killer tiger barbs !!!!

[TASHANCRAIG]

hi all i have 6 tiger barbs 1 pleco catfish 13 neons and 8 gupies was 9 my male guppy was killed minutes ago the tigers caught it and ripped its tails to shreds then 1 of them had it in its mouth shaking it like a dog fight ??? it was not nice to watch i got the guppy off the tigers and put it in a jug to see if it was ok but it just kept swimming and sinking till it died has anyone else had things like this ??/ or have i got pysco fish ???? everyone was swimming nicely for wks till this happened

 

[DragonFish71]

Tiger barbs can be very aggressive towards other fish. That's why they are usually labeled "semi-aggressive". Keeping them in a bigger school can help cut down on the aggression, or not.


IMHO, tiger barbs shouldn't be kept with neons and guppies because of this. Neons and guppies don't even come close to "semi-aggressive". You might want to think about re-homing either the neons and guppies or the tiger barbs to prevent any more deaths.

 

[i3k]

I'm thinking that one guppy was sick and the barbs got him when he was dying. I know barbs start to pick on dying fish. I've seen it happen few times in my own tank. I have 5 albino barbs and they don't bother any of my fish...unless one of the fish is dying. I had 5 corys and the barbs paid no attention to them. Then, one of the corys got sick and the barbs attacked him while he was dying...they tore him apart...it was ugly

I know barbs can be aggressive towards other smaller fish, but they usually just chase the fish and maybe nip on the tail. I've only seen barbs eat fish when the fish is minutes from death.

 

[taylorodw]

Also, putting long-finned fish with a tiger barb is a little like dangling string in front of a cat. I am not surprised.

 

[TASHANCRAIG]

i3k thanks for your info that is what i was thinking as the guppy only ever swam a little then floated and never looked like he was ok possibly he may have been dying we thought was sinking to bottom of tank then the tigers got it and swam about shaking it in their mouths coz before my tigers never bother any of my fish just chasing and the odd nip to a tail there more funny than anything an play chase all the time thanks for all comments peops