Thinking about a Barb tank

[jamesstill84]

I've never owned a Barb before and have never really found them that interesting or attractive. However, I keep seeing them everywhere and they're growing on me.

These are the Barbs that have caught my attention:

Cherry Barb (Puntius titteya)
Orange/Snakeskin Barb (Puntius rhombocellatus)
Panda/Melon Barb (Puntius fasciatus)
Six-Banded Barb (Puntius hexazona)
Arulius Barb (Puntius arulius)

What size tank would I need to house about 20 barbs?

Would the above listed Barbs be okay in the same tank? Are there some that shouldn't be in with others?

Anything special I should know about Barbs?

Thanks for you input!

 

[jamesstill84]

Bump, anyone have any advice or suggestions?

 

[vthokie]

I have 15 tiger barbs in a 75 gal tank with a blue gourami, a kribensis and a rainbow shark. The tiger barbs are a lot of fun to watch and I'd recommend them for that reason. I've never kept any other barbs, so I can only speak about the tigers. I know they aren't on your list, but just thought I'd put in a plug for tigers. Rather than keep a few of each type, my preference would be to keep a large number of one or two types...I think it looks better and probably results in more natural behaviours.

 

[jamesstill84]

The ones I have listed are the ones I thought I liked the most. I won't put a little of everything in unless I had a large tank like yours. I will most likely choose 2 species out of that list and do my schools that way.

 

[jm1212]

a school of cherry barbs and arulius barbs in a 75 will make a nice display

 

[jooranda]

cherry barbs cause they are cool fish an soo pretty

 

[tanker]

What about snakeskins??

 

[allecb]

wow!! what kind of lucky B are you to have LFS's that have those types of barbs!?!? the only barbs out of that last i can find are six banded (and theyre like 4.99!!) and cherry barbs.. other than that, its the 3 types of tiger barbs, and thats it.

but ill comment on what i have.. i have about 11 tiger barbs in my 55g..they are interesting fish to watch, however if you're looking for a tight schooling fish, i'd suggest dont look into the barb family.

 

[Chrisinator]

You should check out the Gold Barbs. I think a Cherry Barb and a Gold Barb tank would be sick.

 

[allecb]

You should check out the Gold Barbs. I think a Cherry Barb and a Gold Barb tank would be sick.

wow i never thought about that..now im tempted.