Will Tiger Barbs Eat Neons

[adiholl]

Hi
Ive got a tank with 5 neon tetras, 5 x-ray tetras, 5 silver tip tetras, and 5 black neon tetras, and i somehow ended with a little tiger barb i have heard somewhere that when tiger barbs get big they will eat my other fish is this true or will i be safe to get a couple more tigers to keep him company

 

[three-fingers]

If you only have one tiger barb, it will most likely get very aggressive.

I you add a couple more, you will probably just have 3 aggressive tiger barbs.

Tiger barbs aren't necessarily always aggressive, but they need to feel pretty secure for them to stay calm, and this means keeping them in bigger groups.

And yes, compared to neons, they are relatively big fish.

 

[Straydum]

keeping them in groups of 5 or more eases out the aggression. but then i wouldnt be too sure. a fully grown tiger barb could make a meal out of your neons.

 

[rdd1952]

I don't think it will necessarily eat them but it will harass them to death. Tiger barbs are not good community fish and if they are put into a community tank, they need to be kept in large groups to spread th aggression. I would definitely return the tiger barb.

What size tank do you have and is it cycled? That's a lot of fish for a new tank if it isn't cycled.

 

[CruX]

Depending on your tank size if you want to keep him I would get much more. I have 10 and never have an issue, I have never seen them bother any other fish apart from their own kind and when that happens they do a fanstatic little mini battle with their mouths and they go around in a circle and then go again with another fish. I believe they live in a heirachy and this is how they establish the pecking order so to speak, they certainly haven't done this in a while for us so that could ring true.