Newbie With Questions!

[Gazzae]

Hi all, newbie here with a few questions. I have a tank I want to set up as a barb tank, the tank in question is 36"x15"x12", I have a fluval 204 external filter (given to me), heater, and light controller, I would also like to use aquarium sand instead of gravel, my questions are:

Is the fluval 204 ok for the size of tank I have?
Is the size of tank I have sutible for keeping barbs?
How many fish can I keep in this size of aquarium and what types of barbs can I keep together I like the tigers I know these fish are very boystrous and nip fins, so I was planning of keeping in shoals of 6 or more?
Can I keep any other species with barbs?

I will be cycling my tank before I introduce fish, I also want to plant the tank heavily, which plants are best for barbs?

And any thing else you folks think I should know about, sorry for all the questions , I do have some experience in keeping freshwater fish I used to keep oscars for about 10 years but never barbs or the like!

 

[colleen0309]

Good afternoon and welcome to the forum! I just realized that out of my 14 tanks, I don't have ANY barbs. Oversight on my part. I really don't know too much about them in general. I do know that they come in a varity of sizes. I just wanted to welcome you and tell you good job on cycling before introducing fish.And don't apologize for asking alot of questions. I'd rather someone ask a million questions, than not asking and makinga bunch of mistakes. Remember, the only silly question is the one not asked.

 

[Gazzae]

Good afternoon and welcome to the forum! I just realized that out of my 14 tanks, I don't have ANY barbs. Oversight on my part. I really don't know too much about them in general. I do know that they come in a varity of sizes. I just wanted to welcome you and tell you good job on cycling before introducing fish.And don't apologize for asking alot of questions. I'd rather someone ask a million questions, than not asking and makinga bunch of mistakes. Remember, the only silly question is the one not asked.

Thanks for the reply, I remember the oscars I kept where great rewarding fish to keep, but I did alot of research about them first, I've always liked barbs, so thought I would get all my info about them first

 

[Gazzae]

Any one?

 

[fluttermoth]

to the forum!

Let me see if I can help you out here

Is the fluval 204 ok for the size of tank I have? Yes.

Is the size of tank I have sutible for keeping barbs? Yes, as long as you avoid the species that grow large (the main ones you'll probably see that you should avoid are tinfoils, mackerel and arulius/filament barbs)

How many fish can I keep in this size of aquarium and what types of barbs can I keep together I like the tigers I know these fish are very boystrous and nip fins, so I was planning of keeping in shoals of 6 or more? You're looking at stocking of around 15 two inch fish. Having tigers will limit any other species you can keep; I've only ever been able to keep them successfully with some tetras, other barbs, zebra loach and plecs (but you'll obviously want small plecs, like clowns or BNs in a tank of that size).

Can I keep any other species with barbs? If you go for five banded barbs, rather than tigers, you'll have more options.

I will be cycling my tank before I introduce fish, I also want to plant the tank heavily, which plants are best for barbs? The barbs won't mind what plants you have.

And any thing else you folks think I should know about, sorry for all the questions , I do have some experience in keeping freshwater fish I used to keep oscars for about 10 years but never barbs or the like! Just check up how big your potential fish grow, online of with the people here, as not all shops give out good info on tank sizes

I kept seven tigers and seven zebra loach (and a clown plec) in a tank the same size as yours for many years, or you could swap the loach for cherry barbs and I'd recommend a bristlenose instead of the clown plec; we never see ours, he's very shy!

Hope that helps some

 

[Gazzae]

Thank you very much! Just the info I needed! Just a couple more questions, can you tell me how many gallons my tank is, and for the cycling can I use kleen off ammonia that you can get on eBay (just ammonia and water) I tried the chemist but they wouldnt give it to me without a prescription!

Thank for all your help

 

[Bazaman]

Welcome.

From what i can find your tank is a 30 Gal tank and the kleen off ammonia is safe to use a lot of people on this froum use that to cycle their tanks.

 

[fluttermoth]

Your tank is 23 gallons, or 100 litres

Yes, the Kleen Off ammonia is a very popular choice for fishless cycles.

 

[Bazaman]

ya they are right about your gals i accidently put in the one for 36"x18"x12" not 36"x15"x12" my bad lol

 

[Gazzae]

Thanks! Got my sand delivered today I ordered 25kg of silver sand from unipac, just found out that the porcalene Center post of the fluval is broken but you can buy spares for about £8 so cheap as chips so saved some money with the filter! I should have it setup and cycling in the next couple of weeks so I'll get some pictures up to see if what I've done is ok for the barbs I'm going to keep. Thanks again

 

[fluttermoth]

Ooooh, pics!

*waits impatiently*

(you'll soon find out there's nothing we like more here than gawping at other people's tanks! You'd think we'd have enough to look at with our own, wouldn't you? But no, we like looking at other peoples )

 

[Gazzae]

Ha ha