Agressive tiger barbs

[jackwagon]

If your stocking will allow it, add more barbs. This will reduce aggressiveness

 

[reefdiver]

You may have to keep an eye on them. It may be that they just claming territory. I have 7 in a 75 gl with tetras and they get along well.

 

[reefdiver]

Do you have lots of decorations in your tank?

 

[HN1]

Tiger barbs will be tiger barbs. They truly do not fit in the "community" fish category IME. Adding a few may help short term, but longer term they will probably be a challenge to other stocking choices. Great fish, but they can limit choices.

 

[reefdiver]

Try rearanging some decor .it may help. Also keep an eye when.you turn.off the lights see how tgey act

 

[pcdebb]

personal experience: tiger barbs can be VERY mean. I added more, i lost fish

 

[Borderlesscott]

I love Tiger Barbs, so I thought if I purchased some in a big enough group of 8 and at a very small size they would be fine in a community tank, all was well for about 5 weeks, they where great to watch having little fights with each other and swimming all round the tank, even they way they slept was pretty cool. One morning I got up, went down to the tank and the only fish I could see where the Tigers, on inspection every fish was in hiding. As soon as any fish would venture out, bang - Tigers on them in seconds, like Piranha's! couldn't believe it - went on for 4 hours before I had to remove them, it was crazy - nip nip nip at any fish that dared come out. Tigers rehomed and won't be getting any again unless there going into there own tank, super little guys - super bad attitude if placed with unsuitable fish, lesson learned.

 

[brianwestchest]

Mine are fine

I got three (green) Tiger Barbs to start my tank. The guy at the local aquarium said they'd be fine as I added other fish. Then, I heard they were killers and that there was no way I could add other fish with them and have them be good members of the community. Well, it's about 4 months later. I still have the three green Tiger Barbs along with a couple of mollies, an albino bushy nose pleco and a small school of serpae tetras. Yesterday I added a couple of Boseman Rainbow fish. So far, no problems. The Tiger Barbs sometimes playfully chase each other. The aggressors in the tank actually seem to be the mollies as they sometimes try to horde food.

 

[jayhawks12279]

These guys are buttholes. A 125 gallon tank and all 6 of my mollies won't come out of hiding and 1 has died. They chase the neons all over also. I'll let them settle and see what happens but if my mollies all die and I get new fish and they are scared too then I'll have to get rid of them. I don't want a species tank. I do like them though.

 

[Borderlesscott]

It will probably get worse, they take over very quickly. It's a shame they are the way they are as they can be really interesting to watch. Pentazona barbs are very similar and apparently no where near as bad as Tigers, could be a replacement for you.

 

[HN1]

I got three (green) Tiger Barbs to start my tank. The guy at the local aquarium said they'd be fine as I added other fish. Then, I heard they were killers and that there was no way I could add other fish with them and have them be good members of the community. Well, it's about 4 months later. I still have the three green Tiger Barbs along with a couple of mollies, an albino bushy nose pleco and a small school of serpae tetras. Yesterday I added a couple of Boseman Rainbow fish. So far, no problems. The Tiger Barbs sometimes playfully chase each other. The aggressors in the tank actually seem to be the mollies as they sometimes try to horde food.

Give them time. Most are sold around the 3-6 month range and they don't fully mature for a couple-few years. That said, the other fish you have with them would mostly be fish that I would recommend for a tank with TBs.

 

[jayhawks12279]

Well it's been a week since I added the tigers and the mollies are still hiding although sometimes they will come out for a little while. 2 of my 6 have died but I have never seen the tigers chase the mollies. They actually swim away from them when they do come out because they are bigger than the tigers. I think they are just really scared of the new fish. It seems to be getting better a little at a time. They still eat but aren't out much. Hopefully they will get more accustomed to them. The tigers are really active and fun to watch. They nip at the neons here and there and kinda "herd" them back and forth but the neons don't seem to mind much. Anyway, I'm gonna add some more fish next Friday and see what happens.

 

[BalloonBellies]

I had 3 tiger barbs and 3 green barbs. They terrorized my tank for weeks. The biggest one ended up killing the smaller one and the real tiny One hid all the time with the green barbs. The big one would not leave anyone alone it was horrible. So I brought him back to the pet shop and all was calm again. The green barbs were totally fine. They were great community members. Maybe I just got lucky with nice green barbs. I would deffinatly not take the chance again.