cherry barb aggression?

unwritten law

unwritten law

Superstar Fish
#1
Sep 2, 2008
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DC
#1
Ive had a new 16 gallon tank for a few weeks now. It started out with a gold barb, cherry barb and an albino tiger barb. Last week the tiger barb ate it so yesterday we went out to stock up our tank a bit... Almost done cycling and we wanted to get some more action in there.

Now we have 3 gold barbs (1 original) and 2 cherry's (1 original). Now all that I have read about cherry barbs is that they are not only a peaceful fish for community tanks but also shy and tend to hide a lot from action. But ever since they TB died and even more now that we filled up the tank a bit, the original cherry barb is being a **** and a bit territorial. I'm not sure what hes being territorial of now tho since the rest of the fish hide where he used to when he was always emo and shy.

He is not really nipping at fins or anything but he is definitely chasing the rest of the fish around, even the larger (original gold barb.) Anyone have any experience with a peaceful not aggressive fish being a ****? Should I trade him in?
 

jo3olous

jo3olous

Large Fish
#2
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#2
aren't all barbs semi-aggressive? they don't exactly do well in small numbers. In a 16G, you obv don't have room to school. (I'm guessing your tank is < 2 ft long). So when you keep barbs in group < 5, they will be more aggressive to each other, and any other fish in the tank. Also you probably want more hiding places to slow the aggression down, but the reason these guys do better in longer tanks is because they need room to swim. Ie: a 20G will do the same for the barbs as a 30G if they are the same length. I would recommend a bigger tank, even though you're not overstocked you kind of have the wrong home and the wrong number of them, and that might be why they are acting out of the norm. The tiger barbs however will always do some chasing and make a pecking order, it will just be more extreme in a smaller tank.
 

unwritten law

unwritten law

Superstar Fish
#3
Sep 2, 2008
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#3
No, not all barbs are aggressive at all. Ive read that cherry barbs are really timid towards any kind of action so you either need a lot of places to hide like i have or just keep one at a time. Gold barbs should be in groups, which is why i got more, but I figured three is decent enough. Most fish that fit in my tank size do better in numbers so there isn't much I can do besides what I have now.

My tank is about 2 feet long, and there is plenty of room in there since I'm respecting the 1in. per gallon rule and they are all tiny still.
 

jo3olous

jo3olous

Large Fish
#4
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
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Philadelphia, PA
#4
the one inch per gallon rule only applies to the fish itself physically, and usually the bioload (not always). the inch rule has NOTHING to do with where the fish likes to be in the tank and what it naturally does. You have 16Gs, would you put 16 1'' cherries in there? Of course not. Regardless of how big the fish are now, you should still factor in their adult size, after all if you want them to live long and healthy they need the room to grow to their potential right?

None of your fish are going to grow big, but don't expect them to act like the average barb in a shoal with plenty of room to swim. and <5 is not a school. So just add more hiding places. Cherry barbs do best in schools of 6 or more, (a school to me is 10+, I have yet to follow this rule myself). Because you lack a school, they may act differently. Also you only have 3 tiger barbs, which at some point will start fin nipping each other and the cherrys (or the cherrys will always hide). Gold Tiger Barbs also do better in schools of 5+++ . So If you want your tank to work, I would ditch the gold barbs, and get a total of 7 cherry barbs. Add lots of fake/real plants and hiding places and they should be fine
 

unwritten law

unwritten law

Superstar Fish
#5
Sep 2, 2008
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#5
I did factor in the adult size. I only mentioned the "rule" to explain that they have plenty of space to hide.


I explained this before... GOLD BARBS are not aggressive tiger barbs. They are completely different temperament and type of fish. They look and act nothing like tiger barbs. The gold barbs are actually the calm peaceful fish in my tank right now. I only made this thread because everywhere I read cherry barbs are said to be the most timid of the barbs. And there is mixed opinions on whether or not cherry barbs need to be in schools.
 

jo3olous

jo3olous

Large Fish
#6
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#6
unwritten law said:
I explained this before... GOLD BARBS are not aggressive tiger barbs.
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OHH right, I keep thinking of gold tiger barbs, yes gold barbs are very different. They're small like cherrys lol. Anyway, still recommend a larger school. TRUE they often like to be off on their own too, but still need a school of their own kind. But they are relatively fast, so even though they are relatively small to your 16G tank, THEY STILL NEED ROOM TO SWIM. You're asking for advice so I'm giving it to you. idc that your response is 'oh they have plenty of room in the tank' you are in question abotu a problem with your tank and I'm giving you possible reasons and solutions. What you do with it idc really, I just want you to have happy fish and a happy tank. Sorry if I sound rude, it's in my personality and that's why I keep semi-aggro rude fish *twirlysmi

and your TB probably ate your fish because it was bigger and not in a school with it's own kind so who else is it going to bother, sadly he died but it seems to be a good thing for your tank
 

punkrockfish

punkrockfish

Large Fish
#8
Nov 27, 2004
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#8
the personality of an individual fish can vary from the usual behavior seen in the species. if they don't have enough room, any fish can become territorial as well. Your group sizes should really be bumped up to make the barbs feel more comfortable, however you lack the space in your tank. While you may feel that the size of the fish is fine for the size of your tank, the behavior of the fish may require a larger tank.
 

jo3olous

jo3olous

Large Fish
#9
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
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Philadelphia, PA
#9
punkrockfish said:
the personality of an individual fish can vary from the usual behavior seen in the species. if they don't have enough room, any fish can become territorial as well. Your group sizes should really be bumped up to make the barbs feel more comfortable, however you lack the space in your tank. While you may feel that the size of the fish is fine for the size of your tank, the behavior of the fish may require a larger tank.
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well said, sometimes it's hard to get through thick skulls
 

MissFishy

MissFishy

Superstar Fish
#12
Aug 10, 2006
2,237
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#12
The gold barbs are different from the cherry barbs. That is odd that the cherries are the ones that are acting up as usually the gold barbs are a bit more nippy. Cherry barbs in general are very good community tank fish. However, you may want to build up your schools of each of them if you plan to keep only the barbs in your tank. Bump up the school numbers to 5 of each and that should limit the aggression. But like was said above, some fish are just little shi*ts, and that is an individual personality trait. Bumping up the numbers in the schools will focus that aggression more on the school than other fish.
 

unwritten law

unwritten law

Superstar Fish
#13
Sep 2, 2008
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#13
MissFishy said:
The gold barbs are different from the cherry barbs. That is odd that the cherries are the ones that are acting up as usually the gold barbs are a bit more nippy. Cherry barbs in general are very good community tank fish. However, you may want to build up your schools of each of them if you plan to keep only the barbs in your tank. Bump up the school numbers to 5 of each and that should limit the aggression. But like was said above, some fish are just little shi*ts, and that is an individual personality trait. Bumping up the numbers in the schools will focus that aggression more on the school than other fish.
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Yeah, I'd want to add more to them but I just don't have the space. I don't think its a personality thing though because the original cherry was timid like he should be but now is a shi*t along with the new cherry. I may have to say good bye to them and just bump up on gold barbs. I'm gonna wait and see what happens once I add some more hiding spots in the tank over this course of this week. The cherries might settle down in their respectable homes.
 

jo3olous

jo3olous

Large Fish
#14
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#14
sorry to rattle you unwritten law, but you don't take advice/criticism very well and I think it's funny haha, after all that's what we all post for, advice opinions for knowledge. Since you don't have the space for a larger tank, why not just add 3-4more cherries and return the gold barbs? better to have a school of 1 species than 1/2schools of 2 species
 

unwritten law

unwritten law

Superstar Fish
#15
Sep 2, 2008
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#15
I have more golds than cherries now and they seem to be more of a peaceful active fish than the cherries so I would keep them... the cherries were suppose to be good in small pairs but I guess not...
 

jo3olous

jo3olous

Large Fish
#16
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#16
unwritten law said:
I have more golds than cherries now and they seem to be more of a peaceful active fish than the cherries so I would keep them... the cherries were suppose to be good in small pairs but I guess not...
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The cherries are schooling fish yet they like to spread out/be alone. It doesn't make sense I know but if you look @ other forums people who have kept cherry barbs say that exact thing.

"This peaceful cherry-red fish is most often kept in community tanks by fish keeping hobbyists. The cherry barb is less of a schooling fish than other Barbs and is best kept in groups of five or more individuals." ~ This is from Wikipedia and it makes no sense.

"The Cherry Barb is an attractive, peaceful fish. It makes an excellent community fish and is best if kept in groups of 6 or more. I say groups because while the cherry barb does enjoy company of others of its species, it does not school as tightly as most barbs and tetras, if it schools at all." ~ quoted by someone from aquahobby.com
 

unwritten law

unwritten law

Superstar Fish
#17
Sep 2, 2008
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#17
I just don't understand why they should be in large numbers if they are loners, shy away from action, and hide. I think I'm just gonna have to get rid of them.

The problem is that one of my room mates is stubborn and probably wont want to get rid of 2 freaking 1 dollar fishes. We may have an unexplainable set of fish deaths this week.....
 

jo3olous

jo3olous

Large Fish
#18
Aug 6, 2008
909
1
0
Philadelphia, PA
#18
unwritten law said:
I just don't understand why they should be in large numbers if they are loners, shy away from action, and hide. I think I'm just gonna have to get rid of them.

The problem is that one of my room mates is stubborn and probably wont want to get rid of 2 freaking 1 dollar fishes. We may have an unexplainable set of fish deaths this week.....
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I wouldn't anticipate that either, nothing is wrong with your bioload or perameters, just the recommended setup and school for the cherries. For all we know they might live to their 6-7yr life expectancy.
 

DesignsOnYou

DesignsOnYou

Large Fish
#19
Jun 21, 2008
493
0
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#19
I think he's saying he may just return them and tell the roommate they died. Correct? I don't like to promote lying to people, but sometimes people are just so freakishly stubborn that you gotta do what you gotta do. Good luck getting it figured out unwritten. Sorry I'm not more help, I know nothing about barbs.
 

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