Tiger Barbs In A 75g?

[monkey_wrench]

Hi,

I have a 300 litre tank(about 75 us gallons) and have 4 clown loaches in there at the moment. I know ill eventually need
a bigger tank for the loaches and i plan to upgrade to a 125 gallon in about a year or so to accomodate theit needs.

I have live plants (a few vals, java fern and swords) and 2 biggish pieces of driftwood which the loaches love to hide in, also
the the tank is eqipped with a sump filter with attached UV sterilizer.

Ph- 6.8
Ammonia- 0ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm
(don't know about the nitrate but do regular water changes)

The tank looks kinda empty with just the 4 loaches and i wanted to add some tiger barbs to go for that all orange and black
look and to make the tank seem more livelier. I don't plan to get anymore other fish if i end up getting the tiger barbs coz
i know they're little agressive hyperactive fin-nippers ..so it'll just be tiger barbs and clown loaches in the tank.

How many tiger barbs do you recommend for a tank that size??

thanks =]

 

[Colin_T]

how long, wide & high is the tank?

generally a 75gallon (6ft long x 14inch wide x 18inch high) would be big enough to house 4 adult clown loaches and 10-20 tiger barbs. The barbs shouldn't be a problem to the loaches as long as you keep a group of them.
All barbs should be kept in groups so they keep each other occupied. If you only have a couple then they get bored and cause problems.

 

[ahodge84]

You are right in planning on upgrading the tank. I disagree with the above poster that a 75 g tank will provide adequate space for 4 clown loaches and 10-20 tiger barbs. The loaches alone can reach 16-18" and since they are in a group, a 75 will not be enough eventually. I've included a link to back my argument.

http/www.loaches.com/species-index/clown...ia-macracanthus


BTW, how big are the loaches right now? If they are still quite small, a school of barbs should be fine. I would just make sure that tiger barbs don't nip fins (I've never personally kept them).

 

[monkey_wrench]

how long, wide & high is the tank?

generally a 75gallon (6ft long x 14inch wide x 18inch high) would be big enough to house 4 adult clown loaches and 10-20 tiger barbs. The barbs shouldn't be a problem to the loaches as long as you keep a group of them.
All barbs should be kept in groups so they keep each other occupied. If you only have a couple then they get bored and cause problems.

oh i see.. my tank is (4ft long x 18inch wide x 21inch high) does it make a difference?

 

[monkey_wrench]

You are right in planning on upgrading the tank. I disagree with the above poster that a 75 g tank will provide adequate space for 4 clown loaches and 10-20 tiger barbs. The loaches alone can reach 16-18" and since they are in a group, a 75 will not be enough eventually. I've included a link to back my argument.

[URL="http/www.loaches.com/species-index/clown...ia-macracanthus"]http/www.loaches.com/species-index/clown...ia-macracanthus[/URL]


BTW, how big are the loaches right now? If they are still quite small, a school of barbs should be fine. I would just make sure that tiger barbs don't nip fins (I've never personally kept them).

umm 3 of my loaches are about 4.5inches except for one which is about 6-6.5inches and is chunky which i think is the dominant female.

 

[Colin_T]

I have never seen a clown loach (Botia macracanthus) that was any bigger than 10inches long. I doubt very much they can get to 16inches and certainly it hasn't been recorded at that size in any of my books. They all state 10-12inches is maximum size for this fish.
They are also a very slow growing fish and take many years to reach full size in captivity.
In the 4ft long tank they should be fine for a few years but will eventually want something about 6ft long (or more if possible).

 

[monkey_wrench]

I have never seen a clown loach (Botia macracanthus) that was any bigger than 10inches long. I doubt very much they can get to 16inches and certainly it hasn't been recorded at that size in any of my books. They all state 10-12inches is maximum size for this fish.
They are also a very slow growing fish and take many years to reach full size in captivity.
In the 4ft long tank they should be fine for a few years but will eventually want something about 6ft long (or more if possible).

ok thanks..so how many tiger barbs do you think in my 4ft?

 

[dcarmor927]

i also agree that 75 gallons will be large enough...a 16 inch clown loach is rare...the largest i have seen is about 10 inches...maybe wild clowns can get that big but i dont think they will reach that size in captivity...they also live for a long time, so after a while they start to grow slower...

i only had 5 tiger barbs in my 4 ft tank...but i had some other stiff too...i think you could have about 10 or 12 in there

 

[monkey_wrench]

i also agree that 75 gallons will be large enough...a 16 inch clown loach is rare...the largest i have seen is about 10 inches...maybe wild clowns can get that big but i dont think they will reach that size in captivity...they also live for a long time, so after a while they start to grow slower...

i only had 5 tiger barbs in my 4 ft tank...but i had some other stiff too...i think you could have about 10 or 12 in there

oh cool.. hehe i love watching em chase each other around

 

[shroob]

how long, wide & high is the tank?

generally a 75gallon (6ft long x 14inch wide x 18inch high) would be big enough to house 4 adult clown loaches and 10-20 tiger barbs. The barbs shouldn't be a problem to the loaches as long as you keep a group of them.
All barbs should be kept in groups so they keep each other occupied. If you only have a couple then they get bored and cause problems.

I think a 75 gallon is more commonly 48"x18"x21" (LxWxH). Though I agree this will be fine for clown loach for many years at least as they grow slowly.

If you are planning on upgrading within a year to a 125 gallon (think thats 72"x18"x20", then I would say a group of 6-8 clown loach will be good (if you feel there isn't enough room you could always sell a couple - offloading a big clown loach isn't hard at all). If all you want to add is tiger barbs, in a 6ft tank you could have quite an impressive shoal, I'd say start off with 20 and see how they look.

 

[monkey_wrench]

yeah a shoal of 20 tiger barbs with 5 or 6 clowns would look awesome in a 6 foot semi planted tank(gotta use tough plants coz of the loaches)

Would this make the tank like a biotype or something because i think tigerbarbs and clowns both come from the same river/area?

 

[shroob]

Yep, according to fishbase they both are found in Sumatra and Borneo. To make a true biotope you would have plants that come from the same region.

Plantgeek.net has the following fish from Sumatra:
Cryptocoryne moehlmannii
Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia

Borneo:
Cryptocoryne fusca
Cryptocoryne hudoroi
I'm sure there's more but those are the only ones listed.

Other lists I've seen include:
* Cryptocoryne wendtii
* Cryptooryne nevillii
* Pista stratiotes
* Hygrophila polysperma
* Nuphar japonicum
* Ceratopteris thalictroides
I think clown loach often uproot plants though, so might be worth thinking about.

HERE is a list of plants from Asia, if you wanted to go wider.

Brief borneo biotope page

 

[monkey_wrench]

Yep, according to fishbase they both are found in Sumatra and Borneo. To make a true biotope you would have plants that come from the same region.

Plantgeek.net has the following fish from Sumatra:
Cryptocoryne moehlmannii
Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia

Borneo:
Cryptocoryne fusca
Cryptocoryne hudoroi
I'm sure there's more but those are the only ones listed.

Other lists I've seen include:
* Cryptocoryne wendtii
* Cryptooryne nevillii
* Pista stratiotes
* Hygrophila polysperma
* Nuphar japonicum
* Ceratopteris thalictroides
I think clown loach often uproot plants though, so might be worth thinking about.

HERE is a list of plants from Asia, if you wanted to go wider.

Brief borneo biotope page

oh awesome..thanks!

yeah im not sure about the plants and the loaches though