Advice Please

[Spidapex]

I'm looking at setting up a freshwater tank in the new year. I had a community tank many years ago so I'm not completely new to fishkeeping, but it seems that things have moved on somewhat over the last couple of decades.

My fist question concerns Ruby Barbs. Opinion seems divided as to how nippy these are. Some people seem to think they are fairly peaceful, others that thay are almost as bad as Tiger Barbs. Can Ruby Barbs be trusted in a tank with Angel Fish or Pearl Gouramis?

Any advice welcome.

 

[Carlovel1]

Depends on how many you have,6 or more, they tend to be very peaceful, less than that and you'll see their nipping behaviour. But in general, Black Ruby Babrs are much less nippy and aggressive than Tiger Barbs

 

[Ben M]

hi, TBH i haven't found tiger barbs to be particularly nippy. i've never kept ruby barbs though, so i can't comment on them.

cheers

 

[W8TSON]

Ive 4 in with angel fish and there fine. i havent seen them nip any of my fish tbh.

 

[Spidapex]

Cheers for the feedback everyone. I was thinking of a small shoal, so they should be fine.

 

[the biffster]

Cheers for the feedback everyone. I was thinking of a small shoal, so they should be fine.

thats what we are here for to
help each other

 

[Carlovel1]

Cheers for the feedback everyone. I was thinking of a small shoal, so they should be fine.

A small shoal as in how many...?

 

[Spidapex]

I had half a dozen in mind.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, hitting the 6 minimum shoal size with so many of these barbs can really make a difference (of course, sometimes its a beginners first intro to how frustrating a smaller tank can be for stocking plans!) Another aspect of the barbs and one that I find a bit difficult to express sometimes is that either overall tank size and/or size of other species of fish in the tank can make a big difference with barbs I think. If the barbs (again, already at 6 or more) are among the smaller species in a large tank then they will stay in their place even better, or if the tank is of exceptionally large size there can be a bit of this added calming effect I think. But the shoaling numbers are the most powerful factor at your disposal.

~~waterdrop~~