Green barbs and weird catfish.

[JamesShall]

Anyone have any green barbs? I was looking for info on them and all I can find is that they are basically the same (besides color) as a tiger barb, but a little more aggressive. Apparently they like to nip fins.

Anyway, they are supposed to be schooling fish so I picked up 5 of them. I haven't seen them do anything at all together yet. They are very small so maybe I'm expecting too much from them. I think I remember my tiger barbs schooling when they were itty bitty though. Oh well!

They do get along with the red tail shark pretty well so that's good. I was expecting the red tail to chase them about like the other fish in the tank, but nothing like that has happened yet.


My weird catfish... ooohhh boy. I have two and when I bought them they were all over the tank. They're supposed to be bottom feeders and they were all over the bottom of the tank. Now they seem to be hanging out in the corner - happy and active. They just go up and down... up and down... up and down... in the mid to top of the water. Are they more interested in their own reflections on the glass? Is there any way to make them stop? It's not very often that they take a break to go to the bottom for food. I want them to stop playing the corner and get back to keeping my rocks clean.

 

[ferret]

What kind of catfish? That's a rather wide description for a fish

Green Tiger Barbs are exactly identical to Tiger Barbs, except for their color. I actually prefer them, they're very beautiful under brighter lighting, green with a blue metal sheen at times. Since normal Tigers look like clown loaches (Another great fish), green barbs are the perfect choice for anyone who wants to keep both species but have a variety of color.

My barbs sometimes school, and sometimes just hang out. I've also seen them school with my red minor Serpae tetras, though other than having a somewhat similar shape, I'm unsure why they do so.

Question for someone smarter than me: Do green tiger barbs know they're..er.. green? I believe they're a color morph that breeders have created over the years and do not exist in the wild.. That's why I ask.. Do you think they believe they're still orange and black? That might explain why they might school more loosely than normal tigers.. they see these weird green fish that look like the right shape but don't look like them

 

[astroguy]

Ferret is far too fast for me! I wanted to ask the same question about the catfishes. My best guess is that you have otocinclus affinis catfishes (small 1-2 inches), correct?

 

[ferret]

One more note.. They're definately no more aggressive than Tiger Barbs. Just about all barbs have a reputation for fin nipping.

Depending on the answer to my above question about them being color morphs, they might possibly be more aggressive amongst themselves due to their odd colorings.

 

[ferret]

Ferret is far too fast for me! I wanted to ask the same question about the catfishes. My best guess is that you have otocinclus affinis catfishes (small 1-2 inches), correct?

I can see them just barely in his gallery, definately not oto's..

 

[astroguy]

they look like pictus catfishes, no?

 

[puffergirl]

I have kept green barbs with tiger barbs and they schoaled together with no problems. I found that they were similar to the tigers in behavior only difference being their color. As for the fin nipping this is a characteristic (sp?) of barbs not just green or tiger barbs. Usually they are not too bad unless they are with any long finned fish ( guppies, angels ) They are a very curious fish however if you add anthing new to their tank they will investiage it, harrasse it a little then lose interest IME.

As for your catfish, sounds like they are bored. Do you have lots of hiding places and spots for them to explore? They need a place to call their own and like to have lots of room and places to explore, IME. How long have they been doing this for? If they are new to the tank they may just need some time to settle down and relize that there is much more to thier new home than that corner Good luck.

 

[JamesShall]

Actually, the whole tank is new.

They are pictus.

The cat fish seem insterested in their reflections on the glass. They are SUPER active as the whirl around and around the glass. I thought it might be that they liked the heater, but the last catfish I had did the same thing (it died during the nitro cycle).

________

Thanks for the info on the green barbs - just like tiger barbs, but not the same color. When I had 4 tigers barbs they schooled a LOT. 2 died during the nitroen cycle and the 2 left never schooled since then. They just hang around and get chased by the red tail. Hopefully the green barbs start schooling and grow as quickly as my tiger barbs have.

 

[millym]

hi there,
we have 3 stripey & 3 green tigers & they all hang out together all the time and have done right from when we first got them all. they came from the same lfs but different tanks & ganged together as soon as they were put in our tank. these fishies are happiest in a group of at least 6, they muck about & have little dominance fights with eachother(nothing serious) and never bother anything else in our tank. but then we dont have any long finned fish in with them. people seem to have the most probs with fin nipping when they have a single or 2 tigers.

 

[JamesShall]

I guess something in the tank doesn't agree with green barbs.

I have only had this tank up and running with fish in it for about 1 month. I bought everything SMALL in hopes that when the tank finished cycling and I was "sure" the water was safe I would be able to add more small fish without a problem. I like small fish! It's "cute" to see them grow!

Anyway, I had bought 5 itty bitty green barbs that were about 1/4~1/2 inch long (closer to a 1/4") and now I have 3. One died yestserday and one died 2 days ago. I don't know what's getting them because I count them when I get home from work, and again when I feed them at night and again when I feed in the morning.

The 3 that are left are growing fairly quick so hopefully they don't get attacked. I think the red tail shark is the culprit. He wasn't very hungry at all for the last 2 days.
BAD FISH !!! BAD shark!
How do you disipline a fish?

This is kind of a good thing though. The greens seem to be starting to hang out with the tigers. I think I will go for 3 more barbs so I will have 3 different variants... and one mean shark!

 

[ferret]

You should check your water parameters, specificly ammonia and nitrItes. The shark shouldn't have killed them.

 

[grimlock3000]

"How do you disipline a fish?"

You really can't for the most part, fish are vary simple and instinctive creatures.

w00t, 500 posts for me!

 

[JamesShall]

You should check your water parameters, specificly ammonia and nitrItes. The shark shouldn't have killed them

Yeah... checked them and everything is good to go.

The other 3 are just fine, but maybe I'll be down to 2 when I get home

>sigh<