 30 minutes after turning off lights.