How Many?

[The Barb]

how many adult black ruby barbs can i have in a 5x2x2?

 

[blackops]

any other fish

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

That depends on factors like...

• What filtration does this tank have
• At what stage through the cycling process these filters are at
• What fish you already have (species and quantities)
• What fish you plan to add later

We could simply come out with a random number like 57, but without you filling in some blanks, any responses you get are rather close to meaningless

 

[The Barb]

no other fish(species only),2 external filters aquaone 1050s which are fully cycled

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I reckon ~30 would be reasonable with a 20 female, 10 male split.

However, in a 5x2x2 (which I've got one of myself in the garage), I think you are going to need a lot more water turnover than just those two Aqua One 1050 filters as Black Ruby Barbs are riverine fish. My 5x2x2 is a riverine setup, which has a Fluval FX5 (~2300lph); an All Pond Solutions 2000EF (~1200lph) both firing their outputs at the water surface and an AquaMedic Nannoprop 5000 powerhead (~5000lph) midwater... And even that is looks quite pitiful in terms of water speed despite being something ~15x water turnover per hour!

Sounds like a nice species only project and by all accounts you might get some fry that will naturally survive without your assistance.

 

[The Barb]

thanks