Rosy Barb Questions

[Poppy243]

My friend has a rosy barb she is trying to rehome because it keeps eating her snails. I'm tempted to take it but I have a couple questions, some with answers I couldn't find in research, and I don't want to take on an animal without getting well-informed. I have geckos and will someday have snakes, and have heard too many horror stories that happened because of uninformed pet owners.
I know a rosy barb prefers to have several other barbs so it doesn't get stressed. Do these other barbs have to be rosy barbs as well? Or could I mix barb types, such as red tail tinfoils, cherry, or red glass barbs? (I've noticed that tiger barbs seem to be noted as a bit more aggressive so I probably wouldn't look into that one.)
I'm a college student. I've read that they need a 30 gal tank, which is very large in a very small dorm room. If I'm only planning on having the barbs in the tank, is this an absolutely necessary size for the tank?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[the_lock_man]

Hiya,
 
Yes, they do need to be in a group of the same species, so you would need a group of 6 rosy barbs. They do need quite a bit of space, I would say you need at least a 3' long tank.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Rosy Barbs are social; active; temperate (not tropical) fish. A group of their own kind (ideally 10+ imo) would by pretty much the whole stocking of a 120x30x30cm, if they were to stay in there for life.
 
Tinfoil Barbs variants are "tank buster" fish, just like Bala Sharks, they should reach 30-40cm and need a tank far bigger than most keepers can manage, at least a 10x3x3 (to give them >6x long and >2x wide/tall as adults, a commonly considered minimum requirement). 

 

[Poppy243]

Alrighty, so this kind of fish isn't good for me to have right now. Thanks!
My friend has this rosy barb in a 10 gal tank and he is the only rosy barb. There are other fish but no other rosies. She was told by the pet store she got it from that he would be fine. Do you think the lack of space and same-species companions caused him to harass her snails? I've already told her she needs to find someone with a large tank who is willing to buy him some rosy friends.