Re: tiger barbs

[Dinky]

"p/l" > wrote in message
...
> Im new to the aquarium world, i just put 2 tiger barbs, and an angel fish
> in an 42 gallon tank. the question i have is.. Is it natural for this
barbs
> to constanly be picking on the angelfish. I thought tiger barbs were an
> community fish.. Any advice would be helpful .. thanks
>
>

Tiger Barbs *are* a community fish, but that is not to say they are totally
docile. In fact, I'd have to say they're at the aggressive end of
"community", plus the long fins on an angel are a choice target for many
fish.

I would try the following:

1: Add more tigers. With a larger population of their own species, they may
leave the other fish alone and squabble amongst themselves. This worked for
me. I have 7 adult tiger barbs in a 75gallon tank with a dozen other
species, including medium angels. I haven't seen any aggression in months.


2: Move them.

hth

billy

[coelacanth]

No, no, no. Tiger barbs are very pesky fish. You MIGHT
be able to get them to leave the angels alone by adding
several more barbs. A school of 6-8 usually keeps it's
squabbling within the group (sometimes killing the smallest
one or two in the process). But having said that, long
flowing fins are almost irresistible to them. If you have
veil angels, you'll need to rehouse either barbs or
angels. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

-coelacanth

"p/l" > wrote in message
...
> Im new to the aquarium world, i just put 2 tiger barbs, and an angel fish
> in an 42 gallon tank. the question i have is.. Is it natural for this
barbs
> to constanly be picking on the angelfish. I thought tiger barbs were an
> community fish.. Any advice would be helpful .. thanks
>
>

[Dustin The-Wind]

Tiger Barbs = Fin Nippers

Something interesting about this fish is that they school with similar
colored fish. It's rather comical to see a Clown Loach who thinks he's a
Tiger Barb. So maybe add similar colored less aggressive fish. In
addition to adding two more Tiger Barbs.

I am sure you notice how fast Tiger Barbs are. A school of Giant Danios
will distract everyone in the tank. Imagine having six Robbin Williams
on speed in the same room! Like Robbin Williams they are gentle and
funny, but ALL OVER THE PLACE.

[Steven S.]

You might consider switching to five banded barbs, Puntius / Barbus pentazona. They look similar to tiger barbs but don't have the Tiger barbs reputation for aggression/fin nipping. That's what I am planning on doing when my tank fully cycles.

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/barbpent.htm


"p/l" > wrote in message ...
> Im new to the aquarium world, i just put 2 tiger barbs, and an angel fish
> in an 42 gallon tank. the question i have is.. Is it natural for this barbs
> to constanly be picking on the angelfish. I thought tiger barbs were an
> community fish.. Any advice would be helpful .. thanks
>
>

[Tedd Jacobs]

"Dustin The-Wind" wrote...

> [...] Imagine having six Robbin Williams
> on speed in the same room!

Mork,...
Batty,...
the Genie,...
Adrian Cronauer,...
Popeye,...
and Peter Pan...

all in the same room...

at the same time...

on speed...

i'd hope someone has a video camera.

:-)

[Tedd Jacobs]

"p/l" > wrote in message
...
> Im new to the aquarium world, i just put 2 tiger barbs, and an angel fish
> in an 42 gallon tank. the question i have is.. Is it natural for this barbs
> to constanly be picking on the angelfish. I thought tiger barbs were an
> community fish.. Any advice would be helpful .. thanks

tiger barbs are actually typically labeled as a "semi-aggressive" because of
their tendency to be fin nippers and,... well... killers.

i have both angels and tigers and i wouldn't put them in the same tank under any
circumstances. the angels would not survive. consider the tiger barbs to be like
dwarven klingons on crack, (okay, maybe thats a little extreme but you get the
idea.) the little guys are always looking for a fight.

[TYNK 7]

>bject: OT Re: tiger barbs
>From: "Tedd Jacobs"
>Date: 12/8/2003 12:00 AM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: >
>
>
>"Dustin The-Wind" wrote...
>
>> [...] Imagine having six Robbin Williams
>> on speed in the same room!
>
>Mork,...
>Batty,...
>the Genie,...
>Adrian Cronauer,...
>Popeye,...
>and Peter Pan...
>
>all in the same room...
>
>at the same time...
>
>on speed...
>
>i'd hope someone has a video camera.
>
>:-)
>

Tedd.....
That is VERY scary!
= )~

[Flash Wilson]

On Sun, 7 Dec 2003 15:12:40 -0330, p/l > wrote:
>Im new to the aquarium world, i just put 2 tiger barbs, and an angel fish
>in an 42 gallon tank. the question i have is.. Is it natural for this barbs
>to constanly be picking on the angelfish. I thought tiger barbs were an
>community fish.. Any advice would be helpful .. thanks

I've had tigers for a while now and love them, but boy are they
pesky!

I've got them to live with fish with tails including guppies etc,
although not as long as angel tails! For the first few days they
nipped like mad. Eventually they stopped and now live harmoniously
with them. Whatever they see gets nipped at first. I've always
seen it settle down, but that doesnt mean it was a good idea!

Also, you only have two. You really need about 6 or so, you could
always mix striped with green or whatever if you dont fancy more
the same. They do lots of nipping amongst the group to assert
authority, in fact I've had fish die from their injuries so keep
a breeding net handy in case any need a bit of isolation to
recover. It can also be helpful in taking the ringleader out
of the pack for a bit, he is calmer when reintroduced (but not
for long!) Again this will settle down eventually. This happened
in my 200l tank so space doesn't seem to help, they just swim
more and faster :)

At http://www.gorge.org/fish/what.shtml#tiger you can see
a pair of green tigers nose to nose in combat! I did get some
pictures of three of them whizzing round in circles with all
their noses touching, like a catherine wheel, but they didn't
come out too well.

To be honest I think you'll find tigers are a bit of a hassle
to keep with longfinned fish, or slow moving fish, but they are
rather fun. You could always add other more peaceful barbs like
black rubies which are also stripey, so they will swim together
and hopefully not notice the angel so much but there are no
guarantees. Good luck!

--
Flash Wilson
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Looking for a UNIX/Apache Sysadmin, or help with your website?
Drop me an email! Available across London or working from home.

[Mike Edwardes]

In article >,
"p/l" > wrote:

> Im new to the aquarium world, i just put 2 tiger barbs, and an angel fish
> in an 42 gallon tank. the question i have is.. Is it natural for this barbs
> to constanly be picking on the angelfish. I thought tiger barbs were an
> community fish.

Sadly all too common.

> Any advice would be helpful .. thanks

My advice:
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net/Btetrazona.html

Mike.
--
Mike Edwardes Tropicals
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net

[Flash Wilson]

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 03:59:32 +0000, Mike Edwardes
> wrote:
>My advice:
>http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net/Btetrazona.html

Hi Mike. On that page you have said:

- Personally, I would never recommend keeping less than eight.
- You MAY get away with six.
- Four is asking for trouble!

My experience is different to that. When I have three or four, they keep
to themselves and don't bother others (except for a few days when others
are introduced and are "new" and interesting!) When I have six, or eight,
they fight a lot more amongst themselves to the extent that they die of
their injuries. I've had fish with fins reduced to short sticks, bare red
patches of skin etc and usually they die even with separation and treatment.
Then the group gets down to three or four again and settles.

So if I get more, yes it takes the attention away from other fish in the
tank, but some of them are destined to be dead soon.

At present I have three tiger barbs left and they are no bother to the
other fish, so I've given up buying more every time they kill each other
in order to keep the numbers up.

I don't think there is anything else in the tank to cause them to be
niggly - water params fine, lots of room, varied tankmates... it still
happens. I've had this when they were in a 2ft with other barbs and a
small pleco, and in a 4ft community.

Any comment you could offer on this would be interesting!

--
Flash Wilson
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Still collecting Electricity Pylon photos - please send me yours!
- http://www.gorge.org/pylons

[MartinOsirus]

I have 6 -in a 20g tank - 3 green barbs and 3 tiger barbs .Nothing else yet.
They all get along fine so far. What would be good to add next ???

[Flash Wilson]

On 10 Dec 2003 15:55:57 GMT, MartinOsirus > wrote:
>I have 6 -in a 20g tank - 3 green barbs and 3 tiger barbs .Nothing else yet.
>They all get along fine so far. What would be good to add next ???

I think I replied to a similar question in another thread...

I'd go with - more barbs! Try something like black ruby perhaps.
Or fast moving fish like danios, and maybe an algae eater like
a bristlenose ancistrus.

Thinking about it, a pair of kribs would probably not be bothered
by tigers - mine aren't - but then mine are in a 4 foot community,
I'm not sure how they would react in a smaller space. They'd need
places to hide like coconut caves to get away from the barbs.
That might not be the best idea I've had.

There are lots of lovely barbs you know :)


--
Flash Wilson
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Looking for a UNIX/Apache Sysadmin, or help with your website?
Drop me an email! Available across London or working from home.

[Tedd Jacobs]

"Flash Wilson" > wrote in message
...

> There are lots of lovely barbs you know :)

Barb's are awesome! i asked my wife if she'd change her name to Barb for me. if
i had known i was going to get into THAT much trouble, i would have let her
believe it was because of another woman.

*rimshot*

thankew, thankew,... :^)

[Happy'Cam'per]

ROFLMAO @ Tedd.....
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

[Mike Edwardes]

In article >,
(Flash Wilson) wrote:

> On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 03:59:32 +0000, Mike Edwardes
> > wrote:
> >My advice:
> >http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net/Btetrazona.html
>
> Hi Mike. On that page you have said:
> - Personally, I would never recommend keeping less than eight.
> - You MAY get away with six.
> - Four is asking for trouble!
> My experience is different to that. When I have three or four, they keep
> to themselves and don't bother others (except for a few days when others
> are introduced and are "new" and interesting!) When I have six, or eight,
> they fight a lot more amongst themselves to the extent that they die of
> their injuries. I've had fish with fins reduced to short sticks, bare red
> patches of skin etc and usually they die even with separation and treatment.
> Then the group gets down to three or four again and settles.
> So if I get more, yes it takes the attention away from other fish in the
> tank, but some of them are destined to be dead soon.
> At present I have three tiger barbs left and they are no bother to the
> other fish, so I've given up buying more every time they kill each other
> in order to keep the numbers up.
> I don't think there is anything else in the tank to cause them to be
> niggly - water params fine, lots of room, varied tankmates... it still
> happens. I've had this when they were in a 2ft with other barbs and a
> small pleco, and in a 4ft community.
> Any comment you could offer on this would be interesting!

These are shoaling fish. Give them the opportunity and they will put
their energy into staying with the shoal. With only small numbers of
fish present, shoaling behavior breaks down, releasing their energies to
cause mischief. This is the experience of the vast majority of people
who have kept this species. As ever, YMMV.

Mike.
--
Mike Edwardes Tropicals
http://mike-edwardes.members.beeb.net

[Flash Wilson]

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 16:26:03 -0700, Tedd Jacobs
> wrote:
>
>"Flash Wilson" > wrote in message
...
>
>> There are lots of lovely barbs you know :)
>
>Barb's are awesome! i asked my wife if she'd change her name to Barb for me. if
>i had known i was going to get into THAT much trouble, i would have let her
>believe it was because of another woman.

Oh dear oh dear oh dear! :)))



--
Flash Wilson - http://www.gorge.org

Comments in my journal or guestbook are welcome!

[Flash Wilson]

On Fri, 12 Dec 2003 05:48:04 +0000, Mike Edwardes
> wrote:
>In article >,
> (Flash Wilson) wrote:
>> Hi Mike. On that page you have said:
>> - Personally, I would never recommend keeping less than eight.
>> - You MAY get away with six.
>> - Four is asking for trouble!
>> My experience is different to that. When I have three or four, they keep
>> to themselves and don't bother others (except for a few days when others
>> are introduced and are "new" and interesting!) When I have six, or eight,
>> they fight a lot more amongst themselves to the extent that they die of
>> their injuries. I've had fish with fins reduced to short sticks, bare red
>> patches of skin etc and usually they die even with separation and treatment.
>> Then the group gets down to three or four again and settles.
<snip>
>> Any comment you could offer on this would be interesting!
>
>These are shoaling fish. Give them the opportunity and they will put
>their energy into staying with the shoal. With only small numbers of
>fish present, shoaling behavior breaks down, releasing their energies to
>cause mischief. This is the experience of the vast majority of people
>who have kept this species. As ever, YMMV.

Ah, ok, I guess you are talking about giving them a huge number of
fish in the shoal, such as I've seen at the London Aquarium (barbs
are one of the few freshwater exhibits there) - but when you said
six or eight, those are the kind of numbers I was talking about too.

Ideally I need loads more I suppose!


--
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