Tiger Barbs And Rainbow Cichlids?

[LineDropper]

Hello all... this is my first post outside of the "new to the hobby area" haha.

I am in the process of cycling a 30 gal tank which currently holds 6 medium size tiger barbs. I'm just about done week 3 and have been researching possible fish to add once the tank is cycled.

A tropical fish magazine I recently read had a good article about some cychlid's that are easy to breed. One of those species mentioned was the Rainbow Cychlid. This breed got my attention because its max size is 3 to 4 inches and it is a hardy fish.

So my question is -- can rainbow cychlids co-exist with tiger barbs? If this is not recommended, I can move the barbs to another tank.

Also, do you think 6 rainbow cychlids would be too much for a 30 galon tank?

 

[I Love my fishies]

Hi there I also have Tiger Barbs and I have come to find that due to there agressive behaviour and they are fin nippers it is best to keep them in the tank with fast moving fish and defantly not long finned fish because of there fin nipping .......... I also want to put some fish in with my Barbs and a few people have suggested Cichlids, Ranbow Cichlids tend to be able to live with more aggressive fish due to their non-competitive status so they may be fine with the barbs

 

[LineDropper]

Thanks for the reply... I don't think I'll risk it. I have another 10 galon I've been using as sick bay -- I'll probably use this tank for the barbs once my 30 galon has cycled.

Bad news though - I lost one of my tiger barbs last night. They all looked completely healthy when I feed them last night and when I went to feed them in the morning, one was dead. I did a quick PH and Ammonia check. PH is high 7's (7.8) which is right around where its always been but the ammonia is 1.0. I don't know if 1.0 is high enough to kill barbs though.

 

[I Love my fishies]

Thanks for the reply... I don't think I'll risk it. I have another 10 galon I've been using as sick bay -- I'll probably use this tank for the barbs once my 30 galon has cycled.

Bad news though - I lost one of my tiger barbs last night. They all looked completely healthy when I feed them last night and when I went to feed them in the morning, one was dead. I did a quick PH and Ammonia check. PH is high 7's (7.8) which is right around where its always been but the ammonia is 1.0. I don't know if 1.0 is high enough to kill barbs though.

Sorry to hear about your barb ammonia level of 1 isn't desirable but I don't think it would have killed your Barb what are your nitrite levels? PH level should be around 6-7 for Barbs but once again a high ph level shouldn't kill your Barb.

 

[LineDropper]

Sorry to hear about your barb ammonia level of 1 isn't desirable but I don't think it would have killed your Barb what are your nitrite levels? PH level should be around 6-7 for Barbs but once again a high ph level shouldn't kill your Barb.

I'll check the nitrite levels tonight. The strangest thing is they all seem happy. No visible disease. No weird darting around. All have been eating. Also no sign of a fight.

 

[LineDropper]

Thanks for the reply... I don't think I'll risk it. I have another 10 galon I've been using as sick bay -- I'll probably use this tank for the barbs once my 30 galon has cycled.

Bad news though - I lost one of my tiger barbs last night. They all looked completely healthy when I feed them last night and when I went to feed them in the morning, one was dead. I did a quick PH and Ammonia check. PH is high 7's (7.8) which is right around where its always been but the ammonia is 1.0. I don't know if 1.0 is high enough to kill barbs though.

Sorry to hear about your barb ammonia level of 1 isn't desirable but I don't think it would have killed your Barb what are your nitrite levels? PH level should be around 6-7 for Barbs but once again a high ph level shouldn't kill your Barb.

Thanks for the interest 'I Love my fishes'... It's hard for me to tell, but my nitrite level is around .10 -- barely registering.

The other Tiger Barbs look as though they are very healthy.

So based on your experience, what kind of cichlids would you recommend I add to my 30 galon once it's cycled?

 

[I Love my fishies]

Thanks for the reply... I don't think I'll risk it. I have another 10 galon I've been using as sick bay -- I'll probably use this tank for the barbs once my 30 galon has cycled.

Bad news though - I lost one of my tiger barbs last night. They all looked completely healthy when I feed them last night and when I went to feed them in the morning, one was dead. I did a quick PH and Ammonia check. PH is high 7's (7.8) which is right around where its always been but the ammonia is 1.0. I don't know if 1.0 is high enough to kill barbs though.

Sorry to hear about your barb ammonia level of 1 isn't desirable but I don't think it would have killed your Barb what are your nitrite levels? PH level should be around 6-7 for Barbs but once again a high ph level shouldn't kill your Barb.

Thanks for the interest 'I Love my fishes'... It's hard for me to tell, but my nitrite level is around .10 -- barely registering.

The other Tiger Barbs look as though they are very healthy.

So based on your experience, what kind of cichlids would you recommend I add to my 30 galon once it's cycled?

HI Line Dropper,

I am unsure I haven't put any cichlids in with my Barbs ... I will be putting some in once I have finished a fishless cycle in my new tank....so I have the same problem as you choosing the correct ones so perhapse between the two of us we can share research and advise and work out the best one to put with our Barbs

Here is a post from another forum about someones experience with their Barbs an Cichlids:

From: DJ Cancer
Date:04/01/2006
OK Tiger Barbs are a bad idea for community fish. I started off with 3 then they started taking the fins off of my other fish. So I got 3 more for them to chase around. They ended up killing 2 of the new ones. So I decided to start putting Cichlids in my tank. Boy did this stop them. They stay in a group and they stopped chasing each other. My cichlids could care less about them. So if you like the tiger barbs and you want to keep them in a community tank I would go with more aggressive fish. I would make sure that they wont get eaten by bigger fish.


Some more info supporting the fact that Barbs and cichlids can live together:

One of the best known barbs, with a sometimes bad reputation. These lively fish can certainly be nippy, but if kept in a school of at least four to six and not combined with fancy-finned fishes, they should pose no problem. They will often display to and chase one another and so establish a pecking order. They are large, fast and robust enough to be combined with quite large community fish and with cichlids. A number of colour morphs have been developed (right) including a partial albino strain (gold tiger barb, top in picture), and the moss green tiger barb (below).

Now it is just a matter of finding out which sort of cichild would live best with the Barbs

 

[I Love my fishies]

I read online (Tropical Fish Center) that you should not keep them with highly territorial fish like African cichlids, but then some people have said some African cichilds are ok Someones experience with Barbs & cichilds: I've had a variety of cichlids with my tiger barbs and rosy barbs without any problems (either way) to this point. The list includes nic, bahia, severum, firemouth, ebjd, gt, hrp, spino, rainbow. The ebjd and gt are still young (about 5"), so a problem may develop later on, but so far, so good.Suggestions from another site of cichlids that would work well in a community tank with Tiger Barbs: Cichlids: Festivum, Jurapari Cichlid, Keyhole Cichlid, Kribensis Cichlid, Orange ChromideI hope this all helps .... please let me know if you find any information