Barbs In General

[Rubyuk]

Hi guys

For my new tank i'm going to be setting up (see my other thread on fish choice ) I was originally looking at homeing some barbs.

Now I know some have a bad reputation for fin nipping,particulary the Tigers so I have had to rule them out as nice as they are.

I know or at least read that CHerry barbs dont fin nip but to be honest do not really have them on my wish list.

I was kind of narrowing it down to either 5banded,Rosy or Black Ruby.

Other possible tank mates will probably be Harlequinns,Emperor Tetras, 1 pair of Red Honey Gouramis or 1m 2f,upto about 4 male platys and later on a pair of bolivian rams,a few cory's,possibly 3 or so Otos and some amano shrimp.

My tank is 180 lts 92 cm long x 41 cm wide x 55cm high. Ph is 6.5 and fairly soft water.

A book I have suggests that if you love the Tigers but cannot accommodate their fin nipping then the Black Ruby's are ideal but an LFS yesterday told me they can still have fin nipping tendancies?

I was thinking about 5 barbs in which ever group I get.

I like the Rosey but different books I have their adult size as anything from about 8cm to 15cm depending on which I read and some say ok to home in just one pair and others say a small shoaling group?

Now if they do grow to 15cm then I'll probably give them a miss as with other stock will probably not have capacity for the 75cm that will create.

Also yesterday whilst reading other threads on here someone had linked to a site where people add their posts about vavrious fish they have homed and a few on the Rosy barbs said they were very boisterous and upsetting to some of the more peaceful tankmates?

That leaves the 5banded which I believe are very peaceful,bordering on timid?

Anyone any views on these 3 Barbs and which may be best in my conditions and planned tankmates or any other suggestions would be appreciated

 

[Rubyuk]

Gold barbs are others I hear good reports on although I think there are a coulple of different latin names with one growing quite large?

Any Barb advice much appreciated

 

[mancin]

I'm still a newbie at this, but I LOVE Tiger Barbs so I've done some research on them. As far as the Barbs go, everything I've read said that if they are kept in groups of 5-6+, with other active fish, and tank mates do NOT have long fins (apparently irresistible!), you should be fine in regards to reducing fin nipping.

 

[mark.w.jones]

I would say to only keep them with small very active fish of less than 2". I kept them with Boesemani rainbows which reach about 5" and are relatively active and they were nipped to pieces. I got rid of the tigers but after 18 months one of my rainbows has still not completely regrown one of its fins. I would suggest good tank mates to be danios, other barb species and small tetra species along with cories.

 

[Rubyuk]

I would say to only keep them with small very active fish of less than 2". I kept them with Boesemani rainbows which reach about 5" and are relatively active and they were nipped to pieces. I got rid of the tigers but after 18 months one of my rainbows has still not completely regrown one of its fins. I would suggest good tank mates to be danios, other barb species and small tetra species along with cories.

I'm assuming that you are talking about Tiger Barbs here though?

I was referring to Rosy/Black Ruby/5banded and possibly Gold barbs,all of which i'm lead to believe are peaceful fish that do not share the same fin nipping habits of the Tiger Barbs?


Would any of these other barbs be good tankmates for the other fish I've included?

 

[Piltdownpaul]

I have a barb species tank in my house. I have pentazonas (5 banded) barbs-no problem at all. I have dwarf gold barbs, cherry barbs, melon barbs,chequer barbs and i even have characins too with cories on the bottom. Have at least 6 to 8 of each species to curb any nipping and i purposely slightly over stock to avoid aggression.

 

[OldMan47]

I rather think rosy barbs are a peaceful variety but gold barbs have a bit of an aggressive nature. Mine are with some other sturdy fish and are not causing much problem but I would not put them in a tank where I was worried about fin nipping.

 

[Rubyuk]

Thanks Everyone

So we seem to have already ruled out Rosy and Gold barbs as they could be fin nippers with my tankmates.

That still leaves Black Ruby and 5banded. Are these guys ok?

 

[beta]

In my experiance gold barbs arent overly aggressive if kept in groups of 5-6 or more, also i've never had a prolem with tigers nipping - mine have all on with fighting amongst themselves (currently have 5 gold & 10 tiger)

 

[Wordy]

Would Tiger Barbs or 5 Banded Barbs be ok to be kept in a modified Baby BiOrb? between 4-6 of them? The heater is up to the job and I'll be getting a good after market filter.

 

[beta]

tigers and 5 banded barbs can grow up to around 7cm so it depends on size of tank

 

[Wordy]

It's not a very big tank, only a 15Ltr Baby BiOrb.

 

[beta]

15L = 4 us/gal 1"per gal rule tiger barb potentialy 7cm = 2.75" 5 tiger barbs = 13.75" - even to much for over filterd tank using 2" rule

 

[Miss Wiggle]

eah waaaay too big and active for a baby bi-oirb i'm afraid.

 

[Anguilla82]

what about cherry barbs?

Never mind just seen in your first post that you're not keen on them.