Have I Got Good Stock?

[Sandzee23]

I occasionally look at my fish and wonder if my stock is correct.
i have
-1 Large Tiger Barb
-3 Baby tiger barb
-3 Platy
-4 Two Spotted Catfish

I love my tiger barbs and i would not want to get rid of them,
i also want quite an exiting tank, any ideas?
the tiger barbs are exiting but the catfish are never around. They just chill under a pice of wood, or filter.
including the tiger barbs does anyone have any ideas of a exciting (but not dangerous) tank

 

[Mr Spoon]

what size is your tank, If big enough i would get more tiger barbs, they are great fun to watch in bigger groups, i have 13 in a 190L tank

 

[Assaye]

What size tank do you have? I'm not sure what your catfish are either, do you have a photo or a scientific name for them?

If you have a big enough tank, I would simply add more tiger barbs as they do much better and are less nippy in larger groups. Obviously that also depends on what the catfish are.

With platies you'd want to have all males, all females or a ratio of 1 male to 3 females. If you have females or a mixed sex group, you need to be ready for fry and have an action plan in place for when they are born.

 

[Sandzee23]

12 UK Gallons is the size on my tank,

the attachment below are the catfish

12 UK Gallons is the size on my tank,

the attachment below are the catfish

http/w12.itrademarket.com/pdimage/30/39430_mystus_bimaculatus_twospotted_mystus_catfish1898.jpg

 

[Wills]

Looks good to me Nice catfish those a bit different to the normal types of catfish we see in newish tanks I would maybe even consider upping the Tigers to 6 or 7

 

[OohFeeshy]

Tiger barbs in a 12g is a bit of a push to be honest, they're quite big and chunky and very active and ideally tank size should be more like 3ft long- similar to danios.

 

[Assaye]

I agree with OohFeeshy - tiger barbs are chunky, active, aggressive fish that should be kept in large shoals in a much larger tank. I wouldn't even put them in my 16 gallon. 3 foot would be a minimum for me, but even 18-20 gallons would be better than 12.

I can't find much info about those catfish. Some sites say they max out at 3-4 cm and other say they gat to 13-15 cm. If the former, they should be fine in the 12 gallon as long as their other needs are met. If the latter size is correct, they also need a 3 foot tank.

 

[Sandzee23]

yeah but i buy my tiger barbs as babies. one has grown and my 3 recent ones are still only babies.
they stay as a group and arent aggresive to the other fish.

 

[Assaye]

yeah but i buy my tiger barbs as babies. one has grown and my 3 recent ones are still only babies.
they stay as a group and arent aggresive to the other fish.

When they're getting bit they should really be moved. Of course a small tank is OK for small fish but the barbs won't stay small for long.

They don't get massive but it's kindest to give them the space they need, even if there are no immediate threats to their health.

 

[Mr Spoon]

To do the right thing for your tiger barbs i would recommend a larger tank, if not possible then re homing them would be best, mine are in a 40 gallon tank and imoa its only just big enough for them.