Tiger Barbs, good or bad idea

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Fishyfriend09

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I was recently thinking of purchasing a few tiger barbs, around 7 or 8 but i was wondering if they would get on with angels and gouramis, even with a group of 8 is this still a bad idea? Thanks :)
 
As far as I know Tiger Barbs can get pretty aggressive, and would probably do best in a species tank in a large group. I have read that the more of them there are the less aggressive they can be though. I really want to get some of those myself, but I am not sure for those reasons. They will probably still do good in a community if there is enough of them, and they are around fish of simiar size and temperments, but it's up to you. I'm sure someone else can better advise you on this, but just my opinion.
 
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I have read that the more of them there are the less aggressive they can be though. They will probably still do good in a community if there is enough of them, but it's up to you.


Thanks, I heard this too but im wanting to see if anyone has had any good luck but i suppose even if one person had good luck doesnt mean i will, getting fish is sometimes a lottery with their personality
 
I currently have 10 tiger/ruby barbs in my 75 gallon with an angelfish and 2 gouramis and they are doing fine. The angelfish and gourami are on the large side however. There are other smaller fish in the tank as well and the barbs leave them alone. I've seen one or two pick at the other species occassionally, but it's the normal kind of stuff you see all fish do in a community tank.

The key, in my experience, is to put them in a big enough tank and a large enough group so they can't focus on one fish and pester it to death. I think 8 would be fine as long as there is enough room for them to chase each other and not collide with too many tank mates.

Edit: I also want to mention my tank is fairly sparsely planted at the moment, with some fake plants and one real one, but they still don't bother each other. I did notice in my 10 gallon though, the plants helped to allow one to go hide if he needed to.
 
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Tiger Barbs, in a group of 7 or more, are normally fine. They don't go well with long-finned, slow moving, or delicate fish. Fin nipping is part of the Tiger Barb reality so if a fish can't handle its own business, keep them in separate tanks! Bettas, for example, would be a no-no. Long-finned and slow moving, is basically a flashing neon sign that says "NIP ME NIP ME NIP ME!"

The only exception to this, is that I have heard horror stories of groups of 14+ Tiger Barbs going on a mad rampage and overwhelming some more solitary species like gouramis. Schooling fish are normally fine with those large groups (like I said 14 or 20 or more!) as long as they aren't hopelessly outnumbered.

But you wouldn't keep that many anyways probably :D
 
Started with two tiger barbs in with some mollies and swords and two gouramis and five neons. They tourmented the other fish a little bit right after i got them , but with in an hour , they just played with each other. They didnt like new additions to the tank and would tourment the new fish for a while. I added four more to them , to make a total of 6 and they never bother anything. I have added two angels in and two more gouramis. Tiger barbs dont bother anything, but i am having a bad problem with the male gourami harassing the two females i just gave him.
 
In general, my experiance with tigers is 7 or more and your fine for community with the exception of fish like gouramis and bettas. They can get nippy is there isn't enough places for the gouarmis to hid or they get overly hungry.
 
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