Barb Tank

[FishyFriend101]

Hi
I currently have a 29g tank with some barbs in it and I am wondering if I could put a group of tiger barbs in there as well. Right now there are 4 firecracker barbs, 2 cherry barbs,3 cories, and a rubberlip pleco. I was hoping to put some tiger barbs in there (probably green for some colour variation) but I have heard that they can be very aggressive and nippy so I'm not sure if they'll be okay with what I have in there. I also plan to add some more cherry barbs.
Thanks
 

 

[Byron]

The short answer is, no, you cannot add Tiger Barbs to this tank.  I'll explain.
 
All barbs are active fish, meaning they swim actively, sometimes very much so.  So they need space.  When it comes to Tiger Barbs, this species (and it is the same for the original, green or albino forms) has a natural tendency to fin nip.  Keeping the species in larger groups has been shown to alleviate this to some degree, or at the least confine it within the species and not to other species in the tank.  A group of 8 is absolute minimum, but 10-12 are better.  And this should be in a 30g (29g is fine) tank all to themselves.  As soon as you introduce other species, the tank must be more spacious.
 
I would increase the cherry barbs, good idea; and I would increase the Firecracker Barbs too, another three.  And the corys need more, five being absolute minimum but here I would go with 7.  Providing these additional fish will fill the tank, but it will make the various species much happier, and that mean less stress and thus healthier.
 
Byron.

 

[FishyFriend101]

ok thanks for the help