Would Dwarf G's Be A Good Addition To This Tank?

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CytheFish

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Hello all! We currently have 6 Tiger Barbs, 1 Pleco of undetermined sort, and 1 Pictus in a 24x12x20 25G Eclipse tank. Plenty of both real and fake plants, Large rock formation and Driftwood. Both my Fiancee and I love the coloration of the Dwarf G's, and searching on compatibility charts they seem like a good addition. Tho reading here mabye not. What do you think, would a pair of Dwarf's be a good addition?
 
Keeping gouramis with tiger barbs is really hit ot miss, I kept 2 golden gouramis and a paradise fish with 6 tigers and they did fine, but other members have kept tigers with gouramis and the tigers would nip and tear the long trailing fins of gouramis.

Usualy when kept in a larger groups tigers barbs wont bother other fish but again it is hit or miss.

If you live close to the fish store and they will let you bring fish back or if you have another tank to move the gouramis in to incase the tigers get agressive I would go for it :)
 
If you had a larger tank I would say go for it....amybe like a 45 gallon long tank... but in a tank of that size I would probably try something different... But it is true it is hit and miss and if you have a lot of hiding spots you might try one to see what happens..
 
That's a bit tricky. I've heard alot of problems with barbs. You also want to find out your pleco type as alot grow very big and many have very different dietry needs. Whilst some of herbivors some are ominvors and others veer towards a meaty diet. If you really have no clue try getting a reasonable pic and posting it up in the catfish pleco section. Also have a look through www.Planetcatfish.com .
How old is the tank? Dwarfs are notoriously prone to disease and a young tank (As not especially mature but cycled) can cause trouble for their health. The other drawback is if the barbs do decide to nip this will stress the dwarfs and that can bring on disease and kill them. *sigh* Poor beggers have been too inbred. :(
You could try Sparklers or croaking gouramies. They're hardier although obviously do not have the colouration of dwarf gouramies. They also don't have quite such attractive finnage to the barbs and are less likely to be nipped at. Although try to ensure you don't get them very small or your pictus will be after some midday or midnight snacks.
Hugs,
P.
 
Sparklers and croakers are in danger of becoming snacks even when quite nearly fully grown. Sparklers only reach about 1" and croakers only about 2" (not including any fins of course as males can actualy have quire impressive finnage). Also, I'd be very worried about conflicts with the barbs as they occupy the same area in the tank and aren't particularly large. Tiger barbs don't only bully things with long fins - they also go after small, vulnerable, fish or fish that get in their way. It's all about establishing who's boss rather than simply all-out aggression or territoriality but it does cause some serious problems.

In the case of dwarfs, it's not a good idea to mix them with anything that'll cause them stress. Unfortunately, tiger barbs fall into this category so I'd avoid the mix. Dwarf gouramies are extremely prone to disease and even just a little stress can trigger illness.

The only gouramies I'd keep with tiger barbs are the larger, upper-dwelling species with shorter fins such as three-spots, moonlights and kissers - the latter probably being the best option as they don't have the modified ventral 'feelers' that are so very prone to being nipped off. Having said that, none of these fish will work in your tank - the last two need somewhat more space as they grow quite large and three-spots won't do well in crowded conditions and are likely to act very aggressively.

Actualy, your tank is almost fully stocked anyway. Of course, I have no diea what plec you have though. It would be a good idea to take a picture and post in the catfish section for identification. Like Miss Dib Dabs said earlier, some plecs get rather large. Commons, for example, grow to 18". All plecs are also extremely messy, very high, waste producers.
 
Thanks for the responses, unfortunately prior to reading this we did indeed add 2 Powder Blue Gouramis. I'll keep an eye on them and if worse comes to worse we'll return them and make this 25G tank a home for a shoal of Tiger barbs. They are fun to watch, we have 6 now mabye 4 more? Who knows, so far so good the TB's seem to stay mostly in their area to the rear of the tank behind a good sized rock structure. Either there or in their dominate center tank area chaseing each other back and forth. The Gouramis have moved in to the middle to top water area on the other end of the tank, hanging out with our Pictus.

It was funny when the Gouramis were added to the tank the Barbs just grouped togeather in a tight knot and stared at them like "Who are you and why are you in Our tank" Or EEEEECCKK What is that!?!?!?! Hilarious to watch. I'll update soon.
 
Update-----> Gouramis assimilating very well. Have taken the top 4 or so inches of the tank for their own. Heck they often chase the Tiger Barbs out of "their" territory. Feeding is interesting, tho they stay at the top of the tank, when we open the lid to feed they dart down, allowing the Tigers and the Pictus to charge to the top. For now I'll chalk it up to "new fish, hand shy". Going to continue as normal for a few more days and if there is no improvement in the feeding then I'll attempt an aditional night feeding. Any comments?
 

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