260l Tiger Barb Stocking

[JenJ]

So if, hypothetically, I found myself with a 4ft tank, either 240l or 260l, I'd be interested in the below combinations:

Tiger barbs & Oscar

Tiger barbs and firemouth(s)

Tiger barbs and clown loaches

Tiger barbs and other cichlids (what?)

Just tiger barbs.

Which of these would be feasible, and what quantities would I be looking at?

Can I please have recommended quantities for both 160l and 260l for the species only tiger tank?

Thanks!

 

[MBOU]

Well, neither Oscars nor Clown Loaches fit into those sized tanks...

But lots of tiger barbs would look great! Something like 10 normals, 10 albinos and 10 green tigers

Would go nicely with a nice big shoal or cory catfish etc

OR you could go with a Tiger Barb Biotope!! That would be awesome, research what kind of place they live in and what species they naturally live in etc!

Biotope: (bear with me, still finding more)

Wikipedia

Tiger barbs have been reported to be found in clear or turbid shallow waters of moderately flowing streams. They live in tropical climates and prefer water with a 6.0–8.0 pH, a water hardness of 5–19 dGH, and a temperature range of 77 - 82 °F or 25 - 27.8°C. Their discovery in swamp lakes subject to great changes in water level suggests a wide tolerance to water quality fluctuations

I found this on a website about biotopes, covers which plants and so on that you would want!

[background=transparent]++++++++++++++++++++
Southeast Asian River
++++++++++++++++++++

Much of Southeast Asia is rainforest and the location for a number of large rivers.
This biotope aquarium simulates a smaller tributary.

ECOSYSTEMS:
Amudar'ya, Chao Praya River, Irrawaddy, Mekong River, Salween

WATER:
pH 6.0-6.5, 2-8 dH, 79-84 F (26-29 C)

TANK:
The tank should be thickly planted with plenty of hiding places among wood and plants.
Use fine gravel or sand as a substrate.

PLANTS:
Crinum, Ceratopteris, Hygrophila, Cryptocoryne, Nymphaea

FISH:
Loaches, Barbs, Danios, Cyprind sharks (Red-tail, Bala, etc.), Pangasius catfish [suitable only for very large tanks], small Asian catfish, Knifefish

PHOTOS:
White Water River: Borneo White Water River, Borneo, Borneo, Borneo, Borneo, Borneo,
Whitewater creek: Borneo creek​

 

[leighton_87]

If love to do a tiger barb tank with a mix of normals,Greens,golds/albinos.

I also saw some described as Jade Green Tiger Barbs which were a stunning shade.

I think a biotope idea would be brilliant.

 

[MBOU]

Here is a list of native fish to the Mekong river, good luck googling each of them to find out what it is and if they are available...

http/fish.mongabay.com/data/ecosystems/Mekong%20River.htm

 

[JenJ]

Thanks for those links, I'll have a good browse later

I was expecting a 'no' on the oscar/clown loaches (I just really want them so keep adding them into any theoretical mix as that's as close as I'll get!) but thought the 'no' for the Oscar would be as the Tigers would become lunch, I thought the size would be ok, as don't they need a min. of 55G?

I really wanted one or two 'big' fish in there, hence the cichlid suggestions.

The idea of a biotope does sound appealing...

Here is a list of native fish to the Mekong river, good luck googling each of them to find out what it is and if they are available...

http/fish.mongabay...ekong River.htm

Now that's a loooooooot of fish...!

 

[MBOU]

Personally I think its awful that people keep oscars in such small tanks... just because it fits... doesnt mean the tank is big enough! Big fish still need lots of swimming space!

Imagine a foot long neon tetra!! You'd not keep that in a 4ft tank would you? Things need to be a bit more in proportion IMO.

There are loads of nice sized asian fish but the trouble is, they will be predatory and severely limit what you could put in there.... but you could go down the route of a blackwater tank and species like Nandus leaf fish? but... you wont have many fish in there...

 

[JenJ]

Personally I think its awful that people keep oscars in such small tanks... just because it fits... doesnt mean the tank is big enough! Big fish still need lots of swimming space!

Imagine a foot long neon tetra!! You'd not keep that in a 4ft tank would you? Things need to be a bit more in proportion IMO.

There are loads of nice sized asian fish but the trouble is, they will be predatory and severely limit what you could put in there.... but you could go down the route of a blackwater tank and species like Nandus leaf fish? but... you wont have many fish in there...

I guess as I've not seen a full size Oscar in a tank that size to visualise it, I'm just reciting what's on here, but no, having had fish for all of 4 months, I've quickly realised how small home tanks actually are, hence hopefully ditching my 60l and getting the 260l.

Not keen on predatory fish, I think the tiger barbs are as 'aggressive' as I want to get!

I'll browse through your links see if anything catches my eye, but I'm thinking I may just have the 160l as a species only tiger tank and use the 260l for the rest of my fish. Love the tigers!

 

[BigFish01]

Have you looked at polka dotted loach? They only get to around five inches. And are very cool looking and full of personality. And from what i hear they are more social than clowns. Just a thought!!

 

[JenJ]

Perfect, thanks! I wanted something with the character and chunkiness of the clown, but smaller.

So maybe 6 loaches and 18 tigers?

 

[phantomlink]

Also Yoyo Loaches get around the same size and I've seen them in various stores, but never seen Polka Dot. I guess it depends where you are. Zebra loaches look like monarch caterpillar but stay smaller, Golden Zebra get larger around 6 inches or so. My Yoyos are extremely active more then my clowns

 

[KevM]

Perfect, thanks! I wanted something with the character and chunkiness of the clown, but smaller.

So maybe 6 loaches and 18 tigers?

In the 260l you could shoot for 10 Yoyo/Golden Zebra/Polkadot loaches and maybe 20 Tiger Barbs quite comfortably, I'd say. The biggest loach I could recommend for the 160l is maybe a group of Zebra Loaches.

 

[MBOU]

YoYo loaches get loads bigger!! 15-16 m and chunky with it! Polkadot loaches are Botia kubotai get to about 10cm.

You have to bear in mind how active loaches are... 6 Polkadots will be more than enough...

or 6-8 Botia Striata (Zebra Loaches)

 

[garyspence84]

I have 10 tiger barbs in my 240ltr tank with 2 firemouth, 2 gold severum and a red tail shark. The sharks the boss, but all the fish get along fine. Looking to up the number to barbs to around 20 and/or get a group of zebra loach for the bottom.

So glad someone else is going down the tiger barb route, I love mine. So good to watch them, always up to something!