can these fish all live together?

R

RarestJewel

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Feb 7, 2006
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my friend has a 20? gal tank with all these fish in it. the water is milky but the fish seem healthy. is it over crowded? or is water cloudy due to overfeeding, i say overfeeding cause some of the fish look like they swallowed a football. lol i don't know that much about fish and my friend does not have internet so any info is greatly apreciated. 2 clown loach
2 gouramis
2 barbs
2 pictus cats
2 red tailed sharks
 
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What kind of gourami? This matters.
What kind of barb?

Take the red tail sharks back. They are semi-aggressive, need 40+ gallons, and you should keep 1 or 6+ to minimize aggression.


Take the pictus cats back as well. They grow upwards of 10" and need big tanks, 75g or more.

Unfortunately, take the clown loaches back as well. Although they grow slow, clowns can grow to 8" or more, and they are very social fish. They do best in groups of 5 or more.


Sorry for the downer. Your friend needs to do the research before buying, you can't trust the advise of of the fish store employees.
 
well, I would that the tank has a serious mix in there that's just brewing for disaster. 2 RTBS is a huge no no. They may seem cool for now, mark my words, as they mature, they will get quite nasty towards each other and anything else that may slide over to their cave.... including the pictus cats, loaches, and anything else that may resemble one of their own. The tank is too small for the loaches and I would gamble to say the pictus and gourami's, however you don't indicate what kind of gourami's they are.
 
thanks

Wow the people she bought from just told her 1" of fish per gal of water. they didn't bother to tell her that dosen't mean what size they are now. also she was told that as long as they were all "warm water" fish they could live together. I don't know what type of gouramis they are about 2" and grey with orange spots and fins there is a blue spot on the gills.
 
Rosy Barbs look like this:

fish_profiles_conchonius.jpg


Dwarf Gourami look something like this:

reddwarfgourami.jpg


But they can be very variable colorwise, more orange, more blue, fairly solid color, more striped. If you google dwarf gourami you'll get the full range.

Clowns get much too big for a 20. There are small loaches that are just as cut and stay small. Look for Zebra loaches. These will be in the same niche as the Sharks. Don't get them if she keeps the sharks.

Pictus cats get too big.

RTS need more room. Very territorially aggressive, especially as they get older.

Barbs and Gouramis don't always get along. Tiger barbs are notorious. Rosy barbs get a little big and can be rambunctious but shouldn't be too aggressive. Gouramis can be territorially aggressive and its usually a no no to keep two males together unless the tank is fairly large. It seems like Dwarfs are often kept together without bad results.
 
Barbs - sounds like you have rosey barbs. The yellow is female, the eorange is male. I fyou keep them, get 2-3 more female(yellows) or the male will chase her to death, literally.

Gouramis - maybe this?
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1 inch per gallon is a myth - depends on what kind of fish, how messy(fish poop is refered to as bioload),what their final size will be ,ect.

When was the tank started?
Is it cycled?
What is the water chage routine?
What kind of filter?
What temp?
What are the water parameters?

I know these are a lot of questions, but we need this info to point you in right direction.
 
she started the tank right after xmas. she is on well water so i don't think chlorine is an issue. tank has an aqua tech filter. plastic plants, air bubble tube? along back of tank. some rock fake log items for hide outs. 50% water changes every couple weeks. feeding tropical flake, dried dhrimp, and some dried blood worm 2x a day.
 
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