its the time of the season

[tropicfishman]

for fighting apperently lol I was watching my 29 today and admiring how individual each tiger barb was when I noticed my two biggest ones holding each other by the mouth, first time I've ever seen these fish do this, and they would chase each other around circles by the butt area, I thought maybe they were just hungry since I have cut the feedings in half, so I through in an algea wafver and the whole tank swarmed on it lol any body know or seen this before? is it playing or fighting?

 

[exodus]

I've seen my barbs do it from time to time, but it certainly is rare. When I saw it, I had no idea what to make of it either.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

No, its not playing...thats what tiger barbs do...they're naturally somewhat aggressive. How many do you have? If you have more than 6 you probably wont see much aggression, but if you only have, say 4, you'd probably see lots of aggression from the bigger ones on the little ones. I had 12 to start (but my redtail shark seemed to think he was the decider on how many should be there) and there was no aggression whatsoever, but once my shark killed off half of them...there was mass aggression. At firts i thought they were mating or something, but then i thought theres no way it can take 2 weeks for that lol.

hth

 

[tdalessa01]

I have had Tiger Barbs do the same thing. I have had the same six for a while now, however I lost three at first. I look at it as survival of the fittest. Once you have the right pairs it can be very enjoyable. Some people think that an odd number can help and prevent one from picking on another but in my opinion it does not make a difference.

 

[lovemybarbs]

It's sort of horseplay I think. Mine do that all the time. Their strips turn sort of green on the tigers when they do it. My roseys do it, my albinos do it, especially with fresh water. Usually mine do it several times a week.

 

[Zagz]

It is a sign of aggression. Cichlids do it all the time.

 

[tropicfishman]

intresting, thanks for the help everyone