tiger barb and rainbow shark?

Question
Is it common for a tiger barb to eat or kill a rainbow shark? Also would the size of these two fish be relavent to the first question when introducing them to the same fish tank?     Thank you.  John.

Answer
Hi John,
It is supposed to help with the aggression of tiger barbs if they are kept in a large group such as about 6. They are always considered fin nippers and I have heard of them being capable of  killing  some fish. I haven't heard of this alot but it is always possible. Some people have had problems with them when they are  only a few in a tank and less trouble when they were in large groups and placed with cichlids.
I have found that with all fish that I have that you just can never tell what exactly will happen even though they should be able to get along. I also have found that everything that you read about certain fish are not always true. Sometimes some fish are described as not very aggressive and can be kept with other fish and they end up being really dangerous fish. I have one of those! A severum that can't be kept with very few fish. I also have a jack dempsey, which are known to be really aggressive fish and he is a total sissy. Scared of everything. So with your tiger barbs it is very possible that they could kill a rainbow shark. They really shouldn't but it is always possible. You just have to be careful and maybe if you have alot of tiger barbs they won't pick on your other fish. Instead what will usually happen is that they will pick on each other and they can usually handle this. As for size usually if a fish is larger they don't get picked on. Once again I have seen this not be true. I placed my 12" oscar with my 8" severum and the severum beat him up and really scared him. You are just going to have to be really careful. Fish do have different personalities and you sometimes have to just try different combinations of fish and see who gets along with each other best.
Hope this has helped,
Karen