Stocking ideas

[fishiemama18]

how does this sound?
40 gallons
15 tiger barbs
5 corys
3 platy
2 dwarf gouramis
1 rainbow shark

Thanks

 

[Byron]

Welcome to TFF.

Tiger Barbs...if you really want this species, they will fill the upper level of a 40 gallon tank. Leave out the platy and gourami. TB's are prone to nip fins, and sedate fish like gourami is waving a red flag to them. Nipping is generally less of a problem among the group when it is over 10-12, so that should be fine if they are on their own.

The cories are OK, with a few more as there is space and cories are shoaling fish that will always be healthier and "happier" the more there are. I wold go with 12-15 in this sized tank. Make sure you have several chunks of wood, as they like to know they have hiding spots, otherwise they will be much more highly stressed.

Leave out the Rainbow shark. First, it may take a strong dislike to the cories in "its" space, and second it may not like the upper fish, this varies.

It would benefit us to know the water parameters of your source water (GH and pH particularly) as some cories may need reconsideration if it is too hard, but the barbs should be OK unless it is very extreme.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Any idea what the general hardness (GH) and pH of the water is?
You can usually find this information on your water supply company's website or by calling them. If you can't find the info then take a glass of tap water to the local pet shop and ask them to test the GH and pH. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the test, and then post the results here.

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If you have soft water (GH below 200ppm) do not get platies or other livebearers (mollies, guppies, swordtails) because they don't do well in soft water.

Do not get Dwarf Gouramis (Trichogaster lalius) or any of their colour forms. They are riddled with diseases including the Iridovirus and Tuberculosis (TB). If you can get locally bred stock they should be free of these diseases, but if they come from Asia, avoid them. 99% of Dwarf gouramis come from Asia.

If you want a small striped barb similar to tiger barbs but not as nippy, you can look at Ruby Barbs (Pethia nigrofasciata). They are similar in size and colour to Tiger Barbs but are much more peaceful and better suited to a community aquarium.

 

[fishiemama18]

Welcome to TFF.

Tiger Barbs...if you really want this species, they will fill the upper level of a 40 gallon tank. Leave out the platy and gourami. TB's are prone to nip fins, and sedate fish like gourami is waving a red flag to them. Nipping is generally less of a problem among the group when it is over 10-12, so that should be fine if they are on their own.

The cories are OK, with a few more as there is space and cories are shoaling fish that will always be healthier and "happier" the more there are. I wold go with 12-15 in this sized tank. Make sure you have several chunks of wood, as they like to know they have hiding spots, otherwise they will be much more highly stressed.

Leave out the Rainbow shark. First, it may take a strong dislike to the cories in "its" space, and second it may not like the upper fish, this varies.

It would benefit us to know the water parameters of your source water (GH and pH particularly) as some cories may need reconsideration if it is too hard, but the barbs should be OK unless it is very extreme.

I’ve kept these tiger barbs with platy before, so I feel pretty confident in keeping them together again.

I’d like more than just the three species together.

 

[fishiemama18]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Any idea what the general hardness (GH) and pH of the water is?
You can usually find this information on your water supply company's website or by calling them. If you can't find the info then take a glass of tap water to the local pet shop and ask them to test the GH and pH. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the test, and then post the results here.

------------------------
If you have soft water (GH below 200ppm) do not get platies or other livebearers (mollies, guppies, swordtails) because they don't do well in soft water.

Do not get Dwarf Gouramis (Trichogaster lalius) or any of their colour forms. They are riddled with diseases including the Iridovirus and Tuberculosis (TB). If you can get locally bred stock they should be free of these diseases, but if they come from Asia, avoid them. 99% of Dwarf gouramis come from Asia.

If you want a small striped barb similar to tiger barbs but not as nippy, you can look at Ruby Barbs (Pethia nigrofasciata). They are similar in size and colour to Tiger Barbs but are much more peaceful and better suited to a community aquarium.

I currently have 12 tiger barbs in the tank. What is a better gourami option? I love the powder blue gourami

 

[Colin_T]

The powder blue gourami is simply a colour form of the dwarf gourami and will probably carry the 2 diseases.

If you want big gouramis then Blue or gold gourami (Trichopodus trichopterus) are pretty tough and should be fine with Tiger Barbs, and they don't normally have the diseases.
Pearl gouramis (Trichopodus leerii), Moonlight gouramis (Trichopodus microlepis) and Snakeskin gouramis (Trichopodus pectoralis) are usually fine too.

Small gouramis include Indian Banded (Trichogaster fasciata), Thick lip (Trichogaster labiosa) and Honey dwarf gouramis (Trichogaster chuna). However, you will have to watch the barbs and move the gouramis out if the barbs cause problems.

 

[Byron]

I currently have 12 tiger barbs in the tank. What is a better gourami option? I love the powder blue gourami

You cannot have gourami with Tiger Barbs. Sedate fish like all the gourami are a temptation to TB to nip fins.

 

[fishiemama18]

You cannot have gourami with Tiger Barbs. Sedate fish like all the gourami are a temptation to TB to nip fins.

What kind of cichlid would work?

 

[Byron]

What kind of cichlid would work?

Here, none. Cichlids like gourami are sedate fish, and these are frequently targets of any fish that nips, like TB.

In a very large tank, with a huge shoal of TB, this is less of an issue. But small spaces (to the fish, a 40g is very small) create an artificial environment so to speak and this can impact fish behaviours, unfortunately usually bring out the worst.

Tiger Barbs minimum requirements are a group of 10 in a 30 gallon (113 liter) tank, alone (except for possible substrate fish). So with a 40 gallon (151 liter) tank, the space is not much beyond the minimum for the group. You have 15 in the group, which is ideal, but that takes up the upper space.

 

[jredouard25]

Welcome to TFF.

Tiger Barbs...if you really want this species, they will fill the upper level of a 40 gallon tank. Leave out the platy and gourami. TB's are prone to nip fins, and sedate fish like gourami is waving a red flag to them. Nipping is generally less of a problem among the group when it is over 10-12, so that should be fine if they are on their own.

The cories are OK, with a few more as there is space and cories are shoaling fish that will always be healthier and "happier" the more there are. I wold go with 12-15 in this sized tank. Make sure you have several chunks of wood, as they like to know they have hiding spots, otherwise they will be much more highly stressed.

Leave out the Rainbow shark. First, it may take a strong dislike to the cories in "its" space, and second it may not like the upper fish, this varies.

It would benefit us to know the water parameters of your source water (GH and pH particularly) as some cories may need reconsideration if it is too hard, but the barbs should be OK unless it is very extreme.

My Cory’s NVR shoal. Why?


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[fishiemama18]

Here, none. Cichlids like gourami are sedate fish, and these are frequently targets of any fish that nips, like TB.

In a very large tank, with a huge shoal of TB, this is less of an issue. But small spaces (to the fish, a 40g is very small) create an artificial environment so to speak and this can impact fish behaviours, unfortunately usually bring out the worst.

Tiger Barbs minimum requirements are a group of 10 in a 30 gallon (113 liter) tank, alone (except for possible substrate fish). So with a 40 gallon (151 liter) tank, the space is not much beyond the minimum for the group. You have 15 in the group, which is ideal, but that takes up the upper space.

Okay so if I were to rehome the barbs and build my stock around 3 gouramis, what options would I have? I’d like to have cories and platy as well. Maybe the rainbow shark. I’m not interested in snails or shrimp. I’d like something colorful and not too small

 

[fishiemama18]

Or if I were to reduce the barbs down to 8, what would that open my options to?

I really love my barbs. They were my first fish and I haven’t lost any over the 6 months

 

[Byron]

My Cory’s NVR shoal. Why?

How people define/understand "shoaling" may need explanation. Technically, no fresh water species "school;" this is a term for certain marine fish that remain in huge numbers and use this advantage for hunting food as well as defence. Similar to a pack of wolves working together to bring down a moose for food; the pack works together to obtain the food for all.

"Shoaling" is the technical term used to describe freshwater fish that live in groups and must be maintained similarly in the aquarium if they are to be healthy. They use the shoal for protection ("safety in numbers") like the marine schooling fish, but the shoaling FW species do not "hunt" as a pack. There can be other needs to shoal, such as developing an hierarchy within the shoal.

As soon as we put FW fish in an aquarium, they are in a very artificial environment. Unless the tank is enormous, such as in a public aquarium, shoaling fish usually behave differently once they get used to the safety of the limited space. They will spread out and explore more on their own once they are settled. Sudden disturbances, noises, water change maintenance, etc, can sometimes cause them to suddenly tighten together; this of course is a defense strategy. If they are being threatened by other fish, they may shoal more tightly. But many of the shoaling species will spread out, and cories are like this.

The larger the group of a shoaling fish that is introduced to an aquarium, the faster they will settle in and with much less stress, so this can be the one factor in new fish developing ich or fighting it off--just sheer numbers.

There are species that are far less likely to spread out; rummynose tetras (especially), false/green neon tetras, cardinal tetras, neon tetras, many but not all pencilfish species, hatchetfish. These tend to remain close by comparison to many other shoaling species.

Among the Corydoras, pandas I have found tend to remain together more, though not usually all of them if the group is say 8 or more; mine are in groups of 3 or 4 most often. My other Corydoras species, some 12 wild caught species, tend to open up more, and I will frequently see for example one of the C. duplicareus (I have 10 of this species) swimming and interacting with a C. sterbai (I have six of this species); two or three C. sterbai are frequently seen. So it varies. The dwarf species C. pygmaeus, C. hastatus and C. habrosus tend to shoal together more, in general.

What we do now know from scientific studies (some of the first in this area) is that shoaling species absolutely must have a group because there is clear evidence the fish are negatively affected otherwise. Studies found that shoaling fish that had fewer than six in an aquarium were more aggressive; normally feisty species like angelfish became much more aggressive, while normally "peaceful" species like black neon tetra became mildly aggressive. This is not surprising to those of us who know something of fish biology; every negative in the aquatic world causes stress, and just as in humans, stress weakens the immune system, which in turn causes other issues and means we are devoting energy to solve the "problem" instead of critical life functions. For fish this is very crucial to their lifespan and their health. Outward signs are frequently non-existent, but the internal damage is occurring until the fish lashes out, or becomes withdrawn, or dies. Not surprisingly, keeping the fish in an inadequate space (tank size) has much the same effect.

 

[Byron]

Or if I were to reduce the barbs down to 8, what would that open my options to?

I really love my barbs. They were my first fish and I haven’t lost any over the 6 months

I'll respond to this post first, then go back to the penultimate. Please do not reduce the Tiger Barbs, that really will cause trouble. The group of 15 is better for them individually, and they have undoubtedly established some pecking order. They will be healthier and less aggressive (up to a point) in the larger group.

Second, reducing the numbers does not open many options. Not only will the barbs not be in as good health, but other fish introduced stand more risk of being seen as intruders. And gourami are still out of the question. You could look at other barbs, danios, some of the more robust species. But given the space and the present group, I really would either leave them or re-home all of them together. It's kinder to the fish.

Create an authentic TB habitat? I did this for my group of Black Ruby Barbs which are very similar in appearance but much less feisty. But they are still barbs. But a group on their own in a 33g tank aquascaped to resemble their habitat river in Sri Lanka was interesting. Photo attached. I had around 15 of these in this tank, alone; a few were fry that survived and grew to maturity.

 

[Byron]

Okay so if I were to rehome the barbs and build my stock around 3 gouramis, what options would I have? I’d like to have cories and platy as well. Maybe the rainbow shark. I’m not interested in snails or shrimp. I’d like something colorful and not too small

I would re-home the shark, and increase the cories so they will be better.

Gourami...I assume this 40g is 3 feet in length? If so, the Pearl Gourami (Trichopodus lerii) is probably the best gourami, in a group of five or six (two males, 3 or 4 females). Floating plants are mandatory with gourami, so that means you can have smaller shoaling fish without any risk. Not that the Pearls would hunt them anyway, but the more temptation is absent the better. Some of the rasboras are ideal with gourami. Trigonostigma hengeli is my favourite of the three similar "harlequin" pattern rasbora, but there is also the T. espei and then the very slightly larger common Harlequin, T. heteromorpha; whichever (do not mix them) in a group of 9-12 if either of the first two, or 7-9 if the latter.

Water parameters are not mentioned yet in this thread, and that could change my suggestions if too hard. Platy must have moderately hard water, a GH of 10 dGH (180 ppm) or higher. Gourami are soft water fish, some very soft water, though the commercially raised fish are less fussy, depending upon the parameters.

Avoid the Blue Gourami and any of the varieties (Gold, Cosby, Three-Spot, Opaline, Marble). This species, Trichopodus trichopterus, is the most aggressive of all the small/medium species. Like all gourami, males are territorial (just like cichlids), but this aggression varies among species, and sometimes within individuals of a species. Males have been known to kill others of the species and even every other fish in the tank, and one member even had a female who started down this road.

Honey Gourami are peaceful (for gourami anyway). Avoid the Dwarf Gourami unless you can obtain them directly from the breeder; the non-curable iridovirus is still a risk with commercial DG's.

Going on with gourami, and assuming softish water (these will be much more sensitive, probably wild caught), the Chocolate, pygmy sparkling, Eye-Spot, and several others much less often seen. Some of these will work even with the beautiful dwarf rasboras in the genus Boraras, like B. brigittae. I had these in with a group of Chocolate Gourami a few years ago, and I previous to that had a group of Chocolates in with a group of pygmy sparkling, and some of the T. hengeli rasbora I mentioned earlier. Both gouramis spawned several times. The Chocolates are highly sensitive to skin problems and bacterial issues though, and they need much warmer water.