I'm having trouble with barb bullying.
I've had 4 gold barbs in a 39 gallon tank for probably 3 or 4 years, and just these past few months 3 of them (now 2) have turned on the largest one.
The big guy is probably 2.5in while the others were around 2in. All of a sudden, like within a few days, the 3 barbs started biting the big guy until his sides were literally bleeding. I took him out, put him in quarantine until he healed up, put him back in the tank, and within that night his sides were bloody again. At this point in time one of the barbs got popeye real bad so I took popeye out for quarantine and eventually had to put the big guy in with popeye because he was getting bitten so bad. No biting in the quarantine tank. They both healed up, put both them back in, and the 2 barbs in the 39g tank recommence their biting.
I'm sick of watching this poor fish suffer so I take big guy out and put him in my 20 gallon community tank where he just dwarfs everything in size in there. I heavily plant it and leave him in there and hope for the best. He doesn't bother anyone and gets better and actually seems happy to be king of the tank again. Popeye barb gets popeye again and dies so there's 2 barbs in the 39g and one in the 20g now.
Over a month passes and tonight I put big guy back into the 39g. Within 2 hours his sides are bright red again from biting. :/
I've tried to google golden barb bullying and it seems that it might be a sexual/mating problem? I've looked at gold barb mating habits and they all say the female is big and dull while males are small and bright, but mine are the opposite. Big guy is the brightest and most round of the three (in diameter). The two smaller ones are more sleek and torpedo shaped and nowhere near as vibrant. They all seem to have some sort of orange-red on their belly at random times. Popeye was also torpedo shaped and not as round as big guy. (Note: I'm not that great at sexing fishes, I can get pictures tomorrow.)
There's no other visual problems with any 3 of the fish (no torn fins, no popeye, no weird scales), they all eat like pigs, and none of them have gone after any of the other tank inhabitants (a large scaredy 13 year old silver dollar and 2 small brown knifefish in there temporarily). The tank is pretty well decorated with plants and structures so I don't think there's a lack of hiding places. When I had smaller fish in there (rasboras, cherry barbs, upside-down cat, all now in the 20g) the gold barbs never bothered anyone.
I don't know what to do. I hate seeing the poor guy suffer. Do I need to buy more gold barbs because it's an aggression thing from too small of a group? Do I just move big guy to the 20g for life? Do I wait it out and let nature take it's course? I'm hoping to find a peaceful solution. What do you guys think is going on?
Tank parameters are all acceptable except for high nitrates because I was on vacation for a week and the babysitter was a little over zealous.
I've had 4 gold barbs in a 39 gallon tank for probably 3 or 4 years, and just these past few months 3 of them (now 2) have turned on the largest one.
The big guy is probably 2.5in while the others were around 2in. All of a sudden, like within a few days, the 3 barbs started biting the big guy until his sides were literally bleeding. I took him out, put him in quarantine until he healed up, put him back in the tank, and within that night his sides were bloody again. At this point in time one of the barbs got popeye real bad so I took popeye out for quarantine and eventually had to put the big guy in with popeye because he was getting bitten so bad. No biting in the quarantine tank. They both healed up, put both them back in, and the 2 barbs in the 39g tank recommence their biting.
I'm sick of watching this poor fish suffer so I take big guy out and put him in my 20 gallon community tank where he just dwarfs everything in size in there. I heavily plant it and leave him in there and hope for the best. He doesn't bother anyone and gets better and actually seems happy to be king of the tank again. Popeye barb gets popeye again and dies so there's 2 barbs in the 39g and one in the 20g now.
Over a month passes and tonight I put big guy back into the 39g. Within 2 hours his sides are bright red again from biting. :/
I've tried to google golden barb bullying and it seems that it might be a sexual/mating problem? I've looked at gold barb mating habits and they all say the female is big and dull while males are small and bright, but mine are the opposite. Big guy is the brightest and most round of the three (in diameter). The two smaller ones are more sleek and torpedo shaped and nowhere near as vibrant. They all seem to have some sort of orange-red on their belly at random times. Popeye was also torpedo shaped and not as round as big guy. (Note: I'm not that great at sexing fishes, I can get pictures tomorrow.)
There's no other visual problems with any 3 of the fish (no torn fins, no popeye, no weird scales), they all eat like pigs, and none of them have gone after any of the other tank inhabitants (a large scaredy 13 year old silver dollar and 2 small brown knifefish in there temporarily). The tank is pretty well decorated with plants and structures so I don't think there's a lack of hiding places. When I had smaller fish in there (rasboras, cherry barbs, upside-down cat, all now in the 20g) the gold barbs never bothered anyone.
I don't know what to do. I hate seeing the poor guy suffer. Do I need to buy more gold barbs because it's an aggression thing from too small of a group? Do I just move big guy to the 20g for life? Do I wait it out and let nature take it's course? I'm hoping to find a peaceful solution. What do you guys think is going on?
Tank parameters are all acceptable except for high nitrates because I was on vacation for a week and the babysitter was a little over zealous.
