How many fish? HELP PLEASE

[JEANNE01]

:perv: I have a 55 gallon planted tank . I have 9 barbs(3 tiger,3green,3gold) together with 6 cories. Am I at my limit? I know the barbs get about 2 inches. I do love the movement with the barbs. I was wondering if I could go a little higher what could live in this tank with the barbs? Thanx for anything you can share

[catfish69hunter]

you could safely put a few more fish in that tank just watch how big they get and how they will interact with the barbs.

[tanker]

No, you are no-where near "MAX" capacity. The real answer depends on a lot of things--What else do you plan on putting in??--Will you be doing dedicated to water changes??--How much??--How often??...ect,ect.

[crazycanuck]

you could put more fish in that definatly.. do you have any specific in mind? you have alot of options open for fish right now :)

[Hooked Newbie]

You definitely have room, but make sure they'll co-exist well with the barbs.

[jpappy789]

I agree. Nothing with long flowing fins especially.

[wataugachicken]

if you do regular weekly water changes, i think you could double the stock you have now.

[oscaremmy]

If the barbs are tending to school together, this may reduce their tendency to nip the fins of other fish; Barbs can be bothersome to slower fish or fish with long fins; if you don't want to increase the number of barbs, you might consider (carefully, as these can also be aggressive) a single red-tailed shark and perhaps a few clown loaches of adequate size to resist bullying. In general, these fish can take care of themselves in respect of the barbs' aggression, but will certainly need good water management.

[Hooked Newbie]

If the barbs are tending to school together, this may reduce their tendency to nip the fins of other fish; Barbs can be bothersome to slower fish or fish with long fins; if you don't want to increase the number of barbs, you might consider (carefully, as these can also be aggressive) a single red-tailed shark and perhaps a few clown loaches of adequate size to resist bullying. In general, these fish can take care of themselves in respect of the barbs' aggression, but will certainly need good water management.

Clown loaches get FAR too large for a 55, but another loach may work. As long as the barbs tend to schoal amongst themselves, there's room for a "school" of something (I'm thinking bottom) and maybe a largish (<6") centerpiece fish.

[Rbishop]

I would exactly triple your current barb stocking.

[oscaremmy]

Clown loaches get FAR too large for a 55, but another loach may work. As long as the barbs tend to schoal amongst themselves, there's room for a "school" of something (I'm thinking bottom) and maybe a largish (<6") centerpiece fish.


Thinking about it, a lot of fishkeepers would not put any sp. of loaches with corys; there might be too much bottom-feeding competition, with the corys getting the worst of it...

[oscaremmy]

...with 9 showy barbs in the tank already, you might be best off simply increasing the shoal size - it would certainly look spectacular!

[Cory Keeper]

I agree, add barbs and maybe up the cories to like 14 or so.