Barbs or Peacocks

[Magic8]

Good-day this question could have gone either thread this one or Cichlids I went with this one as I've had barbs already!

I am getting ready to set-up A 75 Gallon tank I presently have a 65 with Diamond tetras x6/Platys x6 /x2 plecos/Border loaches x6 planted/black sand/Cannister

I am having a hard time deciding what I want to stock in this new tank I need to decide before I fill it and start cycling it as thats going to determine what substrate I'm going to put in it.This tank is going to have x2 HOB Filters vs a cannister its going to be in my main living area the 65 is in my kitchen.

At first I was dead set on going with an all male peacock tank I still may go this route but I'm not quite sure.I thought about a Mbuna tank they are so colorful and active I've had them in the past but sometimes getting the m/f ratio is a bit tough sometimes when they are small and they can be so darn territorial sometimes its a coin flip with them how aggressive they really are going to be with other Mbuna in the tank I know you can reduce the aggression some by overstocking but I'm not a fan of overstocking I would rather be in that medium range as stocking goes not understocked but not over neither!

After thinking alot about peacocks I'm kind of on the Fence and I'm thinking about going with an all barb tank.

If I went peacocks i'm looking to do between 8-12 all different colors and all male I think with these #'s I would be ok to hit my moderatley stocked goal


if I went barbs I have a bit more flexibility and don't have to worry about having females mixed in as much as there will be more of them to spread the nippiness around I could also go with different variants to splash some color in there

tiger barbs standard/green/albino/Glo (these would all shoal together)
Gold Barbs
odessa barbs
Black Ruby's(i had these in my 65 when i first set up my tank I had a bout of ick run through my tank after losing most of them and getting the water stable again I went a different route with the diamonds & platys')
cherry barbs(though these may be a bit too small with the other barbs)

this is what I would be looking at with an all barb tank I could probably put a shoal of tetras in with them but they would have to be feisty maybe red serpaes I thought about Congo's but the barbs may be too active for them

some things to think about

Peacock like a little bit higher ph which means a different substrate to give it a little bit of a boost my ph sits at a steady 7.2 not a deal breaker by any means

Both fish I am told are very active from experience I know Barbs certainly are I would not worry about either species hiding or being skittish

plants would probably be an issue for Peacocks as they would dig them up Barbs I don't need to worry about them digging them up

Landscaping Peacocks are open water swimmers from what I heard so they would be the focal point of the tank mainly they are not really cave & rock fish like Mbuna so they would be swimming out in the open using every inch of the tank pretty much the same as the barbs but at twice the size

being a bigger fish the peacocks would probably have a little more of a personality than the barbs being smaller I can add more of barbs or a barb/tetra combo into my tank and still be at that medium stocking level where as im looking at 8-12 peacocks I could go with possibly 3-4 sets of barbs/tetras

for ex 6-8 mixture of tigers 6-8 some other barb gold/odessa etc. 8-10 red serpaes or other active tetra then my clean up crew

I guess it all comes down to which direction I want to go in and at this point i'm having such a hard time deciding there is pros and cons which each species but its kind of a push between the two of them there really is no glaring pro or con on either one.Though I've been told even though they are one of the more peaceful cichlids peacocks are still cichlids and they could still become a bit aggressive even with an all male tank especially if its understocked they do get to be about 5-6" so I can get overstocked alot more quickly with them versus a smaller species!

I did think about a dwarf cichlid tank with a little less aggressive cichlids maybe a mixture of Bolivians/Apistos & Kribs that would bring lots of color i'm just not sure how they would fair German's are kind of out as they like warmer temps i think my PH would be ok with where its at for them with it being 7.2 they would all be in the same temp parameters too

I'm so torn and stuck not really sure what direction to go in here

looking for some ideas and some input

thank-you

 

[Acorno]

I’ve successfully kept tiger barbs Beunos Aires tetras and Central American cichlids together. I don’t see why you can’t do something like rainbow cichlids with your barbs.

 

[Magic8]

I guess my dilema boils down to do I want to go with bigger more colorful fish less of them but more personable versus smaller fish where I could put maybe three different species together with them being about 1/2 the size!being the main focal point in my living area the bigger fish in the peacocks would probably stand out a bit more with a more open tank look as they don't need much landscaping they are more of an open water fish versus A barb/tetra or some other active fish combination smaller fish but more of them with more aquascaping with Driftwood,plants,caves etc!

 

[AquaBarb]

Depends on your water hardness really. Africans Cichlids need much harder water than say dwarf cichlids like rams/apisto's and tetras etc.

If its colour and personality your after then id look more down the central or south american cichlid route than the Africans. You will then have more options with your scape and could add Tetra or barbs too depending on which cichlids you chose and if your water parameters suit

 

[Magic8]

maybe a mixture of Bolivians/Apistos & Kribs that would bring lots of color i'm just not sure how they would fair German's are kind of out as they like warmer temps i think my PH would be ok with where its at for them with it being 7.2 they would all be in the same temp parameters too

So after doing a bit of research on this I don't think mixing Kribs and apisto's would be such a great idea I may possibly be able to put them with Barbs but not such a good idea putting Kribs and apistos together

cichlids are such finnicky fish they are hard to group together.

and as you mention Aquabarb I'm better off staying away from the african route I won't have to worry about water hardness steering clear of them beautiful fish but with my water consistentley 7.2 I prefer to keep fish in that range and not have to worry too much about the ph

 

[Essjay]

It's not the pH which is important, it's the GH, or hardness. South American fish need soft water; central American fish need water verging on hard while Rift Lake cichlids need very hard water. Kribs are African fish, which is why they don't mix with south American fish, but as they are not Rift Lake cichlids, kribs need soft water.

If you are on mains water, your water provider's website should give your hardness. You need a number and the unit of measurement as there are several units they could use. If you are on well water, you would need to either buy a GH tester or ask a fish store to test it for you - again make sure they give you a number and the unit. If they use strips to test, also ask them the highest number the strips can read as some strips can't test for hard water as their upper limit is too low.

 

[Magic8]

ok i am on main water I will have to test the hardness I learn something new everyday I thought soft versus Hard was in reference to neutral PH where mine sits at 7.2 so I am a click above neutral! I guess I have a whole lot more to learn!

 

[Essjay]

It can be confusing.

pH is the measure of the acidity of the water.
GH is the measure of hardness - this is the amount of calcium and magnesium in the water. It is important to fish and we should aim to keep fish which come from similar hardness to our tap water.
KH is the measure of the amount of carbonate and bicarbonate in the water. This affects fish indirectly - KH stabilises pH. When KH is high, it is very difficult to change the pH, but with very low KH it can get used up and the pH is at risk of dropping quickly, which is not good for the fish.
As a side issue, if a water provider's website gives KH, they will call it 'alkalinity' instead of KH.

 

[Wills]

ok i am on main water I will have to test the hardness I learn something new everyday I thought soft versus Hard was in reference to neutral PH where mine sits at 7.2 so I am a click above neutral! I guess I have a whole lot more to learn!

As @Essjay said the hardness is key - I have a gh of around 17 but my ph is about 7.2. I've decided to move away from softwater fish which I've tried for a long time and embrace the rift lakes. Given you have a tank of schooling fish already are you not tempted to go for the Peacock and Hap route? I've been working on a list for my 75g (decided in the end for a Mbuna tank for me, but I might do this in a different tank in the future).

Peacocks -
Aulonocara Stuartgranti - Ngara Flametail
Aulonocara Rubescens - Ruby Red
Aulonocara Maulana - Bi-Color 500
Aulonocara sp. Stuartgranti "Maleri" Sunshine
Aulonocara Usisya
Aulonocara Turkis

Haps -
Copadichromis Trewavasae Mloto Likoma
Copadichromis Azureus
Otopharynx Tetrastigma or Otopharynx Lithobates Red Blaze
Protomelas Marginatus
Placidochromis Electra

Thought I'd share as it could be a good starting point for you - these are all more 'timid' species there are more boisterous groups you can do though which would include things like your OB's and Dragon Bloods. You could also mix in some Synodontis catfish and possibly a group of Yellow Labs which bridge that gap between Mbunas and Peacocks as they are truly omnivorous and live between the rocks and open water. Being in the US you have access to loads and loads of great online stores that would make this list quite easy to achieve like Imperial Tropicals and a few others I've seen online - Cichlid Bros might be worth checking out on YouTube as they get great Malawis from online places they share.

Its also worth remembering its easier to harden water than soften it - if you have the limestone/coral rocks and sands it keeps your tank harder and more alkaline and you can add Seachem cichlid salts to your water to get it to match whats in the tank come water change time.

Wills

 

[Magic8]

thanks for the information I'll have to go on their website and see if I can find out some information

 

[Magic8]

Given you have a tank of schooling fish already are you not tempted to go for the Peacock and Hap route?

This is actually my dilema I am trying to decide between the Peacock route or to go with a mixed tank.

Being the tank is going to be in my main living area Going with peacocks will certainly be A centerpiece of the tank and the room! like mentioned earlier is a 75 actually big enough for 8-12 male peacocks without over crowding i really want to stay away from overcrowding I want a medium stocked tank.As far as substrate goes if I went with peacocks my plan was to add some limestone,coral rocks and sand to give the hardness a boost.They are open water swimmers from what I have researched so Aquascaping really won't be a focal point.Plants are probably out from what I have heard as they like to dig but thats not a bad thing my other tank is a planted tank.

Going with a mixed tank I could probably have a bigger mixture of schooling fish with them being 1/2 the size I could double my #'s versus the peacocks but like mentioned my kitchen tank is a schooling tank this is more of a centerpiece tank in my main living area.

I need to make a decision before I drop water in and start cycling the tank as what fish I go with if my water allows is going to determine the substrate I go with before filling my tank and starting my cycle.I'll pull some media from my 65 gallon to give the cycle a jump start so it should not take as long as a new cycle with seeded media!

BTW thanks for the list and yes resources are pretty good in the US.I am quite lucky that where I live I have 3 pretty good LFS that deal with all kinds of Fish two are within 5 miles of me and the other not so bad maybe 15-20 miles. I'm in my two local stores all the time they always have a nice assortment of different fish saltwater & fresh that differs quite a bit from your petco & petsmarts.these are true Fish stores all they deal with is strictly Fish.

If one of the stores does not have what I am looking for there is a good chance one of the other two will!

 

[Magic8]

i've seen these guys in one of my LFS as well as a couple of more on those lists you gave me

Sulfur Head Peacock Cichlid: is an African Cichlid from Lake Malawi

In this Blog, you will learn about how to organize an environment and carry a Sulfur Head Peacock Cichlid in your home aquarium.

www.myfishkeepingworld.com

 

[Wills]

This is actually my dilema I am trying to decide between the Peacock route or to go with a mixed tank.

Being the tank is going to be in my main living area Going with peacocks will certainly be A centerpiece of the tank and the room! like mentioned earlier is a 75 actually big enough for 8-12 male peacocks without over crowding i really want to stay away from overcrowding I want a medium stocked tank.As far as substrate goes if I went with peacocks my plan was to add some limestone,coral rocks and sand to give the hardness a boost.They are open water swimmers from what I have researched so Aquascaping really won't be a focal point.Plants are probably out from what I have heard as they like to dig but thats not a bad thing my other tank is a planted tank.

Going with a mixed tank I could probably have a bigger mixture of schooling fish with them being 1/2 the size I could double my #'s versus the peacocks but like mentioned my kitchen tank is a schooling tank this is more of a centerpiece tank in my main living area.

I need to make a decision before I drop water in and start cycling the tank as what fish I go with if my water allows is going to determine the substrate I go with before filling my tank and starting my cycle.I'll pull some media from my 65 gallon to give the cycle a jump start so it should not take as long as a new cycle with seeded media!

BTW thanks for the list and yes resources are pretty good in the US.I am quite lucky that where I live I have 3 pretty good LFS that deal with all kinds of Fish two are within 5 miles of me and the other not so bad maybe 15-20 miles. I'm in my two local stores all the time they always have a nice assortment of different fish saltwater & fresh that differs quite a bit from your petco & petsmarts.these are true Fish stores all they deal with is strictly Fish.

If one of the stores does not have what I am looking for there is a good chance one of the other two will!

Have you considered Rainbow Fish rather than barbs? You'd get a good chunk of the way to the colours of the Peacocks and the schooling behaviour of the Barbs? Bit of a venn diagram of the two groups you've mentioned. 75g is a great starting point for them and along with some of the bigger species like Bosemani or Turquoise you could look at some of the medium sized ones like Dwarf Neons, Yellows (Herbertaxelrodi), Kali Tawa and Millenniums - Albino Millenniums are stunning too. You do get the duller females (a bit like with Malawis) but they do get a splash of colour, some species like Turquoise and Dwarf Neons are quite monomorphic too - not 100% the same but pretty good.

Wills

 

[Magic8]

Yes I actually looked at them then overlooked them until you brought them up again so that is definetley an option that I could look into!

 

[Ichthys]

cichlids are such finnicky fish they are hard to group together.

… yet people keep trying.

Most cichlids are hard to group together because they don’t want to be grouped together.
It’s a bit different with Rifts, I know. I’ve never kept them except in shops but I’ve kept a lot of cichlids and Barbs over the years.

If you go with a Barb tank get about 20 tigers. They need big spaces and big numbers. The tank’s big enough but 6-8 isn’t enough. Get 20 and they should keep themselves to themselves. They’ll also shoal more.
The other barbs don’t need such big numbers.