Starting Fresh With Barb Tank Advice?

[shepherd88]

I have decided to start a fresh on my 180 litre tank.
Going to return my current stocking to the local fish shop and start fresh.

I considered africans and just dont want very aggresive and overstocked tank.
Decided on a barb only tank as they seem very interesting and active and slightly boistorous.

Need advice on stocking and mixing of different barbs..ones i like and considering are

Ruby barbs
Odessa barbs
Tiger barbs
Green tigers
Rosy barbs
Cherry barbs

Now will these get on ok and what stocking numbers..dont have to have all these just advice on best ones and things.
Thanks.....also will plants get eaten thanks.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Out of your list I would only consider Tiger Barbs and Cherry Barbs for anything less than a 4-foot tank, the former would be far safer to have in a 12+ group to reduce the odds of nasty aggression within the group and with any tankmates. Cherries are far more community friendly fish, a group of 6+ can basically put with anything that will not consider them live lunch.

 

[Paradise3]

Out of your list I would only consider Tiger Barbs and Cherry Barbs for anything less than a 4-foot tank, the former would be far safer to have in a 12+ group to reduce the odds of nasty aggression within the group and with any tankmates. Cherries are far more community friendly fish, a group of 6+ can basically put with anything that will not consider them live lunch.

Totally agree with you here and I can vouch for the Cherries I had a group of 7(2 males, 5 females) and they were friendly as anything to anyone but each other XD I would suggest a lot of females per male as otherwise the males fight for dominance over the females.

 

[shepherd88]

Would the black ruby barb or checker barb be ok? Or if not may just make a tiger barb only tank.....what about bottom dwelling fish that would be fine with the tigers.......corys or loaches?

 

[Paradise3]

Would the black ruby barb or checker barb be ok? Or if not may just make a tiger barb only tank.....what about bottom dwelling fish that would be fine with the tigers.......corys or loaches?

I've just thought, how big is your 180 litre tank? My 3ft tank was only about 100 litres if that...

 

[shepherd88]

Im not sure actually its a seashell phoenix aquarium

 

[Paradise3]

Hmm, can you get the exact measurements in CM please?

 

[shepherd88]

http/fishkeeper.co.uk/site/product/seashell-phoenix-aquarium-range-in-tiepolo

Thats my tank it says available in 36" length upwards so 3ft length. By about ide say 14 inch width by 20 inch height aprox....not at home atm so cant get exact measurements

 

[Paradise3]

Hmm, I'm not a huge expert on barbs and tetra's but I'd still say only tiger and cherries would be any good in there and I'd have to say I much prefer cherries as although the males will take a few nips from each other during breeding, Tigers seem to fight among each other constantly and tend to have nips and tears everywhere

 

[JenJ]

Would the black ruby barb or checker barb be ok? Or if not may just make a tiger barb only tank.....what about bottom dwelling fish that would be fine with the tigers.......corys or loaches?

I love my tigers, and have bought polka dot loaches to go with them - both are quite boisterous. I also put my albino cories in there, as they are also very active and boisterous, and will hold their own against anything unless much larger. I wouldn't put shyer cories in with that mix though.

Hmm, I'm not a huge expert on barbs and tetra's but I'd still say only tiger and cherries would be any good in there and I'd have to say I much prefer cherries as although the males will take a few nips from each other during breeding, Tigers seem to fight among each other constantly and tend to have nips and tears everywhere

I've only had them a couple of months, but I've not noticed any damage to my group of 12.

 

[Paradise3]

Would the black ruby barb or checker barb be ok? Or if not may just make a tiger barb only tank.....what about bottom dwelling fish that would be fine with the tigers.......corys or loaches?

I love my tigers, and have bought polka dot loaches to go with them - both are quite boisterous. I also put my albino cories in there, as they are also very active and boisterous, and will hold their own against anything unless much larger. I wouldn't put shyer cories in with that mix though.

Hmm, I'm not a huge expert on barbs and tetra's but I'd still say only tiger and cherries would be any good in there and I'd have to say I much prefer cherries as although the males will take a few nips from each other during breeding, Tigers seem to fight among each other constantly and tend to have nips and tears everywhere

I've only had them a couple of months, but I've not noticed any damage to my group of 12.

It tends to happen when they mature and start breeding. As naturally males will fight for dominance over females but I've seen larger, more dominant males chase other males or even females who don't want to breed to death and rip them to shreds... Just a warning. I'm not trying to scare anyone but it is a possibility.

 

[shepherd88]

Thanks for your help. Ill see what my lfs has during the week. Shame as the black rubys are gorgeous...was also loving the look of congo tetras but they seem quite large

 

[fluttermoth]

Black ruby barbs are not even in the same league as tigers when it comes to aggression; You could have a shoal of them with no problem.

Tigers are the difficult ones; I have about 20 in a four foot tank, and there's always at least one female with her tail chewed off

I also can't keep anything with mine. I had them with zebra loach for years with no problems when, totally out of the blue, the tigers killed off all the loaches within a week

I have tried them with cories in the past, and that didn't work either; the tigers very soon started nipping at the cories, to the point where they refused to come out at all

 

[Paradise3]

Black ruby barbs are not even in the same league as tigers when it comes to aggression; You could have a shoal of them with no problem.

Tigers are the difficult ones; I have about 20 in a four foot tank, and there's always at least one female with her tail chewed off

I also can't keep anything with mine. I had them with zebra loach for years with no problems when, totally out of the blue, the tigers killed off all the loaches within a week

I have tried them with cories in the past, and that didn't work either; the tigers very soon started nipping at the cories, to the point where they refused to come out at all

I don't see anyone saying anything about black ruby barbs being aggressive...
And thank you I'm not the only one that thinks Tigers are aggressive XD

 

[shepherd88]

There are so many choices of fish lol....