Cherry Barbs

[celaeno]

how many cherry barbs of each sex should i get for my 20 gallon tank?

 

[Lateral Line]

Cherry Barbs are non-shoaling, solitary fish in the wild. In tanks, they are best kept as a pair or trio 1m 2f. Two males together in all but large tanks may fight. Males are much redder in colour, smaller and slimmer. Females tend to be more of a buff/brown colour with the horizontal stripe a bit more visible then males. Of course, young or stressed fish will be more diffcult to sex.

 

[celaeno]

should i get 1m and 3f, as i worry that the stronger female will bully the weaker one if i get only 2 females?

 

[Lateral Line]

stronger female will bully the weaker one

I've not experienced that.

 

[celaeno]

even if the stronger female does not bully the weaker one, is it ok to get 1m and 3f?

 

[Lateral Line]

You asked for advice, what you do with it is up to you! In a small tank, (you have a small tank), I would say a pair or trio.

 

[DarkEntity]

I kept Cherry Barbs for a while had 12 of them, 6male and 6 female. They all swam together, but generally the larger males did chase the smaller ones. In a tank that size id gofor a trio, 1male 2 females.

 

[barb-e]

i have had experience with the larger female bullying the other female in a 1m 2f situation. But when i added two more females she still did thee same thing to that one female and a little to the other cherry barbs. Then i had 2m 4f, so really, I don't think its the number that matters. It's the personality of each fish. So pretty much i'm saying you can get as many as you want, in any ratio, as long as you don't over stock your tank.

 

[blu187]

i was told that these do shoal. the males look great but do chase the females, but not constantly and never do any harm. i feel the more fish the better.