Trying To Make A Peacful Community

[Stoty]

Hey people,

I just got my 20 gallon tank cycled. This are the fish I have in there now.

2 Dwarf Gouramis (blue and orange, i think they are both male. The keep their distance from each other)
2 Swordtails (orange with thick black paintmark stripe. one female, one male - without sword yet)
2 small cory catfish
3 neon tetras
2 golden barbs
1 cherry barb (female)

At first i had 3 black tetras and 3 serpae tetras but i had to get rid of them all because they were nipping at the newly introduced gouramis. I traded them in for a swordtail pair and 3 barbs hoping things would be better. They are somewhat. Every now and again one of the swordtails will nip at a gourami. Kind of a small problem but not nearly as bad as the the tetras were. The small female cherry barb spends most of her day chasing and nipping at the swordtails. Every now and again she will chase a neon but she lives to chase the swordtails. She stays away from the gourami and everything else i have. it is kind of funny to watch because of the size difference. The swordtails could eat this fish. I am wondering if her aggression is due to the fact that she is the only one of her kind. The golden barbs and the cherry barbs were schooling together in the same tank in the store and i thought they would school together in my tank, but not the case. I am wondering if i should get rid of her, or just pick up another one. i am afraid that if i get rid of her, the swordtails will harass the gouramis more. i am also afraid that if i get another one, it might be double the trouble. The gouramis are my centerpiece and it is hard for me to find good fish to go with them. this particular swordtail species adds great color too. any suggestions?

 

[codheadjohn]

Hey people,

I just got my 20 gallon tank cycled. This are the fish I have in there now.

2 Dwarf Gouramis (blue and orange, i think they are both male. The keep their distance from each other)
2 Swordtails (orange with thick black paintmark stripe. one female, one male - without sword yet)
2 small cory catfish
3 neon tetras
2 golden barbs
1 cherry barb (female)

barbs are quite nippy anyway and do better in large groups. Your tank isn't big enough so I'd get rid of these. Neon tetras do better in a big group, so I'd get another 3-5 of these.

Cories also need to be in a group of about 6, get a few more of those. 2 Dwarf Gouramis (especially males) will probably cause havoc in a tank that size.

 

[Stoty]

the gouramis are the best behaved fish in the tank. They bother no one. The golden barbs are peaceful as well.

 

[codheadjohn]

the gouramis are the best behaved fish in the tank. They bother no one. The golden barbs are peaceful as well.

Gouramis are often much better when young, the adults are the problem causers, very aggressive to each other.

If Golden barbs are peaceful then you could keep them too, but would be better in a larger group of 6+. With the cories, tetras and barbs in groups of 6+, you'd be getting towards fully stocked.

I'd suggest a group of 8-10 either barbs or neons, group of 6-8 cories, the sword tails and 1 gourami

 

[moochy13]

you need less species of fish, and bigger groups of the ones you keep. cherry barbs are great, and certainly the least aggressive barb. the males are a much more vibrant red than the orangey white females, get some of them. personally id get rid of the swordtails and neons, and have 6 cherry barbs, 6 golden barbs, 6 cories and your gouramis. you could possibly have 8 of each group even. on the other hand you could swap a barb group for a tetra group.

 

[micko]

Corys, barbs and tetras are suggested to be in groups of 6+.

I've heard swordtails can be an aggressive fish, I'm not sure though as I have never kept them.

Upping your numbers to 6 minimum will be better, for the corys, barbs and tetras. Your tank really isn't big enough to do this with though. If it were me, I'd reduce the species and increase the numbers of the fish you choose to keep.