# Tank Mates for @#%$# Tiger Barbs



## Tiwaz (May 5, 2011)

So what do other people keep with these guys? I have a group of 10 Tiger Barbs that I have with 6 Black skirt tetras they get along fine. The 12 large neons that were added to the tank today didn't fair so well.
After acclimatizing them all seemed well they were shoaling nicely and nobody was bothering them. I watched this for 20-30 mins so I took my daughter for a bike ride, came back 2 hours later and I have 5 Neons in a Beta bowl I wasn't using the rest were snacks.


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

It depends on aquarium size, other types of Barbs, Danios, Rainbowfish, Silver Dollars and Dwarf Cichlids to name a few.


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## Ladayen (Aug 21, 2011)

Hmm.. I just put my school of 8 in a new tank a few days ago.. I got blackskirts, blood fins, botia striata, royal farlowella, gold tetras, harlequin rasbora, dwarf cockatoo cichlid, cherry barbs and a single pristella tetra and a lone neon as well. I tried adding more neons but they've been dying off for other reasons, no sign of aggresion on the bodies. The original lone Neon is just fine still. I also just spent over $100 on plants and most of them went into that tank though so I think that has alot to do with keeping the peace.


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

I had one tiger barb that was twice the size of all the others and it stressed almost all the other fish to death. Except for my pleco.

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## vdub (Apr 22, 2010)

Well, maybe you could describe your tank for us so we could rule out if the problem is the fish itself or the home it's living in that's causing them to attack each other:

1. Aquarium size
2. Planted or not (if so, is it heavily planted or not)
3. Are there hiding spots or just lots of open areas
4. Do you make sure all your fish are fed well


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## Tiwaz (May 5, 2011)

1. Aquarium size 55 G
2. Planted or not (if so, is it heavily planted or not) planted moderate
3. Are there hiding spots or just lots of open areas I thought that was adequate hiding places between the plants rocks and driftwood
4. Do you make sure all your fish are fed well the fish are well fed


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## Tiwaz (May 5, 2011)

A picture of the tank tonight.


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

In my opinion, tiger barbs are just jerks. I had 2 tiger barbs 2 green tiger barbs and 2 albino tiger barbs and 2 angels 3 corys and a bnp. One tiger barb was almost 3 inches and mean, all the others were 1 inch. The large tiger chased nipped and stressed all the othe fish to death. I now have african cichlids in one tank, guppys and a cray and tetras in another, and mollies and platys in another... I will never have anymore tiger barbs. I do have 2 bumblebee cichlids for sale or trade if you'd like to show the tigers who's boss... 

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## Tiwaz (May 5, 2011)

Ok so now its 6 in the bowl. All I saw was a flash of blue and 10 barbs chasing it. I managed to net it out before they caught up.


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## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

I have a 90g with Tiger Barbs in it with a bunch of other fish with no problem. I have Danios & Blackskirt Tetras & Gold Barbs & Swordtails & Guppies & Rummynose Tetras & Cardinal Tetras & Black Neons & Austrailian Rainbows & Yoyo Loaches & Khuli Loaches & Angelfish & Silvertip Tetras and my BNP's. Everyone seems to get along just fine. It is well planted with minimal hiding spots. I have not had any aggressive actions from anyone. I may be lucky who knows.


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## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

Tiwaz said:


> Ok so now its 6 in the bowl. All I saw was a flash of blue and 10 barbs chasing it. I managed to net it out before they caught up.


Are the neons a lot smaller than the Tiger Barbs? They might be to small. Your Tiger Barbs look the same size as the Blackskirts. Tiger Barbs are classed as SEMI-AGGRESSIVE fish.


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## Tiwaz (May 5, 2011)

Yeah they are smaller, but they were all 1"+ so I honestly didn't think they would fit in the barbs mouth.


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## vdub (Apr 22, 2010)

Tiwaz said:


> A picture of the tank tonight.


Based on your picture, for a 55 gallon, this is actually really lightly planted. Reason is because you can actually see pretty much all of the 3D background rock thing you have going. Also, there doesn't seem to be that many hiding spots; the fish themselves are almost as big as some of those rocks and the plants probably wouldn't be able to fully hide those fish. Also just an observation, the barbs in the picture look like they're dominating 3/4 of the tank space (foot print-wise).


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## sunshine_1965 (Aug 16, 2011)

vdub said:


> Based on your picture, for a 55 gallon, this is actually really lightly planted. Reason is because you can actually see pretty much all of the 3D background rock thing you have going. Also, there doesn't seem to be that many hiding spots; the fish themselves are almost as big as some of those rocks and the plants probably wouldn't be able to fully hide those fish. Also just an observation, the barbs in the picture look like they're dominating 3/4 of the tank space (foot print-wise).


With 10 of them in there they would for sure. Tiwaz maybe stick with fish the same size or larger than the Barbs are. Neons are quick but so are the Barbs. You never know unless you try though. Lesson learned I hope.


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## vdub (Apr 22, 2010)

Yea, territorially (don't if that's actually a word), there's probably not enough space for them all to coexist peacefully. If you think about it, fish in the wild establish territories that are tens of times larger than what aquariums can provide. Maybe you're overstocked.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Only time I kept tiger barbs they picked each other off one by one. The weakest in the school was bullied to death, then the next weakest, then the next, until there was just one left.


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## Sherry (Apr 20, 2012)

I like your back ground display...cool


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## Tiwaz (May 5, 2011)

Sherry said:


> I like your back ground display...cool


Thanks, you can read about the build here http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/diy-area-18/diy-3d-background-25880/


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