200L Tiger Barb Tank

[damanax]

Hi everyone,
 
My parents gave me a lovely 200l tank as a Christmas gift, I really wasn't expecting it

 . I've already had platy, guppies, neon tetras, glowlight tetras etc and I want to try something different so I'm going to be having a school of Tiger Barbs and possibly a Rainbow Shark.
 

 
That's the tank. Filled it up and discovered that the water level was uneven. The floor is uneven (its cement....) so I'm going to need to find a fix for it

 .
 
Also got a few giftcards for the LFS and bought a Fluval Internal Filter and a heater. I was after an external but the only ones down at the LFS had a price tag that made me cringe. I've also bought some driftwood and an LED light. 
 
It'll be slow progress as I go away on holiday for 5 weeks soon. I'll be visiting my brothers who are both in the hobby and they say that there is an amazing fishshop down where they live. I think I'll be looking into getting a few things for it while I'm down there, namely an external filter and an air stone/pump (never used one before

 ).
 
I am excited about getting it up and running!

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Looking forward to seeing the progress of this tank!!!

 

[508]

Will be following this journal, I can't wait to see the result of this

 

[Supraman]

Wow I just finished my tiger barb tank I love it and am sure you will too

I have a 65gal tank and currently house 25 tiger barbs, 3 bosemani rainbow fish, and my pleco in the tank. I have 0 aggression and if it wasn't for my pleco I'd say there is lots of room for another 10 tigers. I love how these guys shoal it's incredible

 

[damanax]

I'm planning on having around 17 Barbs and 1 of the Rainbow Sharks. I can't wait to see what it looks like 

 
Well I've been looking around for what kind of plants to have in the tank but I can't figure out what to have haha. I didn't think choosing plants would be harder than choosing the fish 

 
I'm thinking some Echinodorus amazonicus and maybe some Cryptocoryne parva to plant along the front. I can't think of anything else at the moment.

 

[Rak9378]

Looking forward to seeing how the tank turns out! I have some Tigers and they are really fun fish to watch. Are you going to mix up the types or just do all regular Tigers?

 

[damanax]

I'm thinking of maybe getting 1 or 2 green and albino tigers but I'll mostly be getting regular ones. I love the way the regular ones look 

 

[Rak9378]

I love the regular ones too...couldn't agree more!    But the green are also really pretty, sort of iridescent when the light hits them the right way!  And they look really cool schooling together!! 

 

[Ninjouzata]

Can't wait to see this when it's done! The green tigers are my favorite.

 

[damanax]

Today my light and my wood arrived! Great birthday present haha.
 

 
 


 
Got 2 pieces of wood. Currently soaking them.


 
The light is nearly as tall as I am. I needed my boyfriend's help to get it out of the box 

 
The cat wouldn't leave the box alone. I was unsuccessful at taking a photo without her in it somewhere.
 
The tank with the light, not too noticeable but it's a very dark corner of the house. It does look much better in person than in the photo 

 
I wasn't planning on buying any plants until I get paid next but I got a bit of extra money from birthday presents so I'll be ordering a couple tonight and they should be here by the end of the week. 
 
It's coming along a lot faster than I anticipated 

 

[Supraman]

looking great love the drift wood.

 

[simplyfish]

I had barbs and a RT black shark a few years ago, seemed to be a really good combo - both colour and temperament wise.
 
The shark never seem to stop moving, he had a little route he used to take between some of the decorations and plants I had in there. Avoid anything with sharp edges, they can motor around when they get the mood and it would often swim along the edges of things in there I suspect a little point would damage them.
 
Looks like a fantastic tank for this kind of setup.

 

[damanax]

I've ordered some  Echinodorus amazonicus and Cryptocoryne spiralis and they'll be here sometime tomorrow afternoon. Once I have all that planted and the wood arranged how I want, I may pick up some vallis and baby tears from the LFS. Of course it depends on how much space is left.
 
I won't be stocking my tank at all until I get back from my holiday in March. Gives the plants some time to establish as well.

 

[damanax]

My second update today!
 
I decided to put the wood into the tank even though it has only been soaking overnight. The bathtub isn't deep enough to fully submerge them and I was asked nicely to remove them from the bathroom 

  I didn't realise they took up so much space haha.
 
It helps for when my plants get here tomorrow afternoon. Also picked up a black background and I think it looks nice 

 
 

 
**Forgot to add the picture**

 

[508]

Looking good!