[Cheesehead Cory]

I've had a male and a female long fin rosy barb for 3 months, and for 3 months the lighter colored female has chased the male around mercilessly without doing any damage. I always thought it was supposed to be the male that would harrass the female, thus requiring multiple females. (????) Is this normal?

So this past weekend, I get the bright idea that I would give the lone male a break by adding a second male. The female chased one male around for a while and then went after the other, just as I had intended. So yesterday, I come home to find the female wobbling in the top corner of the tank, with much of her finnage missing. I watched for a long time, but didn't see any further aggression toward her. In the morning, she was dead. RIP - Rachael Ray Rosy Barb.

Wonder if the two males had enough, and ganged up on her. Or maybe my 6 tiger barbs, that up till now have kept to themselves, have turned into the killers that others on the net have warned about. Or was it the rainbow shark. So aloof in his cave, who would ever suspect the rainbow shark?

 

[mistergreen]

always have more female than males. Nature will work itself out.

Any of the barbs could have done it. They're ferocious sometimes.

 

[Cheesehead Cory]

So, you would agree that the F harrassing the M is opposite of what should be happening? Anybody else have LF rosy's playing the wrong gender roles? I know that thumb rule about M/F ratio, thought about adding another F, but if the second F acted like the first my M would have really been in for it.

If my tiger barbs have turned into fin-nippers, I'm sure the male LF rosy's are next. I'll have to try to watch the tank from at least a room away to find out. When they see me, they all drop what they're doing and start begging.

 

[mistergreen]

I don't think it's that odd that a female would chase a male.. The female is saying to the male, "you're too young and not egg worthy.", or "I'm not ready yet, give to some time and leave me a lone."

If you had another female in there, the girls would keep themselves busy.

Rosys and especially tiger barbs are notorious fin nippers. You might want to get more tigers so that they stop nipping the other fishes.

 

[Cheesehead Cory]

I don't think it's that odd that a female would chase a male.. The female is saying to the male, "you're too young and not egg worthy.", or "I'm not ready yet, give to some time and leave me a lone."

If that was the message, she sure was adament and preemptive (shoulda named her "Dubya") in delivering it, LOL. The male would circle around tank decore and make a sharp U-turn through the plants to shake her off his tail and hide in the corner. But as soon as she spotted him, the chase would be on again.

Hmmm, 3 months of peacefully coexistance of 6 tigers with two LF rosy's, and then all of the sudden someone gets nippy. Maybe adding that one more fish triggered a fight for territory. I did recently take out some tall plastic plants and replace with shorter anacharis - too much eye contact maybe. Hopefully, being back to 6 tigers/2 rosys will end the violence.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[mistergreen]

Maybe adding that one more fish triggered a fight for territory. I did recently take out some tall plastic plants and replace with shorter anacharis - too much eye contact maybe. Hopefully, being back to 6 tigers/2 rosys will end the violence.

Thanks for your thoughts.

yeah, that's probably it... They use landscapes like plants, rocks etc.. to indicate territories. So, when you took that away, they have to start all over again.. The fighting begins. What's your tank size btw? A bigger tank would help too.

 

[Cheesehead Cory]

33 gallons

It now holds 6 tiger barbs (4 reg, 2 green), 2 LF rosy barbs, 1 rainbow shark, 1 small chinese algae eater.

 

[mistergreen]

Watch for that chinese eater.. They are mean and will attack anything too when it get a little older.

 

[Cheesehead Cory]

Update - Tiger barbs found "not guilty" in fin nip scandal

Just thought I'd try to repair the reputation of my tiger barbs. What I thought was fin-nipping was apparantly fin rotting. That last rosy barb I added appears to have brought disease to my tank. All rosy's are now dead, and I never saw any of them being nipped, or even chased by the tiger barbs. The tiger barbs and rainbow shark had ick specks on them, so I've been treating the tank with quick cure. They're looking better already.