Beating on each other

[spence0416]

Just added 4 mid size (2 inch) Tiger Barbs to a 55 Gal. They immediately began fin nipping with each other. First question aren't these supposed to be kept in groups or should they be kept alone? Will the aggressiveness begin to slow as they establish themselves? Finally is there a way to tell males from females?

 

[Allivymar]

They are definitely schooling fish. With schooling fish like that, its recommended to have a minimum of 6, otherwise you see the behavior thats going on in your tank right now. The more tiger barbs, the more the aggression is spread out. It should ease somewhat as they claim territory, but will likely never cease, especialy with only 4. Do you have room for more?

Not sure about sexing em; hopefully someone else will be able to chime in with that info.

 

[TankGirl]

The male is supposed to be smaller, thinner and slightly more colorful, though for me they needed to get a bit of size on them before I could tell.

Second the info from Ally! What fish do you have them in with? There are a lot of fish who are either docile and peaceful and find the tiger barb to be irritating, or fish that the tiger barbs will pick on more than others, like angels and gouramis. I would absolutely try to increase their numbers as much as possible, and if you do not have many other fish in there I would shoot for 14 individuals for best results. A lot of people think they do best in a species only tank, for just this reason.

 

[Fruitbat]

As a veteran keeper of Tiger Barbs, Capoeta tetrazona I can agree with Allivymar and TankGirl on the fact that these fish are happiest in a school of 5 or more. I've got 5 adult C. tetrazona in my tank right now (4 females and 1 male) and they get along reasonably well.

Tiger barbs have a reputation as fin-nippers and I can also confirm that to be true with long-finned fish like Betta splendens and Veil-tail Angels, Pterophyllum scalare. I haven't had any problems with the Tiger Barbs in my current tank bothering ANY of their tank-mates, which include a trio of Blue Gouramis, Trichogaster trichopterus, and a bunch of semi-docile Red-tailed Rasboras, Rasbora borapetensis.

I think you'll find that things in your tank will settle down considerably as soon as the Barbs have worked out the 'pecking order' in the tank.

 

[spence0416]

They have definitely slowed down since they were first put in the tank. Will only having all males or females reduce aggression or cause there to be more? I'm not sure what I have but they all appear to be of the same sex...very little difference between them, but from what I've been able to find I would guess that they are male.

 

[Fruitbat]

The males will squabble between themselves a little more than a combination of males and females but, other than a slightly ragged fin or two, I shouldn't imagine that you'll see much damage. It can be difficult to tell between males and females...the female generally has a fuller body outline but that is dependent on whether she's in breeding condition or not. If a female fills with eggs then you'll DEFINITELY be able to tell. The male will be the one chasing her all over the tank!