Will This Be Overstocked

[fish_keeper2]

both of my 29 gal tanks have caught ich and now im nearly over it. iv lost a lot of fish because of it. this gives me the chance to really pick out what i want in the tanks and stock them properly. in one of the tanks all thats left now are my dwarf gourami, blue 3-spot gourami, and 2 tiger barbs(which i dont think will make it much longer. all the ich is gone but im going to wait atleast a week to make sure before i do anything. so during this time i can think about the stocking. i was thinking this: 1 dwarf gourami, 1 blue 3-spot gourami, 1 rainbow shark(or albino), 3 bamboo shrimp, 9 tiger barbs(3 each of normal, green and albino). so my question is this: is this too many, a little overstocked is no big deal, i change 7.5 - 10 gal of water each week and its a 29 gal. yes im aware that the barbs are nippy but i did have probs with it before.

 

[fish_keeper2]

just bumping to keep it on the first page. come on guys no comments? i got one vote for no but no one has any input!

 

[Trance2006]

over stock alert!

 

[Durbkat]

I would just get only 4 more tiger barbs.

 

[guppymonkey]

Well the tiger barbs and three spot gourami would rip the dwarf gourami and bamboo shrimp apart in a matter of days so I don't think the tank would be overstocked after that, though the water quality would probably suffer from the bits and pieces left over after the "feast". Being aware that the barbs would be nippy is a good start but not torturing slow moving gouramis would be a better start. Just because a fish has lived before doesn't mean it thrived. Gouramis are basically tortured by most barbs (especially tiger barbs). They are slow moving fish that generally don't deal well with stress. The three spot would probably deal better but would still not be a great choice. Why not try some tetras to go with the barbs? or just a nice big school of tiger barbs to conquer the entire tank?

 

[lljdma06]

It's the compatibility of the fish you mentioned that I question. The three-spot gouramis will make short work of your poor dwarf. Tiger barbs will torment both gouramis, and the shrimp just end up being somebody's lunch, except the dwarf, who will probably hiding because he's being tormented by a three-spot gouramis and tiger barbs.

Why don't you give your tank a little more time to recover and see who makes it. Really members of the genus Trichogaster and Colisa shouldn't be mixed (your three-spot and dwarf). A good fish with gouramis is the harlequin rasboras mentioned in your other thread. Really if you have to start from scratch, I don't see any reason why you can't have a species tank of tiger barbs, which would be really interesting IMO. I kept a rainbow shark once, but it was in a larger tank.

 

[fish_keeper2]

well the only thing left now are the 2 gouramis. they are doing fine and dont seem very stressed any more. ill seperate the dwarf gourami then and i wont be adding any more fish for atleast a week before im sure everything is fine.

i was thinking of harliquins too since it looks like i have to stock the tank around the gourami. my gourami never bothered my bamboo shrimp(but he sure loves ghost shrimp). so hows this for stocking: 1 blue 3-spot gourami, 1 shark(trying to decide between RTBS, rainbow or albino rainbow), 3 bamboo shrimp, and 13 harliquins? any other suggestions? i want to keep only fish from asia in this tank btw.

 

[DarkSeraph]

I've had a 3-spot in a 10g with a dwarf gourami before, and they wouldn't bother eachother much. Do most people have a problem with those two fish together?

 

[SamUK]

well i dont think you could really keep any shark in that tank size.


there all very active fish and grow to about a minimum of 6".



i think you should atleast get a friend for each gourami you have for starters.

 

[fish_keeper2]

it was by my understanding the gouramis are solitary fish like betas. any gourami experts here?

also i know the shark can get 6 inches and are active but ive never read/heard anything that i couldnt keep one in a 29 gal, all the other fish are top and middle swimmers so he wont have to fight over territory.

 

[SamUK]

i have a full grown RTBS and hes incredibly terrotorial.


ive got him in with loads of black widow tetras so there ok but a gourami or something wouldnt stand a chance.


also from our fish index

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=41902 - minimum 36" length for tank size.

 

[fish_keeper2]

what if i go with a rainbow shark? they are less aggressive than the RTBS. the rainbow shark i used to have was about 4.5 inches and the only aggression from him was a mild chase to the tiger barbs every now and then.