Tiger barbs eating other fish?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Colauhu

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
Messages
3
How aggressive are tiger barbs? We've suddenly started seeing other fish in our aquarium disappearing. We've also noticed that our tiger barbs are getting really big really quickly. We've had our aquarium for a few months, and have not any thing like this happen. The weird thing is that this seems to be happening when nobody is around. The fish show no outward signs of aggression, but we'll come home from work and...BAM...another fish is missing.

The aquarium is stable, and the fish have that been in there have mostly been in there since the beginning.

Any advice would be appreciated. We can't prove it is the tiger barbs because we don't see them doing anything odd.

Thanks,

Cody
 
Tank size? Water params? Tankmates?
To answer you as best as I can at the moment, tiger barbs are aggressive IMO. I know some people keep them and never have an issue, but in general, they are nippy and do tend to be aggressive to some tankmates. IMO, they seem to do best in schools of 8.
 
Any more?

Any more help on this? The same thing is happening to us.

We have a 35 gal tank. Sorry don't know the water chemical stuff but PetCo says water is fine.

8 tiger barbs, 2 gourami. The latest missing is a red-tailed black shark, just got him last night, this morning he's missing.

Can they eat the whole thing???
 
Colauhu, as mentioned above, tank info would be really helpful. Yes, tiger barbs are nasty fish. I was really glad to rehome mine.

Alicia, if a fish dies or is dying, the other fish will consume it to keep the bacteria level in the tank down.

I would advise that you get yourself a test kit. The staff at the store don't usually have a clue what they're doing, or use test strips which are worthless. Plus, if you have an emergency, you'll be able to do an immediate test.

Having them say your water is "fine" is worthless. You need to know your numbers.

To be honest, your tank is too small for a shark. Unless it's hiding somewhere, I would not replace it.
 
How aggressive are tiger barbs? We've suddenly started seeing other fish in our aquarium disappearing. We've also noticed that our tiger barbs are getting really big really quickly. We've had our aquarium for a few months, and have not any thing like this happen. The weird thing is that this seems to be happening when nobody is around. The fish show no outward signs of aggression, but we'll come home from work and...BAM...another fish is missing.

The aquarium is stable, and the fish have that been in there have mostly been in there since the beginning.

Any advice would be appreciated. We can't prove it is the tiger barbs because we don't see them doing anything odd.

Thanks,

Cody

TigerBarbs are notorious fin-nippers that must be kept in a shoal of about 7 at minimum if they are in a tank with Non-Barbs ... especially if the other fish are slow swimming with large fins. Plus they require plenty of swimming room so a 30gal tank would be a minimum size ... they can very energetic.

Keeping them in a large shoal will focus their aggression on each other as they form a hierarchy. Keep an eye out ... usually the smallest TB will be considered the weakest member and low many on the totem pole so it may get bullied by the other TB's.

BTW, keeping them in larger shoals is no guarantee they will not nip at other fish, but makes it less likely. As TB'S mature the fin-nipping behavior doesn't get better. The best bet is to have 7 -8 TB's .. in smaller numbers they'll direct their aggression at other fish.
 
Any more help on this? The same thing is happening to us.

We have a 35 gal tank. Sorry don't know the water chemical stuff but PetCo says water is fine.

8 tiger barbs, 2 gourami. The latest missing is a red-tailed black shark, just got him last night, this morning he's missing.

Can they eat the whole thing???

If your RTS is alive and I'm assuming a juvenile ... your going to run into some serious issues when it matures (can get up to 6inches). RTS's become very territorially aggressive (a nice way of saying nasty) ... regardless of what fish are in the tank. Despite what you may read online or are told by your LFS, I recommend a minimum of 75gal for one RTS ... AND make sure there are plenty of plants, caves, decor, DW etc to establish territories for it to claim. However that is no guarantee that it wont try to claim the whole tank as its territory ... like mine does:facepalm: At feeding is when it can be at it's worst. A rainbow shark is a slightly smaller, less aggressive relative but still requires a 55gal minimum with the same setup for territories.

If it is alive, I would rehome / return the RTS if possible ... as LyndaB said, 35gal are too small for sharks.
 
It doesn't really matter at this point about the shark. It is no longer in the tank, we can't find the **** thing anywhere.
 
Wow, your second post and you've been bleeped already. I think that's a record. :hide:

If you want to discuss your shark or anything other than your tiger barbs, I'd suggest you begin your own thread. That way, you'll get help dedicated to your particular situation.
 
My original question was about tiger barbs eating the whole fish -if they do. Just like the original poster.
 
Back
Top Bottom