Barb Compatibility

[Aizy]

Has anyone got any experiences with gold/rosy barbs and angelfish & gouramis? Or are they just too nippy? I've been looking for some colorful fish that would please the eyes of my parents' for our 80 gallon tank and they are just too choosy! Gold barbs and rosy barbs are so far the only fish that they would consider other than malawi cichlids...

If you can think of any other colorful fish that might work and actually be visible in an 80 gal (like no small tetras, since they just hide in the plants), please share.

 

[Kiribati]

Well I have a tank with 5 tiger barbs and 10 gouramis. They seem to get along very well. But yea, I'm still a beginner to all this, so all this is by observation only, not experience.

Hope that helps a little.

 

[Lateral Line]

Gold Barbs, (Barbus "schuberti", actually invalid as the gold barb is a sport of Barbus semifasciolatus!), are perfectly harmless. Rosy Barbs, (Barbus conchnius), are also pretty harmless but a more active fish. Both should be kept in groups of 5 or more.

If you get Rosy Barbs, try to be certain you have at least 2 males. Males will "dance" with each other showing off their very best colouration whilst doing so - they spin round and round moving up and down the water column at the same time. Quite dizzying.

 

[Aizy]

Thanks