Thanks for the information. I will look in to the water hardness tomorrow and get back to you with that one.
As I have 6 green tiger barbs ( sorry missed out tiger before) I was looking at 6 more but the normal tiger barbs, gold and black. Basically for some colour in the tank as I have reed they will shoal together and more is better for these fish only difference being there colours.
The reason I was thinking about adding Cory catfish is they stay along the bottom from what I have been reading and help keep the sand clean.
Unless there is anything else I could put with the barbs that will take up the bottom part of the tank and won't be to big for my tank?
Thanks for the help. I would rather try and get this right first time round instead of the Tiger barbs killing off other fish and being a pain.
On the last point, that is something some refuse to accept, usually with serious consequences down the road. Minimum tank for a group of this species (
Puntigrus tetrazona, though there is some confusion here, more detailed at:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/its-of...er-loses-its-stripes-but-what-about-its-name/ ) is a 30 gallon/113 liters with a group of at least 10, preferably 12-15. The group size should never be less than this, so in more spacious tanks it is possible to add other upper fish provided they are not likely to be targets (sedate fish for example, or those with long fins). Substrate fish are easier to find. Which brings me to your question about substrate fish other than corys.
You have the space to consider some of the smaller loach species if you want to be more geographical. The Tiger Barb species are native to Borneo/Sumatra. Loaches are Indian (Asian subcontinent) and share many of the same requirements when it comes to habitat. Some do get too large, but there are several that are lovely and interesting fish and suited to a 3+ foot tank as here.
Botia kubotai, B. striata, Ambastaia sidthimunki and
Micronemacheilus cruciatus are some I have or have had, and all are interesting fish. A group of minimum five or six, maybe seven to eight if either of the latter two species, would be nice with the barbs. Data here:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/botia-kubotai/
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/botia-striata/
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/ambastaia-sidthimunki/
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/micronemacheilus-cruciatus/
Loaches do not suit every community tank, as they need a group, some species can get very large (the popular Clown Loach reaches over a foot) and some do have rather nasty temperaments. Which is a real shame becaused they are highly social fish with some quite interesting behaviours, and when one has the opposturnity to design a tank with their needs in mind it would be a shame to miss out on these fishes. The above-mentioned species have never given me problems. Being active fish, upper fish need to be similar, which is where barbs and danios fit the bill nicely.
"Keeping the sand clean" can mean different things.
Corydoras in my experience do not eat food that happens to fall to the bottom unless it is to their liking, such as one of the sinking foods intended for catfish. I have seen corys ignore flake foods they stir up but really chow down on tablets or similar. Same applies to similar substrate fish.
