55 gallon stocking question

[xiaosong]

I just got a 55 gallon tank and wooden stand for 85 dollars off of craigslist so now I need to figure out a stocking plan for it.

I want to do it as an active tank with a group of schooling fish and a centerpiece fish and have this idea in mind.

12 Tiger barbs (mix of regular, green and albino)
4 or 5 Rainbows (Boeseman or Banded)
1 Red Tailed Shark

I figured this would give my tank plenty of activity and color.

As for decor, I read that the tiger barbs don't really care about territories so I would basically just need to plant and add caves and stuff for the red tailed shark.

What do you guys think about this stocking plan? I figured the red tail shark would stick to the bottow and the Tiger barbs and rainbows can occupy the rest of the tank.
Would the red tailed shark work well as the centerpiece fish (is it active during the day?) and will everybody get along?

Thanks for your help!

[dorkfish]

I would exclude either the rainbows or the barbs, as it has been my expierience that schoolng fish always do best when there's only one species of schooling fish per tank.

[Pallen81]

might want to consider getting a pleco, to help with algae/scraps.

A gourami of some type may add a little bit of size without adding aggression to your tank. There are some pretty nice looking gouramis out there.

but if you are looking for lots of activity... go with danios... they just don't quit swimming.

Good luck!

[joylynn]

Be careful about Gouramis with barbs. I have no problems with mine (3 Opaline males with 9 tiger barbs) but barbs can be nippy and the "feelers" on gouramis are a little enticing. Like I said, I don't have a problem with mine, and the keeping barbs in a good sized school minimizes the harassment of other fish. I also have an albino rainbow shark in with my barbs and have no problems with them all getting along.

[Web Gazelle]

I aggree, if you go with Tiger Barbs, you do not want to get a Gourami. You could mix a couple different types of Tiger Barbs. Mix in some green ones with regular ones.

[RockabillyChick]

might want to consider getting a pleco, to help with algae/scraps.

A gourami of some type may add a little bit of size without adding aggression to your tank. There are some pretty nice looking gouramis out there.

but if you are looking for lots of activity... go with danios... they just don't quit swimming.

Good luck!

do not add a pleco unless you like plecos. sorry, but it is a HUGE pet peeve of mine when people feel they *have* to have a pleco to eat algae. there are many other ways to get rid of algae, including good old fashioned elbow grease. the main cause of algae is an imbalance of nutrients. if the nutrients in your tank are balanced, then you shouldn't have an algae problem in the first place. besides that, plecos add to the bioload. a lot. they probably produce more waste than almost any other tropical fish of the same mass. that will decrease the number of other fish you can have in the tank. plus, not all plecos eat all kinds of algae. and many of them turn to a more carniverous diet as they get bigger, AND you have to suppliment their diet no matter how big they are with blanched veggies, sinking pellets, and algae wafers, and some species need to munch on driftwood to help their digestion.

so go ahead and add one of the smaller species of pleco if you LIKE them and want one in your tank, but by no means feel obligated to add one for algae control. they are just not worth it if that's all you want one for.

[xiaosong]

Yeah, that was the plan. I actually have a dwarf gourami pair that i am giving my girlfriend because i don't want to risk anything happening to the gouramis. Has anyone had a problem with tiger barbs with a red tailed shark? What if I get the shark when it is like 2 inches and then have it grow together with the barbs. Will it still pick on them?

Speaking of which Joylynn, how big is your albino shark?

[travis]

I would exclude either the rainbows or the barbs, as it has been my expierience that schoolng fish always do best when there's only one species of schooling fish per tank.


:huh:


in my 55 i have 14 bosemani rainbows, 6 australian rainbows, 6 yellow-tailed congo tetras, 8 black neon tetras, 5 giant danios, and 9 gold barbs.

they are all doing very well and behave very normally. maybe mixing schools of very different fish is bad, like piranhas and neons, but with peaceful community fish mixing schooling fish is fine, IME. i have never heard anyone except for you say otherwise. what schools did you mix?


my 2 cents on tiger barbs:

tiger barbs are questionable at best for a community tank. rumor has it that when kept in large groups they keep to themselves but in my experience this is not true. Everyone ive talked to who actually has tried keeping a large school of mature tiger barbs (your 2 inch barbs are not fully mature, people. Tigers will get to be a full 3 inches) with other delicate, slow, or small fish has told me that their barbs are vicious.

[joylynn]

My albino shark is currently about 3.5" he and the gouramis will be moving to a new tank tomorrow :)

[joylynn]

Travis, probalby a good point about the Tiger barbs, mine are only 1.5-2" right now and they behave well so far (my gouramis actually swim with them sometimes) but I just had all the fish together temporarily until my 75G was ready. I wanted to get the barb tank essentially empty of other inhabitants for when they do get bigger.

[dorkfish]

what schools did you mix?.

I mixed neons and zebra danios. Before I sperated them, the neons would spin around biting at each other. After seperaing them, the neons a lot more peacefull towads eacch other, only rrarely would you see them "spinning around and biting t each other. Didn't see much of a difference in the danio behavior, but htey don't seem as "hyper-active" anymore. However, all this seperation happened during a move, and I lost 3 danios (had six, I suspect they jumped ship as I never found any courpses).

I'm still mixing beunos aires and black skirt tetras. I had them seperated before, and the black skirt tetras seemed a lot calmer and weren't feeding so aggressively (something they have to do if they wan't to eat - buenos aires tetras are aggressive feeders that even splash water out of the tank while there eating). I'm hoping to seperate them soon as well.

Personally I'm wondering how you know your fish are displaying "normal" behavior, unless you had previously kept them in seperate tanks. Although I have to agree that schooling fish will do "fine" with other schooling fish in the tank, I don't nessisarily think that's what's best for them, but I won't go around telling people that they absolutely have to seperate there schooling fish in order for them to live happy and healthy lives.

[xiaosong]

With how aggresive tiger barbs are known to be, don't you think they can hold their own to a red tailed shark?

I'm just worried about the rainbows... are the fast enough or aggresive enough to not be picked on in a community tank?

And its not that much of a community tank, I mean, besides the red tailed shark which is pretty aggresive, it is pretty much just a tiger barb tank.

If the rainbows and the tiger barb inhabit the same area of the tank, can you guys suggest some other type of fish? I was thinking zebra danios but the rainbows are much more colorful. I've read of people keeping paradise fish with tiger barbs, anyone with experience about that?

[gagaliya]

12 Tiger barbs (mix of regular, green and albino)
4 or 5 Rainbows (Boeseman or Banded)
1 Red Tailed Shark


i would get

12 tiger barbs of the same style(regular is best imo), they look much better in a school.

6 boeseman rainbows(6 better for a school), those get big though 5-6", you may want to replace with a school of rosy or gold barbs instead.

replace red tailed shark with a rainbow shark. Much less aggressive, red tails are usually psycho fish.

[xiaosong]

Would that be overstocking my 55 gallon?

[travis]

dorkfish, i keep all my small fish in a Q tank for up to a month before they go in a bigger tank. with the exception of the black neons and the gold barbs, i have seen all of those schools alone for about 2-3 weeks.

as you said its hard to determine whats "normal", but what i can say is they appear to be acting the same and that i havent lost a fish since i removed the school of tiger barbs.


and no, 12 tiger barbs and 6 bosemani rainbows would definitely not be overstocking a 55 gallon. however it is probably not a good idea because bosemani rainbows definitely do not get to 5-6 inches long. australian rainbows maybe but bosemanis are more near the 4-5 inch range at their absolute max. ive seen bosemanis over 6 years old (kept for 6 years, probably bought at about 2 inches) that are about 4 inches. obviously there are a lot of variables but i would not count on having 6 inch bosemanis.

i think that tiger barbs and bosemanis are not a good mix. tiger barbs are not usually a good mix with anything close to their size (within an inch), IME, but as always you could find a good match or just get lucky.