Cherry barbs & Harlequins

[Elisabeth83]

I've had 6 harlequins for a long time and they are all peaceful with eachother. I bought 4 more yesterday to add to the shaol and since adding them they are all chasing eachother like crazy. I figure it's because their are new males and females so things need to be worked out?

Same goes for my cherry barbs. I had 7 (4 females, 3 males) and bought 4 more yesterday (2 males, 2 females). Before the original 3 males I had were really calm and easy going and not really caring about the females all too much. Since adding the 2 new males and females it's like a war zone in my tank with the males all struting their stuff to eachother and chasing eachother. I'm hoping this will end too as I cant even stand to watch the tank anymore as theres too much movement and action

Both the harlequins and the barbs are also spawning. My gouramis are making sure nothing survives though and weaving in and out of the plants eating all the eggs

 

[modernhamlet]

Hey Elisabeth, sounds like a fairly normal reestablishing of the hierarchy. Whenever you add new fish to a group, there's usually a few days of bickering while they figure out who's the boss again. It should settle down soon. If not, then you can ponder other causes.

Harlequins and cherries are both great spawners, but as you found out, a breeding tank is essential. If the gourami don't eat the eggs, the parents will.

Sounds like a fine tank... Good luck!

 

[Elisabeth83]

Thanks it's good to know things will calm down I'm not looking to breed the harlequins or the cherry barbs so it's fine that the eggs get eaten. I just feel bad that they are doing all this hard work and the gouramis are following them eating all their eggs

 

[abstract]

you should move the decorations around in the tank...that way they are more worried about the territory change than the addition of new fish/invertebrates

 

[Elisabeth83]

you should move the decorations around in the tank...that way they are more worried about the territory change than the addition of new fish/invertebrates

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I just did a water change so I moved some plants and wood around too

I'm thinking maybe I added too many cherry barbs and harlequins. I was wanting to add some small botias and some siamese algae eaters to the tank but now it looks if I added them the tank would be overcrowded.

It's a 55 gallon with
4 pearl gouramis
11 cherry barbs
10 harlequin rasboras
1 b-nose pleco

I'm thinking now I should of just kept my original 6 harlequins and 7 cherry barbs

 

[abstract]

the addition of the harlequins was probably fine since they produce very little waste...i would've kept it at 7 cherry barbs, though

 

[Elisabeth83]

Maybe I'll take a couple of the cherries to my lfs then

Do I have to have more females than males in cherry barbs? Out of the 11 I have 5 males and 6 females. If I were to return 4 of them who should I get rid of?

The tank looked kind of empty before so I thought adding to the shaols would make it look nice but it kinda looks too much now....

 

[abstract]

i'm not sure about the sex of the barbs making a difference but i would try to keep it pretty even, or maybe more females than males

 

[modernhamlet]

Maybe I'll take a couple of the cherries to my lfs then

Do I have to have more females than males in cherry barbs? Out of the 11 I have 5 males and 6 females. If I were to return 4 of them who should I get rid of?

The tank looked kind of empty before so I thought adding to the shaols would make it look nice but it kinda looks too much now....

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With cherry barbs, the "ideal" ratio is 1 male for every two females. They're pretty peaceful though, so you aren't risking serious harm or anything by breaking that rule.

I'd go with maybe 3 males and 5 females.

If you don't mind my asking:
1. Is the tank planted?
2. How good is the filtration?
3. How often/much are your water changes?

 

[Elisabeth83]

I ended up moving 5 of the cherry barbs to another tank and took 3 of the harlequins to my lfs.

modernhamlet - it's a 55 gallon tank, cycled with mostly fake plants but I have been adding some live that can live in low lights as I dont have the best lighting or any CO2 although my goal is to go a fully planted tank.

The filter is a fluval 4, I usually do 2 20% water changes a week.

 

[modernhamlet]

Sounds great! Glad to hear you're working towards live plants. I took the plunge with plants my very first tank (29g, VERY low light: 25W) and found that in spite what you hear from the bulk of planted tank people, you really don't need CO2, fertilizer, and tons of light to fill a tank with green. I had good luck with java fern and thai onion plants, among others. But if I had to suggest one plant, it would be Hygrophila Polysperma. Grows fast, sucks up lots of nitrate (it was such a stable tank), and looks pretty darn good along the back of the tank. The pearls and harlequins (both of which I had in that tank) and the cherry barbs all really appreciate plants.

In an established planted tank with your filter and maintenance schedule, you could easily add a group of 5-6 SAEs (which, coincidentally, were also in my 29g) or smaller loaches (Botia kubotai or dario are my favorites).

Pardon the massive info overload. Hope some of it helps!