Revamping Suggestions, Please

Roan Art

Roan Art

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Oct 7, 2005
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My son has a 20 gallon with:

1 Dwarf Blue Gourami
2 tiger barbs
3 silver dollars
1 candy stripe pleco
1 Hammer's Cobalt Blue lobster

Typical story: we purchased this tank with the barbs and dollars in one fell shot. The LFS, unusual for them, I might add, did not inform us that the barbs were schoolers that would need 30 gallons or that the dollars needed 55 gallons.

The dollars are awesome fish and the LFS has said they will take them back. I'm not sure I want to part with them yet, though. They're cool fish. I might move them to another tank instead of taking them back.

Here's the deal:

My son is 4 years old and LOVES his fish. He's very reasonable as well and has agreed that the dollars need a new home -- whether it be in another tank or back at the LFS. He is willing to part with any of the fish EXCEPT for the lobster. He loves that thing. Mr. Cleaner gets along with all the fish, which is great. Strangely enough, the pleco likes to hide in the hole the lobster made in the gravel WITH the lobster.

Connor loves the color orange and, therefore, wants orange fish :) Green is also good as is blue, but he wants more orange and some green fish.

I suggested to him that we:

1. Upgrade his tank to at least 30 gallons. I might give him my 36 bowfront for Christmas. Then I can get a 55 :)

2. Increase his tiger barbs to at least 6

3. Keep the pleco, Blossom the Dwarf Gourami, and Mr. Cleaner the Lobster

4. Ask people here for suggestions on ORANGE or GREEN fish that will fit with this scenerio.

I was thinking of adding a school of green tiger barbs. Is that overkill with the tiger barbs? We had one before, and he loved it, but within two days of getting it it came down with ich. I removed it immediately and saved the tank from an outbreak. Connor says he'd like a school of those though.

Suggestions most welcome. Links with pics even better so I can let Connor see the fish and he can pick out what you guys recommend.

Much tanks!
Roan
 
One more question in regards to the dollars:

Now, I really don't want to get rid of these, but if I give Connor my 36 and I get a 55, I still don't really have any place to put them until April, when I get my big tank. My tanks are heavily planted and although they've been really good with the plants in the 20, they might take a liking to some of the ones I will be moving to the 55. I also don't know how well they would get along with my rainbows and 2 platies. I assume they will be okay with the corycats and shrimp.

The dollars are currently big enough that if they startle, they smash into the sides of his 20 gallon. I'd say 3-4 inches each, but it's hard to measure a fish that doesn't stay still where you can measure them :)

The dollars were about 1½" when we got them around August, so they've a little more than doubled in size since then.

Do you think they would be okay in a 36 gallon until April? We could keep them then as I would put them in the 55 and move the fish in there to the big tank (probably a 90 gallon long).

Comments?
 
Orange Fish- some varieties of swordtail

I think you could add the green tigers would be o.k.

Hmmm...for the dollars, you could wait a bit and see how big they are, and decide on whether they'll be too big in April (Reminder: many fish grow a lot at first, then calm down and grow slowly, but steadily)
 
Green tiger barbs and regular tiger barbs will school together. think about also adding albino tiger barbs which are orangish in colour due to their light coloured stripes.

Might I suggest moving the fish to the 36 gallon and leaving Mr Cleaner by himself in the 20 gallon? I am always warey of crayfish as they do so love to grab a fish when possible. I would also be a little on the worried side about the Gourami and tiger barbs as those long feelers look so tempting.
 
mixing barbs with other fish

roan, I don't know if anyone has mentioned this to you, but tiger barbs are semi-agressive, that is they are notorious fin nippers and in a shoal, they can be vicious.. I would find a good "mom and pop" type fish store, that really "knows" fish and shop thier exclusively. I too shop at petstupid and I just flat ignore the sales people as I have forgotten more about fish than they have learned (generally). Trade in the tiger barbs for clown or rosy barbs, they are much more pleasant and that lobster, well guess what the like to eat hint: fish shawn
Roan Art said:
My son has a 20 gallon with:

1 Dwarf Blue Gourami
2 tiger barbs
3 silver dollars
1 candy stripe pleco
1 Hammer's Cobalt Blue lobster

Typical story: we purchased this tank with the barbs and dollars in one fell shot. The LFS, unusual for them, I might add, did not inform us that the barbs were schoolers that would need 30 gallons or that the dollars needed 55 gallons.

The dollars are awesome fish and the LFS has said they will take them back. I'm not sure I want to part with them yet, though. They're cool fish. I might move them to another tank instead of taking them back.

Here's the deal:

My son is 4 years old and LOVES his fish. He's very reasonable as well and has agreed that the dollars need a new home -- whether it be in another tank or back at the LFS. He is willing to part with any of the fish EXCEPT for the lobster. He loves that thing. Mr. Cleaner gets along with all the fish, which is great. Strangely enough, the pleco likes to hide in the hole the lobster made in the gravel WITH the lobster.

Connor loves the color orange and, therefore, wants orange fish :) Green is also good as is blue, but he wants more orange and some green fish.

I suggested to him that we:

1. Upgrade his tank to at least 30 gallons. I might give him my 36 bowfront for Christmas. Then I can get a 55 :)

2. Increase his tiger barbs to at least 6

3. Keep the pleco, Blossom the Dwarf Gourami, and Mr. Cleaner the Lobster

4. Ask people here for suggestions on ORANGE or GREEN fish that will fit with this scenerio.

I was thinking of adding a school of green tiger barbs. Is that overkill with the tiger barbs? We had one before, and he loved it, but within two days of getting it it came down with ich. I removed it immediately and saved the tank from an outbreak. Connor says he'd like a school of those though.

Suggestions most welcome. Links with pics even better so I can let Connor see the fish and he can pick out what you guys recommend.

Much tanks!
Roan
Click to expand...
 
TKOS said:
Green tiger barbs and regular tiger barbs will school together. think about also adding albino tiger barbs which are orangish in colour due to their light coloured stripes.
Click to expand...
Good suggestion, I'll check those out.

Might I suggest moving the fish to the 36 gallon and leaving Mr Cleaner by himself in the 20 gallon? I am always warey of crayfish as they do so love to grab a fish when possible. I would also be a little on the worried side about the Gourami and tiger barbs as those long feelers look so tempting.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, no, we can't do that. I've never even seen Mr. Cleaner so much as wave at the fish unless they try to take his wafer away from him. Even then he just holds his claws in the air.

For the record, he's not a Cherax sp. crayfish, he's a Procambarus Sp.. While the Cherax can be a very agressive, fish eating, aquarium destroying crayfish (had one, hated it. He THREW bogwood around and torn up my plants), the Procambarus is a lot more passive in nature. The only time I saw him rip a plant was some of the anacharis, and he was eating it :)

I doubt the candy stripe pleco would stay in the same hole with him if he were a danger.

Now, as for the gourami and the feelers, yes, you're right and we should probably either move the barbs or the gourami. Not sure which yet.

Roan
 
Good luck.

And when tiger barbs are kept in large groups they spread the aggression out amoungst themselves. They are much worse fish when kept in groups of less than 5. And for some reason they work bets in odd numbers. They are interesting fish to watch as they are always dashing about.
 
TKOS said:
And when tiger barbs are kept in large groups they spread the aggression out amoungst themselves. They are much worse fish when kept in groups of less than 5. And for some reason they work bets in odd numbers. They are interesting fish to watch as they are always dashing about.
Click to expand...
Exactly. I was thinking of increasing the group to 6 or 7 and leaving the gourami to see what happens. I think they'll leave him alone as is typical with a proper school.

Roan
 
Just keep your eyes on things. The green tiger barbs are also known to be less aggressive than the standard, though slightly bigger.
 
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