new tank

[krazitrain]

37 gal. First tank. I keep reading that tiger barbs shouldn't be put together with angelfish. When I asked for suggestions from a petsmart employee today... She suggested...

5 tiger barbs
2 angelfish
1 gourami
1 algae eater

Will this work? and if not... I like the tiger barbs best. What works w/ them?

 

[SneakBetta]

I'm not 100% sure, but angelfish and gouramis together?? don't know if those would work

 

[Alien Anna]

That's not good advice. Gouramis and Angels are both territorial and both take up the same space in the tank, so will tend to fight one another. They are not compatible.

Tiger barbs are vicious fin nippers and will shred an angelfish, and maybe a gourami too. You should never keep tigers with anything with long, flowing fins and you should keep them in a big school if you can - cuts down on the violence. A school is a minimum of 6 individuals. A lot of books recommend a species tank with just tiger barbs.

What is an "algae eater" when its at home? I keep seeing this expression but the only algae eaters I know are Chinese Algae Eaters (very large, very vicious, very territorial, doesn't eat much algae when adult) and Siamese Algae Eaters (quite large, schooling fish, need plenty of swimming room). Getting a fish to keep down your algae is generally overly optimistic and there are other ways.

 

[Nik]

Krazitrain I would take Anna's advice. I too love tiger barbs as they're so active and look good in shoals. BUT they will attack the Angels and or Gouramis.

I have never kept Tiger Barbs with anything other than Tiger Barbs! Other than a plec or bristlenose for cleaning.

I hate to look in my tanks and see conflict and that's what you get when you have TB's.

Golden Barbs are also pretty lively, look good together and are less aggressive than their TB cousins??

 

[krazitrain]

Thanks for the input. How about...

7 tiger barbs... (3 striped.. 2 green, 2 albino)
1 red tailed black shark (should hold his own against tiger barbs)
1 clown loach
1 pleco (the zebra is kewl looking)

 

[guppymonkey]

Red tailed sharks are usually aggressive. My brother used to have one and it would chase all the other fish constantly.

 

[krazitrain]

Well.. I could do..

9 tiger barbs (3 of each)
1 loach
1 pleco

if I had a semi-aggressive loach and pleco the shark would work I think.. not worried about shark and barbs. 8)

Does it matter which order you put them in the tank?