# Tiger Barbs.. Nibbling eachothers fins



## Steven09 (Nov 13, 2011)

My friend and I went to a BA's for the midnight madness and she bought 3 Tiger Barbs. They all were doing great but in the last day the largest Tiger Barb killed the smallest one and just recently nibbled the fins off the other Tiger barb.

I have Two questions regarding this:

1. How do I stop this from happening?

2. Can I heal the Tiger Barb that is missing a fin?

Thanks in a advance for any help

-I realize he looks fairly.. dead in the pictures but he is swimming around just on weird angles and with great difficulty.


----------



## splur (May 11, 2011)

You should've bought more tiger barbs, they're schooling fish and are less aggressive/stressed in larger numbers.

The barb can heal those fins, they're just nipped, but you'll need to separate them indefinitely. When I just started out I bought 4 tiger barbs, the biggest one killed his 3 buddies. He's the only one left and seems to enjoy the fact he's the only one of his type in the tank.


----------



## Steven09 (Nov 13, 2011)

Thanks for the advice, I'll relay it too her for future reference. 

Unfortunately even after being separated the fish died. Can she still put other tiger barbs with this "juggernaut" tiger barb as long as they are in larger numbers?


----------



## splur (May 11, 2011)

I'd think so, I've only ever seen them in large numbers and they school rather than nip, but from personal experience my tiger barb has been on his own (albeit with other types of fish) since he killed buddies a year ago, so I can't really be sure.


----------



## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Depending on the tank's size, get a dozen of them. They really do best in larger groups. But what's nice, is there are half a dozen or more available varieties of this same fish, coming in colour morphs; Standard, gold (xanthic), black, albino, moss-green, platnum-green... so within one group of the same species of fish, you can have lots of colour and variety.

Also, if they are old enough you can sex them by comparing the redness in the fish in the store tanks. Males have more intense red, with more coverage. Limiting males will help reduce excessive aggression.

You CAN add more to the one you still have. You'd need to add a large batch at once though, to overwhelm him, and the fish should be equal to his size, or barely larger. Take a ruler to the store- lol.


----------

