First larger sized tank...

[Byron Amazonas]

Picked-up 5 Tiger barbs today. They're doing fine and exploring the tank. I'll take some pictures tomorrow with my good camera. The cellphone pics turned out like crap.

For convenience sake I want to stick with our local tap water. It is very hard, kH is 9,gH is 13 and pH is 7.6. It looks like I'm going to go with these barbs, african cichlids (still need to decide on the ones I want), cory's and maybe a pleco.

You do not want to be mixing some of these fish. Corys for instance will not be good with rift lake cichlids. Tiger Barbs, while "tough" are not a good idea either with cichlids. Personally, with rift lake cichlids, stay just with them in a given tank if they are your choice. Leaving them out, however, you can consider various other moderately-hard water fish.

Byron.

 

[tanker]

:iagree:

I agree with "B". If you want the Tigers to be the center of attention in the tank, then build around them. They are beautiful and hardy, but the tankmates must be chosen with care. With the Tiger it will be difficult to feed and keep corys (IMO), the barbs are fast and will eat all the food, the corys would eventually starve.

I too would not add Africans Cichlids, they will not mix with the barbs. Both would suffer in the end.

 

[matt_zak]

Thanks for the suggestions. I know originally I was planning on a community tank. Now I've flip-flopped to a cichlid. The plan for the barbs was for them to act as a dither fish. Here's a post a made on another cichlid forum:


So I have a new 56g column tank. The tap water here is hard. The tank water is kH 9, gH 13, pH 7.6-7.8 (hard to tell w/ the liquid API test kit) , Ammonia and Nitrite 0 and Nitrate 10ppm. The water temp is currently 76 degrees. The filter is an Eheim 2215 and the heater is a Eheim Jager 200w. It currently has 5 Tiger Barbs.

Here is a picture of it minus the Tiger Barbs:



The guys at my local LFS recommend African Cichlids, however, I would like to do a couple American Cichlids. One reason is that the tank is already aqua scaped and I don't feel like buying more rocks to build caves for the Africans. I've also read that the Africans tend to need to be overstocked and they're constantly fighting for territory.

So, given that my tank is 30" w x 18" d x 24" h & my current water info above, what are your opinions on this stocking idea:

5 x Tiger Barbs, 5 x Sterbai Cory, 1 x Yellow Acara, 1 x Firemouth

According to aqadvisor (yes, I know it's just a starting point) the tank would only be 89% stocked when they're full grown and have plenty of filtration. It also says the dH should be 5-10.

Anyhow, without further rambling I would like to know your thoughts.




The three replies so far are that it is possible. Only I should either go acara or firemouth. Not both. The cory's are not a must. I can live without them and could do a different kind of bottom feeder if need be.

Matt

 

[Byron Amazonas]

Thanks for the suggestions. I know originally I was planning on a community tank. Now I've flip-flopped to a cichlid. The plan for the barbs was for them to act as a dither fish. Here's a post a made on another cichlid forum:


So I have a new 56g column tank. The tap water here is hard. The tank water is kH 9, gH 13, pH 7.6-7.8 (hard to tell w/ the liquid API test kit) , Ammonia and Nitrite 0 and Nitrate 10ppm. The water temp is currently 76 degrees. The filter is an Eheim 2215 and the heater is a Eheim Jager 200w. It currently has 5 Tiger Barbs.

Here is a picture of it minus the Tiger Barbs:



The guys at my local LFS recommend African Cichlids, however, I would like to do a couple American Cichlids. One reason is that the tank is already aqua scaped and I don't feel like buying more rocks to build caves for the Africans. I've also read that the Africans tend to need to be overstocked and they're constantly fighting for territory.

So, given that my tank is 30" w x 18" d x 24" h & my current water info above, what are your opinions on this stocking idea:

5 x Tiger Barbs, 5 x Sterbai Cory, 1 x Yellow Acara, 1 x Firemouth

According to aqadvisor (yes, I know it's just a starting point) the tank would only be 89% stocked when they're full grown and have plenty of filtration. It also says the dH should be 5-10.

Anyhow, without further rambling I would like to know your thoughts.




The three replies so far are that it is possible. Only I should either go acara or firemouth. Not both. The cory's are not a must. I can live without them and could do a different kind of bottom feeder if need be.

Matt

With reference solely to Tiger Barbs. This species should never be in numbers less than 10, and this in a minimum 30g tank alone. Anything less than this (numbers or size of tank) can [= usually] result in the TB nipping themselves and other fish. Only yesterday I was in the library reading through recent issues of TFH and came across this very same advice again. And another point is that if you like TB and decide to make them the "centre" get the other five now. Once the existing five have settled they will establish their hierarchy, and adding more down the road is risky.

Putting TB in with cidhlids is always risky because cichlids are basically a sedate fish. The rift lake species are a bit different, but the South and Central American species are all considered "sedate," and such fish in with pro-nippy fish like TB is not a good idea. But with just five and the cichlid(s), I can almost guarantee trouble.

Byron.

 

[Glabe]

Tiger barbs are no joke. They're my favorite, and I always have a nice big school after every time I move. But they do set up limitations on what you can have in the tank, especially if you're adding fish down the road. Give the cichlid a lot of ground cover and hope they don't take an interest in it.

In my last tank, 4 foot, lots of cover, I had a school of 9 with a salvini and honduran red point. They did wonderfully. I added some platies, and the next morning the tiger barbs were gangbanging one to death.

 

[matt_zak]

I've been researching a ton on the internet all day. It seems like it's pretty much 50/50 on the Tiger Barbs with acara's or fire mouths. Also, what Byron said about a larger school is a common theme. So tomorrow I might go out and get some more to increase the school to 11. I'm still debating on the exact amount and I might wake up tomorrow and decide to return them for something else to go with a fire mouth or blue acara (a larger tetra or swordtail?). On another forum someone suggested yellow convicts or Thorichthys Ellioti (close to a fire mouth) with them. It's something I might just have to take a chance on.

It's funny how most people say that Tiger Barbs are fin nippers & aggressive fish and then you find a few people that put them in with angels and they are fine. Just like all animals they each have their own personalities and it's just hit and miss. The five I have now spend most of their time exploring the tank individually. If I come close to the tank they will all group up.

I never thought picking out fish would be this much of a pain in the butt. Thanks again for the advice. Just because I might not follow it does NOT mean that it isn't appreciated and mulled over.

Matt

 

[Byron Amazonas]

I've been researching a ton on the internet all day. It seems like it's pretty much 50/50 on the Tiger Barbs with acara's or fire mouths. Also, what Byron said about a larger school is a common theme. So tomorrow I might go out and get some more to increase the school to 11. I'm still debating on the exact amount and I might wake up tomorrow and decide to return them for something else to go with a fire mouth or blue acara (a larger tetra or swordtail?). On another forum someone suggested yellow convicts or Thorichthys Ellioti (close to a fire mouth) with them. It's something I might just have to take a chance on.

It's funny how most people say that Tiger Barbs are fin nippers & aggressive fish and then you find a few people that put them in with angels and they are fine. Just like all animals they each have their own personalities and it's just hit and miss. The five I have now spend most of their time exploring the tank individually. If I come close to the tank they will all group up.

I never thought picking out fish would be this much of a pain in the butt. Thanks again for the advice. Just because I might not follow it does NOT mean that it isn't appreciated and mulled over.

Matt

You are correct that different fish have different behaviours sometimes. I always suggest the normal when someone asks, because this is only fair; no one wants to set up an aquarium and add certain fish only to have continual disease, bullying, sick fish, etc. What may work for aquarist "A" may well be a disaster for some others.

Do keep in mind the two very important issues, namely numbers in the group and tank size. The more barbs and the larger the tank, the less likely nipping will be problematic.

 

[matt_zak]

You are correct that different fish have different behaviours sometimes. I always suggest the normal when someone asks, because this is only fair; no one wants to set up an aquarium and add certain fish only to have continual disease, bullying, sick fish, etc. What may work for aquarist "A" may well be a disaster for some others.

Do keep in mind the two very important issues, namely numbers in the group and tank size. The more barbs and the larger the tank, the less likely nipping will be problematic.

I did exactly that and got 5 Green Tigers and one more Regular Tiger to make a total of 11. I also talked to the guys at my LFS and they all said as long as I stick to one Firemouth and maybe one other cichlid then they should all be happy. They also assured me that when I get the cichlids that if I notice they don't get along with the Tigers then I can exchange them for a different fish that would work. I know it's sort of an "experiment", but, it's something I really want to try. It's the stubborn Pollock in me lol.

Bottom feeders are still being researched. I might go with something other than cory's.

Matt

 

[matt_zak]

Update:

The 5 Green Tigers and 1 Regular Tiger turned out to be sick. One Green died last Tuesday, two more last Friday night. After putting the remaining two in a bag to take to the LFS one of them died. When I got there they quarantined the remaining Green. I couldn't find anything abnormal on them. They acted funny though before they died. They looked like they were gasping for air at the surface and acted lethargic. When I got home from the LFS on Saturday I noticed the Regular Tiger that I got with the five Greens had what looked like white fuzz all over its mouth. I salted the tank and increased the temperature to see if that would help. The fuzz went away and by yesterday it was starting to look a lot better except its mouth looked all jacked-up. When we woke up this morning it was dead. I took it back to the LFS and the manager told me that the tank that the Green Barbs were in was infected. He described and showed me what they looked like. Some of them looked exactly like the Tiger Barb that just died. He said to keep doing water changes when possible and they will be getting more Tiger Barbs in later next week. He is going to quarantine them for a few days before he gives me my six new ones.

Through all of this my water has stayed the same:

Ammonia, Nitrite = 0ppm
Nitrate = 10ppm
PH = 8
KH = 9
GH = 13

All done with the liquid API test kits.

It's been a crazy week. All of this has gone on while my wife gave birth to our baby girl on Thursday. Hopefully the next batch of fish will be good and healthy.

Matt

 

[Byron Amazonas]

Congrats on the daughter.:cheers:

Keep a very close eye on your tank. It sounds like the new barbs had a bacterial or protozoan issue, and both are very contagious to other fish in the tank. To be safe, I would not add new fish to this tank for a couple weeks. Perhaps the store, who seem to understand things, will "hold" the barbs with this in mind. If you can set up a QT, it is a wise investment these days. I've been through this.

Byron.