Fish Specs questions...(2 diff tanks)

[Nicili]

ok im a teen, just to let you know before hand;
I own 1 tank, and my brother has a 5.5 gallon tank that he recieved for his birthday

He keeps in the 5.5 1 small crawfish, and 3 rosy reds or feeder guppies, not sure on which tho. After the crawfish he would like to still use the tank, but he is not sure on which. He wants at least a fancy guppy pair, and maybe a AFD and a few ghost shrimp? is this ok or is it pushing it?

My aquarium is now a 10 gallon. I have 3 feeder guppies or rosy reds; a cherry barb and a tiger barb, both small; plus a medium sized crawfish; i no its a small aquarium, but its only temp;
I might be able to get a 20 Gallon Aquarium for my B-day; and would like to start in that, and maybe move up to a 29 gallon later; but thats a definite maybe. I like barbs so i wanted to put 4 Tiger Barbs in it; (at least) 1 Gourami(4 inch range); and probably a Redtail shark. I also, if possible, i wanted to put in a few Cherry Barbs.

Thanks beforehand for your input
Nic

 

[OrionGirl]

For your brothers tank--have 2 male guppies, instead of a m/f pair. This way, they won't breed, and overstock the tank. Along with a frog and some shrimp, the tank will be stable and active.

For your 10--the crawfish might end up eating the fish. They tend to catch fish when they are sleeping, sinc the crayfish is nocturnal. Sometimes they'll work out, but be prepared for the worst.

If you move up to the 20, and can still have the 10, I would leave the crayfish in there by itself. Then, a gouramie (not a kissing one--they get too big), at least 6 barbs, and one other fish will work. I would probably not get a red tail shark, but maybe a rainbow shark instead. The rainbows have a lighter colored body, and all their fins are red instead of just the tail. They are less aggressive than the red tails, and they don't get as large. As long as you have about 6 or more barbs, they should harrass each other and leave the shark and gouramie alone.

HTH

 

[snakeskinner]

I think you may already have figured this out from some of your comments but tiger barbs really need to be in a group of 4 or 5 or more to keep them from tearing up other fish. This also goes for the green and albino versions of the tiger barb. I started with 5 small ones and have added a couple greens (one died) and a couple albino's along with a trio of black ruby barbs. Kyle