stocking questions - 46 gallon tank

[NowherMan6]

hello everyone, im new to these forums.

anyway, ive got some questions about my new tank. its 46 gallons and it has 11 tiger barbs and 4 giant danios in it. my question is about over stocking: is the tank in danger of being overstocked? i feel like it is, especially considering how big giant danios get - which i didnt know at the time i got them. im thinking of bringing them back to the lfs. is this a good idea? other than that, what are some of my options for later stocking with the tiger barbs in mind. i wanted a school of corys or upside-down cats, but i dont know if the tigers would be aggressive towards them as they're slower moving fish. ive also heard that red tail black sharks are "good" with tiger barbs, in that it's an aggressive fish that will keep the barbs in line - but i dont really have the expertise to handle things if the situation gets out of control.

thanks for any comments!

 

[Blinky]

I think taking the danios back would give you a lot more room to play with.
You've got enough barbs that they're likely to be less agressive with other species than if you only had 3 or 4, but you're probably right to be cautious.
I believe upsidedown cats get larger than most corys (4"+ is what I remember reading but that could be wrong), and since I'm also a huge cory fan I'd recommend them first. There are corys that reach 3"+ and some that only reach 2" (then of course there are the pygmy corys, which are VERY small) so how many you could keep depends on which species.
I doubt that your barbs will harass corys, especially if the tank is planted/decorated so the corys have some hiding spots.
Have fun!

 

[NowherMan6]

thanks, i think im going to go ahead and return the danios. i mean, ive seen corys in tanks with larger more aggssive fish, so there probably wouldnt be a problem, ya just never know with those fiesty little tiger barbs though

 

[dwayne]

Welcome!

I have 4 tiger barbs and 4 dwarf cories in my tank, and they totally ignore each other! The cories are all over the tank too, they are rarely just at the bottom... so they are always in the barb's 'territory'... no problems!

If I were you, I'd try to find some dwarf cories (or pygmy which I've never seen at any of my lfs), and get a school of maybe 5 or 6... if you can only find regular sized cories, get 3 or 4 of them. Then you could probably also get a red tail black shark, or a rainbow shark. They'd all get along just great!

~Tara

 

[NowherMan6]

thats really interesting because i have always heard that sharks are aggressive towards other bottom dwellers. depends on the animal i guess thanks for the info!

 

[Captain Hook]

Sharks are aggressive toward fish that look the same as them, have the same body shape, etc.

My rainbow shark chases my siamese algae eater and once in a while other fish in the tank but does not damage. He hasn't bothered my syno catfish or albino pleco.