mibro

Hello fishlore! I just wanted to know what would some good tank mates be for some gold barbs? I havent got them yet actually, to be honest I just have some gravel, a filter and the tank. (I will cycle fishless tho! so no worries)

Jaysee

Gold barbs are great little fish! You're good to keep them with anything that won't eat them.

aquarist48

http://www.fishlore.com/profile-goldbarb.htm
Hello Mibro and Welcome to Fish Lore. Above is a profile link to Gold Barbs you may enjoy reading. It's been my experience that Barbs can be a bit "fin nippy". Barbs are best kept in groups of 6 or more to help prevent this. I'd personally be hesitant to add them with fish such as Angels with long flowing fins. I'm sure you'll get more responses. Best of luck and I hope you enjoy the site!
Ken

Jaysee

I keep mine with pearl gouramis and long fin rams.

Diggly

barbs like barbs, I have my barbs with gouramis and mollies with no fin nipping or any problems but this really depends on your barbs, some will fin nip some wont when in a school.

Odessa barbs should work and are nice to look at too!

bolivianbaby

Welcome to Fishlore. Unfortunately, I have no personal experience with barbs, but I have read that the larger schools minimize fin-nipping.

sirdarksol

Even in schools, gold barbs can be kind of violent. Outside of schools, they can be absolutely brutal.
I once lost a bunch of neon tetras to my gold barb overnight.
Even with a school, I couldn't keep the barbs with large snails or shrimp. The barbs would pluck the eyestalks off of the snails and would catch the shrimp.

mibro

thanks for all the replies! and wow really sirdarksol? I've always read that theyre quite peaceful so that kinda suprises me this is my first tank if i could, I'd prefer laid back colorful fish if theres such a thing lol

Jaysee

While I agree that gold barbs are a bit more aggressive than cherry barbs, don't be afraid. They aren't even close to the nippiness of tigers.

sirdarksol

I've always read that, too, but my experience is that this isn't always the case. Many people have lots of luck with them, but they have the ability to be aggressive.

There is. Guppies are very peaceful and colorful. Stick with males if you don't want them breeding. If you get any females, at least two females for each male is a good idea.
Cardinal tetras are another good choice for color.

It's great that yours have been so peaceful. I'd still recommend caution to anyone who wants to put them in a tank with neons, guppies, or other easily-bullied fish.

Jaysee

I've always kept my barb schools at a minimum of 7 (found odd numbers to be better).

You haven't told us what sized tank, which makes a big difference when it comes to tankmates. There are all sorts of community fish you can keep them with that will make a colorful and laid back tank, but we need to know what you have to work with....

Just found it. I suggest a school of dwarf neon rainbows (6) for the top, a school of corys (6) on the bottom with the gold barbs (7) in the middle. And a dwarf gourami. Or you can skip the DG and corys and get a crayfish for the bottom. Barbs are excellect tankmates for a crayfish, and the cray will never touch the rainbows.