tiger barbs always killing one of their own

[skiltrip]

My tiger barbs have a history of choosing one of their own to pick on, and pick on him until he's dead usually. It's a slow death. the chosen tiger barb will look rougher and rougher until finally he'll die.

about a month ago, i had my last one die. his scales were all worn off, and fins nipped down pretty bad. you could see all the white where the scales should have been. at that point I had 5.

down to 4, and again, they have picked one to beat the hell out of. he's starting to look the same way, scales all worn down, fins nipped like crazy.

I know tiger barbs pick on each other, that's the point of having the bigger school, so they keep to themselves. But they continually pick the lowest ranking barb and slowly beat him to death. Is this normal?

 

[Mustang5L5]

How many did you have at the biggest point? When i originally had 5, i noticed them starting to pick on 1. But now that i have 13 of them, the agrression gets spread around

 

[modernhamlet]

How big is your tank?

Do you have lots of plants, rocks, or other decorations for the weaker barbs to escape into?

 

[skiltrip]

my biggest school was 6
they are down to 4.

I have plenty of plants, 2 caves, a big piece of driftwood. and even a big plant hanging upside down from the top of the tank. so they have plenty of places to hide from each other and take cover.

 

[modernhamlet]

Is there a "leader fish" that is driving the aggression? If so, you could remove him and see if that helped. Though the more you lose, the more erratic their behavior will tend to be. Is giving them back to a LFS a possibility?

 

[drobbins27]

Poor Tigers. I say you get one super aggresive fihs show the bully whos boss

 

[Lateral Line]

6 is usually the minimum number I would recommend, but more is always better. That way there are a few subordinates and the aggression gets shared. Good cover is also important.