Fish Compatibility

[LucaBrasi]

hello again Luca here...

umm i was wondering

i might be getting a 75 U.S. gallon tank

i will obviously use it for freshwater fish

i have now 3 tiger barbs, and i was wondering what other type of fish are compatible wiht them?

planning on getting----

3 green tiger barbs
3 cherry barbs
possibly 3 tin foil barbs or albino barbs...

any suggestions?

i know that you sometimes cannot trust the online fish compatibility charts, because you never know a fishes personality lol

so any suggestions to compatibly fish with barbs???

cichlids? platy? rainbows? anything lol

~thanks~

 

[youngfisher]

I think you should get about 3 more tiger barbs so they share there agression within themselfs. Then you are open to alot more different things.

( I could be wrong though)

 

[Mikaila31]

Scratch the tinfoils IMO. They will get too big (12"), considered that ideally they should be in groups.

 

[LucaBrasi]

okay sounding good so far lol...

yeah i learned that babrs should be in groups of at LEAST 6... but i didnt know if that meant per catagory.. such as

6 tiger barbs
6 green tiger barbs and so on...

i didnt knwo if i could do like

3 tigers and 3 green tigers = 6 barbs you know? so okay

3 more tigers and then i can get other babrs as well.

does anyone know what other type of fish are compatible?

to reduce stress and nipping and such?

good community fish anyone?

 

[M.R Otter]

Tiger barbs are known for thier habit of nipping other fishes fins,I have 21 tiger barbs in a 310 gallons tank.the more tiger barbs there is in your tank the more peaceful they get.I will give you a list of good and bad companions for your tiger barbs.

Good companions:
1-platy
2-molly
3-black widow tetra(best kept in groups of 5 or more)
4-silver dollars(best kept in groups of 3 or more)
5-clown loach

Bad companions:
1-angelfish
2-siamese fighting fish
3-guppy
4-neon tetra
5- some cichlids like(flower horn-oscar fish and a lot more)

 

[LucaBrasi]

hey thanks alot for your advice!!!

those fish sound great.. wow 310 gallons!!! holy guppy lol

that sounds great though i would love to see some pics of your tank!!!!

i will look into those fish thanks alot!!!

 

[CKutz]

i've read of the different tiger barb color morphs schooling together..i think Amunet (a user on here) is..or was till it cracked..setting up a tank, and added a bunch of both, and said they all schooled together.
so you could do 3 and 3..but in a 75 gal..do like 6 and 6


mr.otter
why aren't tiger barbs and cichlids a good mix? i just suggested someone add tiger barbs to a tank they want to have bolivian rams in...i thought their temperments might be kinda equal and they'd get along, but do the tigers still nip their fins alot?

 

[dave_oddballs]

in a 75 g it would probably be best getting a group of around 20, and all variants do school together, after all they are the same fish! i wouldn't et molly's as they tend not to do brilliantly in community tanks, or total fresh water for that matter.silver dollars are very ice fish but uncompatible with plants which the tiger barbs would really appreciate.
i would go for a stocking along the lines of:
20 mixed tiger barbs
2 plecs (smaller ones like clown plec or golden nugget plec etc)
4 dwarf cichlids (apistogramma, dutch rams etc)
6 corydoras
10 marbled hatchet fish
there is an endless list of compatible fish that would fit in your tank, just remember the bigger the shoal of tiger barbs the better (within reason).
just take it easy and add the fish slowly and add the most aggressive last! in my suggested stocking that would be the cichlids!
hope this helps
David

 

[M.R Otter]

ckutz
I didn't said that all cichlids are a bad mix what ment is that big cichlids like flower horns or oscar fish will have no problem taking the tiger barbs as lunch


dave_oddballs
some of the fishes you suggested are great but the others may be bad like the plecos,the plecos are known to be a pooping machine wich can upset the nitrates level.10 marbled hatchet fish!!!those fishes can not only jump but also fly.

 

[dave_oddballs]

so you are telling me that 1 or 2 small plecs like those stated would be too much for a 75 gallon aquarium? get a grip
No fish can fly, i don't no where or when you dreamed that?
i think you were reffering to the fact that when they are startled they do tend to head for the surface sometimes leaving the surface, by no means do they get a group together and decide to go on flying lessons round your living room.
as i said 1 or 2 small plecs would be absolutely fine in a 75 gallon as would the notorious Boeing 747 marbled hatchet fish, and obviously the tiger barbs in a big enough group would more or less keep themselves to themselves. you could add a few loach's like clowns or red tailed botia, i keep both and make for very good looking fish and make an excellent clean up crew.
David

 

[waterdrop]

Hey Luca!

This turned out to be a pretty good thread about grouping and barbs, eh? I wish more beginners would happen to see this one. Yes, when the various experienced keepers on here talk about "groups" its usually best to assume that a "minimum" number of a single species is being talked about, and yes, for the purposes of reducing both stress to those fish themselves and also their nipping and other behaviours towards other species in a community tank. But then, as mentioned in this thread, that can be carried on sometimes: first, its pretty obvious you can usually include color variations of the same species as part of a group (although sometimes you will see a group pick on a fish for this seemingly) and then, a little less often, people will report that a particular "near" species will take up and shoal successfully with the group.

I always like hearing reports from people with really big tanks who have actually observed shoaling details as they gradually increased the numbers of a particular group. Its very, very interesting to hear about. It often reinforces the notion of just how much stress relief fish get from groupings of their own kind.

Anyway, an interesting thread and it even has a little airplane comedy at the end! I can remember any number of species ending up dead on the carpet when I was a kid. Hatchets definately tried for long flights, but there was the occasional rosy barb and various tetras too!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Curiosity101]

I can second you on that waterdrop. I lost a Khuli loach to jumping...or well it escaped somehow. And they're bottom dwelling fish!
The answer isn't to not buy any fish that may be prone to jumping...it's just to get a good safe covering for the tank and to be well aware during water changes of the possibility of jumping.

Also, most tanks with fish that dwell literally at the surface should / do have a floating plant of some description to make them feel more secure. If they have a choice between hiding and jumping then hiding is probably the more likely choice.

 

[LucaBrasi]

lmao... your right waterdrop.. gotta love the arguments

thanks for all your help everyone..

i will look into the fish that were suggested, as well as plants and such

hey waterdrop, now i have another dilema with my barbs!!! =(

my female (i beleive is a female) is acting weird, just recently she has been hiding behind shells, and up by the filter. also she is starting to turn a little pale, just like my first problem with my barbs.. what do you think it is?

she didnt eat today, but she could be eating now, i just fed them, she was being chased playfully yesterday...

do you think she's prego? lol

=D

 

[LucaBrasi]

i dont know whats going on with my fish... ill add a newtopic about it, and see if i get any nibbles... =/

 

[waterdrop]

lmao... your right waterdrop.. gotta love the arguments

thanks for all your help everyone..

i will look into the fish that were suggested, as well as plants and such

hey waterdrop, now i have another dilema with my barbs!!! =(

my female (i beleive is a female) is acting weird, just recently she has been hiding behind shells, and up by the filter. also she is starting to turn a little pale, just like my first problem with my barbs.. what do you think it is?

she didnt eat today, but she could be eating now, i just fed them, she was being chased playfully yesterday...

do you think she's prego? lol

=D

Sorry, was away...
Hard to diagnose over the internet.. sounds like it could either be prego or possibly something wrong. Any new news?