Tiger Barb Vs Five Banded Barb

[phantomlink]

I had a topic similar to this regarding Tiger Barbs and Colombian Tetras. I loved the look of Tiger barbs but they MIGHT be aggressive even with 7-10 of them. I just found out about the Five Stripe Barb which looks pretty close and is supposed to be really passive to most fish. Could I get away with some of these barb in a tank with some Gourami? They get bigger then the rest of my stock which is good because I dont want a tank full of tiny fish

 

[Ruskull]

I have been told exactly that, that the Five Striped Barbs are much more docile. I can't confirm but that's the legend anyway. Maybe someone else has experience with these?

 

[nmonks]

Five Banded Barbs are smaller and much shyer than Tiger Barbs. I suppose in a really big planted aquarium you could keep them both, but in most home aquaria it isn't a good idea. Five-Banded Barbs are somewhat less adaptable (soft water helps) and their colours aren't as intense (they look especially bland in brightly-lit tanks without lots of shade). On the plus side, Five-Banded Barbs are excellent community fish for use with other small, docile species. Groups can look really nice in planted tanks with lots of shade. They aren't "nippy" either, so can work well with slow-moving tankmates such as gouramis.

Cheers, Neale

 

[phantomlink]

I didn't want to add them both I just love the look and activness of the Tiger Barb. My tank is all tetras besides for the corys and kuhli loaches I'll have so I wanted some larger fish and I read that the Pearl Gourami would do really well in the tank and it gets to the larger size of 3-4 inches I was looking for. Just trying to find something that wont nip them

 

[RyanV]

I have tiger barbs and I am also looking for something to put with them, they destroyed my other fish with long fines

 

[rob_cool1]

I have five banded barbs and i think they're great! I got these over tiger barbs because i think there a bit more bold and defined than standard tigers.
I dont have a problem with them being shy, when i come in the room they swim away from me but when im sitting down they come out and swim around, i have 5 of these and 2 red tiger barbs and they swim as a group. Mine are all around 4 -5cm atm so still growing, i have a medium planted tank with sand substrate and they blend in and look really good in there. I've found them to be quite adaptable with water quality changes, they've been through an ammonia spike, a sudden increase in Ph (6.5 to around 8 after a water change, was using Ph down etc so dont know why it went up ) and they still look healthy. i feed them normal flake food and bloodworm, they eat cucumber too when i put that in for the plecs.
i also have odessa barbs which are really nice too and are really active, they are a silvery colour with a red stripe and blue fins so look pretty cool

If you need any more info il try and answer lol

Rob