# tiger barb trouble



## notaswede (Nov 25, 2007)

ok, so i've had several tiger barbs in my 10 gallon tank. i started with 3 of them, graduated to 5 last year. lost one to a disease, lost one to aggression, lost one to cold when my apartment dropped 30 degrees overnight randomly. one of the barbs, whom we've nicknamed 'Spot' due to his - well, spot - is extremely aggressive. we already have too many tanks for a rented home. we thought spot would be cured by keeping the barbs in a larger group, but he just pesters the other guys like crazy. he is currently living with the last barb and two neon tetras which he ignores. the last barb is on its last legs - he chases it around the tank all day and bites its fins. she is floating sideways and barely hanging on. we understood while purchasing barbs that they were not very good for community fish, however the others were fine - but this one in particular is really killing off our other fish.

so i guess what i'm asking is...what can we do about our extremely aggressive barb? we love this guy, he comes to the glass and looks at us when we talk about him, and he's the very first fish we put in this tank (going on 2.5 years). i'm really hoping not to start another tank in our small apartment. i really don't want to be 'that guy' and bring the fish back to the store. at the same time i don't want to have an empty tank with 1 aggressive barb in it.

what other options do we have? thanks for any thoughts.


----------



## cocomania (Nov 16, 2007)

Well since it is male you may just need to add more females too reduce the stress but if nothing works out for you you might have to bring it back to your LFS:-( .


----------



## notaswede (Nov 25, 2007)

darn, yeah we had 3 females before. was hoping he wouldn't have to go back.


----------



## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Had the same thing with a female gourami. When she was about 4 years old she started to kill off the other tank mates.I returned her to the local fish store. Very sad to do but if I didn't I would have lost a whole tank of fish.


----------



## Ice Prince (Jun 15, 2007)

you could always try a divider. or a bigger tank.


----------



## Guest (Nov 25, 2007)

May I suggest a larger tank??

Tiger barbs are really NOT suitable for 10 gallon tanks. at 3 inches, they are pretty large, and are much to active to live in a 10 gallon...there is just no room for a TB to swim correctly in a 10 gallon, and even if you did get more barbs, there will be no room for them to hide, a 10 gallon isn't that big of a tank for that.


----------



## Guest (Nov 25, 2007)

^^I agree. Not only do Tiger Barbs get too large and active for a 10g, but you really need atleast 6 in a tank to spread out the aggression. Really, 8+ is ideal, if you have the room. Then they don't pick on a single fish and can spread the aggression throughout the group.

I suggest getting atleast a 30g tank (3ft) for your Barbs and then adding enough to have 8 in the group.

You should also bring the Neons up to atleast 6, as they are a schooling fish as well.

If you can't upgrade to atleast a 3ft tank, I'd suggest returning the Barbs and finding something more suited for a 10g.


----------



## notaswede (Nov 25, 2007)

thanks for the suggestions! i'll see what i can do about getting a 30 gallon started to relocate him since that seems like the best bet. that way i can add a couple neons to the one tank and more barbs to the new one.


----------



## Corydora_FREAK (Feb 21, 2007)

Tiger Barbs are a very hierarchal fish. Once you get them in a bigger tank and get more Tiger Barbs then they will establish dominance within themselves and will calm down substantially. I love Tigers and have spent hours studying their behavior for my animal psychology class. The Tiger Barb has a school similar to a wolve's pack. After they duke it out an Alpha male and Female will be established and then the violence will end. Simple as that. They will still chase each other but never fight intensely unless a subordinate male or female challenges the alpha. Also those Neons are going to die. Not to sound blunt or harsh. Tiger Barbs treat any fish like themselves and Neons are not a fish to defend themselves. Those Tigers will shred through the neons and bully them as a weak subordinate fish to a horrible death. I would suggest taking them back to your LFS asap. Tigers are a brave and intelligent fish and will gladly accept treats right from your hand. Good luck with them!


----------

