Bi-Polar Tiger Barbs

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Tigerlily

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Oct 13, 2003
Messages
299
Location
Alexandria VA
I have 7 tiger barbs in a 29 gal, and usually all is peace and harmony. They playfully chase each other around and rush at the glass when I come by in hopes that I've brought them food. (piggies)

But last night, it was a totally different matter... The males were really "displaying" their fins and chasing the females viciously. One female was taking the brunt of the abuse and her color faded so dramatically, I thought I was going to have to pull her out of there - but she refused to hide (got lots of plants for hiding) and kept coming back for more punishment... Finally I just turned the lights off early, in hopes that they would just go to sleep.

Well tonight, all is peace and harmony again. What's wrong with these wackos? Was it some kind of breeding battle? Was it just because the dominant male was in a really bad mood? I don't think it was a full moon... Anyone else seen this kind of behavior?

Everything is fine now... I'm just curious whether this is normal.

Thanks!

P.S. 0/0/10, 6.8 as of my last test on Sunday.
 
I have seen this before with my Barbs, I think it is the same thing you are talking about. Sometimes the males will chase around the females around like crazy. Once the females stop or slow down, the males will stop and spread all of their fins fully open, then keep chasing. Sometimes the males flare their fins a few times in a row. In my instance, one of my males kept doing this and getting whooped by the females every time. He ended up with nips on all of his fins :roll:
 
Males have really orange noses, and brighter orange on their fins compared to the females. They are usually more streamlined as well. When the males are "displaying" (I don't know if that is the right term for it) you can really tell the difference because their colors are absolutely vibrant!
 
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