Tiger Barbs fighting like theres no tomorrow

[k2snowboards88]

I don't get why they're fighting so much. I have 4 tiger barbs in a 55 gallon tank wiht a peacock eel and a red fin shark. The tiger barbs are constantly fighting. Sometimes they'll go head to head and try biting each other and then they'll get along side of each other and spin around. It looks like they're trying to bite each others tails. Now this morning i just notices that one of them has a broken jaw. Why are they fighting so much? This isn't normal is it?

 

[black angel]

all i know is that they are pretty aggressive amongst themselves and need to be kept in a big shoal to stop them beating up on one fish.

 

[cation]

They are very aggressive, which is why it is important to keep them in groups of 6 or more. This will allow them to spread out the agression.

 

[flash]

Mine fight most the time too. The bigger tiger is the main culprit, even picking on the bigger green tigers.

Advise seems to be that its kinda normal, but apparantly adding more tigers calms them down... they get distracted by each other.. or something

 

[bunjiweb]

My friend has a 45G tank with 10 tiger barbs in and they never fight, they all swim about together in a tight shoal and play and dance together - really fun to watch.

So I guess as already said the secret is to have a nice big group of them and it will more than balance out the agression. I would suggest getting another 4 if you have the room in your tank.

Ben

Ben

 

[WILDER]

Yes I would say to six or more are best with tiger barbs.

 

[sylvia]

The reason they fight is to establish hierarchy. Sometimes they settle and each individual knows its status and wont challenge the others but usualy the hierarchy changes and the fish are constantly fighting to establish their dominance.

I would remove the fish with the broken jaw in case it becomes infected or attacked more and put it in a quarantine tank for a while. Then get yourself several more tiger barbs and put the fish you removed back in the main tank at the same time as you introduce the new fish so it isn't attacked again.

Or you could leave the damaged fish in there but buy some more as soon as possible so he doesn't get attacked further and keep an eye on him in case of infection. Of course the injury may not be as bad as I envisioned

Having more fish means the aggressive behaviour is spread out. The dominant fish will have his attention devided and will not constantly harass the same inferior fish.

You may also want to get more plant cover and keep in mind that having more large and relatively aggressive fish in with tiger barbs will help make them shoal and limit aggression as they'll be worrying more about predators. That isn't to say that you should get more fish. Just a possible explanation as to why some people have very peaceful tiger barbs.

I have kept a shoal of 11 tiger barbs and a red-tailed black shark in a 55 gallon without ever encountering problems other than the initial establishing of hierarchies. In my case, I suppose the limited aggression was due to the large shoal and the fact that the shark was a very active and large individual.

 

[Gourami Lover88]

Note that when they spin\jaw lock it is also a type of mating dance, before you jump to conclusions chk to see if the fighting is between males and females. The males have a deeper red fins,noses and are more streamlined, while the females should be very "fat" and be pale.
But you should get more anyway to divide the agression.