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Tiger Barb Dither Fish

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:33 pm
by LoachOrgy
I bought 4 tiger barb for dither fish in my tank . but i noticed today they almost tore through one of my cories. so i think im going to trade them in. any good suggestions for dither fish for clown loaches? I have a few orange tetras and glass fish i may toss back in that tank. the tiger barbs are just too aggressive. i love the fish but i don't think i can let them tear up my cories. they are so happy!


i have rasboras and i love them but my loaches will eat rasboras, neons, glow light tetras, von rio tetras, and most of all danios. if there are danios in the tank they eat them first! I am thinking of a fish about the size of the tiger barbs but more mellow and a good color. my tank has lots of reds greens and oranges.

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:42 pm
by mistergreen
wow. are these clowns?
danios are pretty fast and they got eaten? sorry can't help you if danios are eaten.

you might want bala sharks? they get pretty big so they might stand a chance with the clowns.

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:51 pm
by poeticpyro
giant danios
torpedo barbs
rosy barbs....

pretty much anything that schools works well..

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:51 pm
by LoachOrgy
yeah, i didn't think they would eat them but when the danios sleep they sit at the top of the water. i think they would be easy prey at night. thats usually when they dissappear. i went through a good 17 danios before i stopped puttin em in there lol....no bodies were ever found....

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:30 pm
by mistergreen
watch out for rosey barbs. they can behave like tiger barbs.

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:35 pm
by Wendie
Oh goodie. I have both albino tiger barbs and rosy barbs! So far, the barbs are all chasing each other and leaving everything else alone. However, I might add that my Yo Yo's are a good 5 inches in size while the barbs are still small yet.

Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:48 pm
by Kitishane
The problem is that you don't have enough tigers. In a group of 6 or more, they tend to fight amongst themselves, and leave the tank mates alone. Any less, and they start going after their tank mates.

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:37 am
by helen nightingale
to me it sounds like if your loaches are eating all your dither fish you have already meantioned, you have problems there that you should resolve before buying more dithers.

have you actually witnessed the loaches attack and eat the dithers? if you havent seen it, it is much more likely that the fish are dying of some other cause and then being eaten. sometimes it can be very hard to see a small fish when it has died in a tank, and other fish are likely to have a pick at it - so no remains are left.

could you update us on your stocking, recent water test results and what size tank? i recall you have been changing a few things recently and i have lost track of your setup.

i dont think going for big fish like bala sharks is your answer - i dont remeber you having an enormous tank? stuffing more fast growing fish into a tank could possibly make agression, territoritality and the eating of competitor fish even more of a problem.

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:59 am
by LoachOrgy
helen, no sorry i didn't explain it well. i separated the smaller fish and the loaches a long time ago. close to a year. they were eating all of them. the problem now is that i bought some tigers for dither fish but they are attacking my cories. so i need something about the same size as the barbs but less aggressive as a dither fish.


since i have moved the loach a year ago. i havn't lost one dither fish. i went through a good 6 months of fish dissappearing and me thinking, "oh it must be the tank or disease". well once i separated the fish, none dissappeared. i had one die and the bodies would turn up when it died(in the new tank not the loach tank). previously not one body. i think they were snatching them late at night. most of the smaller fish would sit near the bottom. but let me tell you. this may sound cruel but i conducted a test. i put 4 danios temporarily in my loach tank(because they eat danios the most, danios=loach steak) they were all gone the next day! so if that doesn't prove it. i don't know what does. but the problem dissappeared and i havn't had to buy fish for a long time now.

tank size 55 gal
4 tiger barbs
1 14" pleco
4 cories emerald
5 clown loach
2 upside down catfish
2 golden algae eaters


tank two(35 gallon) has an assortment of

orange tetras
neons
glowlite tetras
glass fish
pleco
cories
one von rio flame tetra
rasboras
2 danios

i was thinking of putting the large tatras and the glass fish back in the tank with the loaches. but those fish aren't as active as the barbs and i like have alot of motion in the tank when the clowns are hiding.


they all get along well in this tank. the only one problem is that one of the glowlite tetras had his bubble pop and he struggles to stay floating now. he kinda drags himself along. the flame tetra nips at his fins but doens't really do more damage than that. he eats fine and gets along and hangs with the other fish. i can't put him down i have had him as long as the pleco. the pleco went into pleco rage and smacked the glowlite by accident when they were in the tank together. i had to change tanks bc the pleco is getting too big and will soon be transported to a 135 gallon pond with the other gold fish i had.

ill take a ph test later.

i am running an aquaclear 70 and a jethead 70 that blasts circulating water throughout the tank. i have been doing water changes every two days. and cleaning the tank 1-2 times a week. its alot of work but i try and take care of them. i just put many plants in the tank but the pleco thinks they are lunch. so no more plants until hes gone.

this thread has pics of my two tanks in it.

http://forums.loaches.com/viewtopic.php?t=4653

i may be upgrading in the near future and i may be passing a few fish along to my friend as well. since i have the loaches i guess i need a wider tank rather than longer. i don't have any spare room but emma was saying i need to get a bigger tank.

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:53 pm
by loachmom
Did you have a large pleco in the tank? My lfs told me that a large pleco will eat small fish. I don't know if this is true or not.

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 1:23 pm
by LoachOrgy
yes they will eat smaller fish but mine doesn't. he was living with them for a while with no fish missing. the fish stopped dissappearing once the loaches were removed. the loaches were separated from the large pleco. when the danios were placed back in the loach tank, they were eaten. i saw some plecos at the lfs eating dead fish on the bottom. my pleco has sweet tooth for shrimp but i havn't had any fish dissappear in the same tank as him since the loaches were removed so it was not him eating the other fish. after that, one fish died and the body was floating near the filter. i think he got stuck in the filter.

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 3:25 pm
by loachmom
Sounds like you are right about your pleco not eating your danios. Well, you are at the right place to get your questions answered. I've learned so much since I started visiting this forum.

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:45 pm
by poeticpyro
FYI... clowns need a bigger tank...if you plan to keep them full-term.

Re: Tiger Barb Dither Fish

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:30 pm
by djloach
I have a hard time believing the your clown loaches are eating your danios. I have some zebra danios in with my clown loaches and never had a problem. I even had a zebra danio that was ill and hung out in the bottom corner all the time and being kind of lethargic and none of the clown loaches ever touched him. You must have some mutant clown loaches or something.

Anyway, you could try some rainbowfish as a dither fish. They will get a bit bigger than tiger barbs and are good community fish.

Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 5:29 am
by helen nightingale
could you also post an ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test result too please?