Bobfishlover

I recently got an albino tiger barb and a green tiger barb to add to the 4 regular tiger barbs and 3 rosy barbs in a ten gallon aquarium I own. The tiger barbs are quite agressive and have been nipping at the albio tiger barb ! I was told at the store that all barbs were agressive and could be safely put with their own kind with no agression. The albino is quite beat up and has a portion of his anal fin missing . Today I set up and am cycling a small 2 gallon hexagon tank to move him into eventually as a "rehab" center. What can I do in the meantime to keep the other fish from causing more harm, or even killing him? He was't expensive but I really want to save him!

Any help would be appriciated,

Bob

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P-Daddy

Well, from personal experience I am going to say that keeping any variety of barb together with impunity is a myth, I've had regular tigers go to war with green tigers before.

Also the fact they told you all barbs were aggressive was probably in reference to tiger barbs, I keep cherry barbs that are incredibly friendly.

The simple fact of the matter is that tiger barbs are fish that are most secure in a school and will most likely lash out against other fish if they are kept in groups of less than seven, and even then its not guaranteed that the school will keep them docile.

I understand the temptation to add variety to a tank, but some fish are simply best kept in schools.

Now to try and remedy your problem, this is a temporary fix, and I mean super temporary. I am not sure if I read it on this forum or elsewhere, but you can actually take a pasta strainer (plastic or metal) and dunk it in the tank to separate aggressors for a quick fix. They also sell a number of tank dividers that suction cup to the side of the tank for raising fry etc. This would in theory try to allow your albino to recover from his injuries without the harassment tankmates, the problem is that chances are once you release him back he will probably just be torn apart again.

I hope that was at least of some help, I wish I had a better solution for you.

Tommy Gun

I agree...there is always the exception to the rule. For example, you could have a school of the most docile fish in existance and find one which 'broke the mold' and causes a lot of issues for its tank mates. An even better example are tiger barbs! If you were to look in any number of places for info on tiger barbs, I am sure that you will see that they are 'labeled' as semi-aggressive, and you are now starting to see that this label is really true since they are very apt to nip at other fishes' fins and such.

However, generally speaking, the larger the group of school of tigers you have, the less likely you will encounter aggression/nipping issues. You are also less likely to see one tiger picking on another if there are other types of fish in the tank as well, but that isnt really solving anything since the problem is just going to change from your albino tiger being injured, to the other fish being injured. Sort of like sweeping a mess underneath a rug.

But hang on for a minute...as I see it, you are now in a rough spot with these tiger barbs because they seriously grow to be much larger than some of us might think. You can trust me on this one since in the past, I have kept some tigers which were easily three inches from mouth to tail, and were probably close to the same from top to bottom, making them a pretty big, round fish. That said, your 10 gallon tank, IMHO, might be too small for tigers over the long run. Keep in mind that tank size also plays a part in aggression levels...in extreme situations, this even applies with schooling/schoaling fish which tend to stick close together all the time.

I agree that you should probably quarantine your injured fish and possibly even treat it will an antibiotic in order to prevent infections in the wounded areas. IMHO, if you do this, I suggest treating it with a dose which is less than the suggested amount in the med's directions until you are sure that the antibiotics are truly needed above and beyond a preventative measure. Dont get me wrong, I would normall not suggest using any treatment on a 'just in case' basis, but this may be the exception to a very small degree.

twood63

My Tigers got so bad with one another out of frustration I put them in with my Aficans and they are all getting along. Not fighting with one another or the africans. I believe they sense there match is met.

T

mnn1265

I used to keep all the smaller agressive fish (i.e. barbs) confused with a fairly large school of giant danios... with all that darting around they don't know who to be aggressive to.

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twood63

Thats a good idea Mnn1265 keep them off balance......

T

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