Fish compatibility--or what to do when you find out too late?

sarcare

sarcare

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Aug 3, 2006
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I asked this in my other thread, but it was kind of buried in it.

My 20 gallon tank currently has three tiger barbs, three albino tiger barbs, five dwarf gouramis. They have been together for about three and a half weeks and there has been some tail nipping and tormenting, but only off and on.

I like all of my fish, and I don't want to get rid of them, but I don't know if this species set up is going to work for long. I've thought of getting another tank, but what size? Money is an issue, as is space. The other thing is that the gouramis are pretty nippy to one another. Do you think it would work to put the five gouramis in a ten gallon tank? Or three of the gouramis in a ten gallon and keep the other two with the barbs?

I've thought of building up the group of barbs, to tone down the agression. How many more fish could I fit in the aquarium without it being over crowded?

I clearly need some advice on my tank--so I appreciate any suggestions!
 
Yes, your tank is overcrowded. if the Gouramis are all males (which they probably are b/c most strores do not carry females) you are going to see increased aggression in them. Gouramis are very territorial. You would have to get at least a 75 gallon for all of them, heavily planted, and even then I cannot guarantee they will not fight with eachother alot and wind up killing the less dominant ones.

Also, having tiger barbs in the tank with the Gouramis is not a good idea. The tiger Barbs will start picking and fin nipping at the Gouramis, which are a much slower fish than the tiger barbs. I would sell the Gouramis back to a Local fish store and just have the tiger barbs in the 20 gallon.

I know you don't want to hear this, but I am just being honest. I do not know what type of Gourami they are, but look them up. They range from 3-over 7 inches depending on the species.
 
Some of the replies got lost in the move, I think. I am still working on getting the stocking of my tank right.

I took back all but one of the gouramis, and got three green tiger barbs. So now my 20 g tank is made up of 9 barbs of 1 inch, two green-bronze cories of 2 inch, and one dwarf gourami.

The plan is to set up my recently purchased 10 gallon tank with the dwarf gourami and some other small fish. This particular fish has so much personality that I couldn't get rid of him--frankly I couldn't find him when I scooped the rest out to take to the lfs.

With the other three barbs, they completely ignore the gourami and it is much more peaceful without the others there. There has been some crazy barb fights for dominence with the new green ones, but no injuries.

I was thinking of getting another cory, but it is hard to find them the same size as the two I have--will they school with a smaller bronze cory?
 
Yes your cories should all school together. You might wind up being a little overstocked once all those tiger barbs grow up but I dont foresee any major problems in your setup. I know the cories would be happier with more budies but with all the barbs Im not sure I would get any more.
 
General rule of thumb for overcrowding is, "No more than 1 inch of fish, per gallon of water." This pertains to their adult size. Having fewer is better, having more can cause there to be more deaths due to aggression, aswell as to deaths due to higher ammonia levels in the tank.
 
I would definately get the 10 gallon for the Gourami. I would think with a 20 gallon you could go with 3-4 corys, even with the tiger barbs. As long as these are the smaller species of Cory's. Plants (live if possible), weekly water changes, and keeping up your filter will make it possible. Yes, you can get corys of different sizes. Maybe get 2 of the same size, that way it would decrease the chance of aggression on 1. I have a 120 with about 10 cory's. honestly, they don't ever school together. They will hang out in groups of 2 or so at times, but most of the time they are all on their own doing their thing.
 
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