Vicious Tiger Barbs

[hsherman1986]

Ok, so I have a school of 5 tiger barbs, 5 albino tiger barbs, and one green tiger barb in a 55 gallon tank with 7 clown loaches, two dojos, and a rubberlip pleco. I just noticed tonight that the tiger barbs were picking on the larger dojo. I have never seen them do this before, usually they just fight with each other. And it was just the tigers that were biting, the albinos and the green were around, but not actually biting the dojo. Now, the top half of his dorsal fin is missing. I took him out of the tank and moved him into a 20g that I had room in. I do not want this to be a permanent solution, as I feel he will outgrow that tank eventually. I want him to be in the 55g. Could I move the barbs into the 20g and put the dojo back into the 55? obviously this combination of fish in the 55 just isn't working anymore so I know I need to do some moving around.

TIA!!

 

[SCFatz]

Whats in the 20 already?

Im thinking 5 full grown tigers will pretty much populate a 20 on thier own.

I suspect you know but this but,your clowns are gonna be a real problem.1 full grown clown needs more the 55g.They get pretty long and fat....18" or so.

 

[hsherman1986]

the 20 that i could move the barbs into only has four emerald cories and some baby guppies in a breeders net (their own 10g tank is getting cleaned up right now). They are not full grown yet, only about 1.5" - 2" long.

The 20g that I moved the dojo into has 6 yoyos, an otto, and a pair of GBRs.

And yes, I know about the clown loaches. I plan on getting them at least a 150g (but probably bigger) once they start getting bigger. The biggest one is only about 4", the rest are less than that.

 

[SCFatz]

Well imo...The TBs may be ok in the 20 with the cories.
Its not an ideal situation though.The boiload will be high and the tight quarters may make them more agressive.

The cories on the bottom give up the rest of the tank..so maybe.

 

[hsherman1986]

well, i am very attentive to water conditions, and do water changes all the time (doing water changes right now actually). They are an every few days occurance since we got our python, so a high bioload is not much of a problem. I will keep my eyes on them and make sure that they dont try to kill each other, but I am going to go ahead and move them over. I want to put the dojo back in his home, and i will pick out something else to fill in the top/middle strata of the tank that won't attack the rest of my fish.

on that note, what else can i put in there that is not mean/aggressive and not a type of tetra or minnow? I want a schooling fish, maybe a few rainbows?

 

[tropicfishman]

tiger barbs are demonish little critters lol its hard to keep them behaving nicely unless you have fish that will bully them back, what goes around comes around, even then they'll fight among one another

 

[hsherman1986]

oh yea, they fight among each other all the time. I had just never seen them pick on the loaches before. The only reason I moved the dojo first was to get advice, and because I caught him the easiest (he turned around into the net lol)

 

[lovemybarbs]

That's strange. I have a lot of barbs and they all play nice with the loaches. Doesn't he have a cave?

 

[hsherman1986]

yea, there are numerous caves in the tank. Plenty of places that he can hide, but I don't want him to have to hide all the time.

 

[lovemybarbs]

My angelicus botia loach never has a problem.

He'll spend a lot of time in his "cave" and come out to eat, but they never bother him.

 

[hsherman1986]

could i try and reintroduce the barbs to the tank? Three of the tigers are still in the 55 (couldn't catch them last night) and they have left the dojo alone. Maybe if they realize that they don't own the tank, they will leave him alone?

I have heard somewhere that if you have "dominance" or aggression issues, you can take out/seperate the aggressor for a day or two, put them back with everyone else, and they will be fine. Does it actually work this way, or was someone talking out of their b*** again?

 

[lovemybarbs]

I think it just depends on the fish. It wouldn't hurt.

I think letting him heal is the important thing.

 

[hsherman1986]

oh of course, i want my fish to heal more than anything. I just really enjoy watching the tiger barbs in the 55g, and hate seeing them confined to the 20. I would love to have them back in the 55 if they will leave the dojo alone.

 

[jbarr]

Loaches don't get 18"!! They max out at 6"!

 

[hsherman1986]

not clown loaches. Clown loaches get HUGE!!

Most other loaches max out around 6". My neighbors dojos are up to 8" and are FAT!

my favorite pic, to illustrate size...