No, you didn’t just do that!!

[Gershom]

I have some small red tiger motaguense and tiger barbs. Both species are about 1.5 inches or so, but the barbs are bulkier.

Mostly they ignore each other, but twice in the last 2 weeks I have seen an interesting interaction. The barbs are VERY quick (tails shaped almost like tuna), and a barb will suddenly dart in and bite the RTM for no apparent reason.

The motaguense pauses, as if amazed, then darts back to retaliate. Followed by a minute of persistent chasing to reinforce the idea of its dominance.

Maybe the barb just got bored, or something…

 

[tlindsey]

I have some small red tiger motaguense and tiger barbs. Both species are about 1.5 inches or so, but the barbs are bulkier.

Mostly they ignore each other, but twice in the last 2 weeks I have seen an interesting interaction. The barbs are VERY quick (tails shaped almost like tuna), and a barb will suddenly dart in and bite the RTM for no apparent reason.

The motaguense pauses, as if amazed, then darts back to retaliate. Followed by a minute of persistent chasing to reinforce the idea of its dominance.

Maybe the barb just got bored, or something…

Hopefully they don't harm each other.

 

[danotaylor]

Barbs are classic fin nippers

 

[Deadeye]

Sounds like classic tiger barbs to me. They probably see the striped cichlid and are treating it like one of them. It may be a fair fight now, but those barbs will be easy food for the mota as it grows.

 

[duanes]

IMO, the continental differences between species may be sigificant enough to cause confusion when non-geographical species are concerned.
Consider typical dither/prey relatinships in Central America, between Parachromis motaguense and the Tetra species they eat.


While superficially similar in shape to barbs, or say clown loaches, the color contrast are quite different.

So to me mixing Asian species with New world species , seems a bit odd, and not always a copasetic or realistic endeavor.
I realize many aquarists do it all the time, Burmese gouramis, with Mexican cichlids, Congo tetras with Uruguayan Gymnogeophagus.
Beside some of the climatic, and water parameter complexities,
it goes against my grain as a biotope aquarist.

And below a snap shot of a study that may shed some credence to why random intercontinental may not be such a great idea.

The interplay between multiple predators and prey colour ...ResearchGatehttps://www.researchgate.net › publication › 26505402...

 

[Gershom]

Interesting article, based on the abstract.
I am not a biotope aquarist, but good for you for going the extra mile!

I hadn’t seen your post here before seeing the one in the green terror thread, so now I understand your comment there a bit better.

To be frank, I don’t value the barbs very highly and if they become food, that’s life in the jungle (or in the kitchen). I am not trying to stir up **** by saying that, but I have raised cattle (mostly Watusi) and elk for many years, and it’s hard for me to get emotional about small fish, much more than I do invertebrates.

 

[troublesum]

Tiger Barbs are a cool species only tank type of fish while going thru a faze with my wife i dropped about 50 of them in my 125 most awesome thing to watch.
But when mixed with other fish such as SA/CA cichlids they are to fast and too nippy i would never keep Tiger barbs with any other fish except other tigers

 

[Gershom]

Tiger Barbs are a cool species only tank type of fish while going thru a faze with my wife i dropped about 50 of them in my 125 most awesome thing to watch.
But when mixed with other fish such as SA/CA cichlids they are to fast and too nippy i would never keep Tiger barbs with any other fish except other tigers

That’s a pretty interesting sounding tank!
What did you do when they got bigger—didn’t they outgrow the space?