adding tiger barbs into this community?

[Swifterz]

long story short, have always had tiger barbs. they are one of my favorite fish because of their bright colors and their active nature. i had 6 in a 20 gallon with tetras and platys and they kept their aggression to themseves. i never had any problems.

when i set up my 55 gallon tank, i had two small irridescent sharks, maybe 4" long or so and about 6 or 7 tiger barbs. 2 barbs broke off from the group and mercilessly nipped the fins of my ID sharks, even though they are not slow moving at all, nor do they have "flowing" fins.

realizing that my tank was not big enough for the ID sharks in the long run anwyay, i removed them from the tank. then i added in 3 small bala sharks and a rainbow shark. there were no problems in the tank.

THEN we added 2 small pink kissing gouramis. i figured this would be ok since the gouramis are often aggressive temselves, and don't have flowing fins. still the barbs attacked them and drove them crazy. my wife talked me into getting rid of the tiger barbs instead of the gouramis cause they were "pink and cute". i reluctantly agreed and now i am regretting it.

do you think if i were to add in say, 10 tiger barbs to this community that i could have a chance at them being at least mostly peaceful? i mean would it make a difference that this time the tiger barbs would be introducted into the community this time, instead of like them having been there first before and having the fish introduced to them? and is 10 a good number? i know the more you have the less likely they are to be aggressive towards other fish.

if i had to choose i guess i could get rid of the kissers this time. i shouldn't expect them to show any aggression to the bala or rainbow sharks right? maybe i just had a couple of particularly mean barbs before.

[TFA101]

10 in my eyes is a great number. Lots of buddies to play around with and the more the merrier. Also, adding them as a final addition won't give them the idea that they can overrun the tank. I wouldn't think they'd bother any of the fish from there.


This isn't the biggest problem though, you also have three fish who can and will outgrow your tank at a very fast rate, your balas. Each can and will grow up to 14" long, are schooling fish, and need a large tank to feel comfortable. Please consider finding them new homes when they outgrow your tank, or upgrading to fit their needs.

And I'm unsure, did you keep your ID sharks?

[Tony G.]

i agree with TFA101, the more, the better. If you have a large school they are most likey to live peacefully. I woudnt put that many balas into that tak, not even one. you could put 1 into a 75 gal, but deff not a 55g.

[gmen4life]

yeah balas are huge as adults and need room i would rehome them if you could and welcome to fishlore

[Swifterz]

i did get rid of the ID sharks. even though they are only 4" or so right now i know they can get huge. i know the ideally that's what i should do with the bala sharks too, but i just love them so much.

my plan is to accommodate the balas with a 75 gallon tank in the future. the wall my tank is on is PERFECT right now. it's the spot i want the tank in (right in the middle of my living room), and it fits it like a glove. it's 50" wide and the tank is 48" wide. i know 72 or 75 gallon tanks are often the same width, just taller and deeper, so that is a possibility in the future, but going bigger than that is not likely unless we move or something.

here is a picture of the tank that gives you an idea of the size of all the fish. it looks different now though because i have slate in there instead of those rocks.



the bala swimming near the middle is the largest one. if i can't give them a larger tank myself then i will have to rehome them or turn them in. it's going to be a year or longer before they get too big anyway. right now i'd say two of them are about 4" and one is about 3".

[Swifterz]

UPDATE: i went and added in 10 tiger barbs. they have been in there about 3 days and haven't shown any aggression at all towards any of my fish. they just chase eachother around constantly, but not even really nipping. they are just playful.

i guess since i got a lot of them and since they went in the tank last instead of first this has kept down their aggression. they are beutiful, active fish and they are fitting in great into my community!

[TFA101]

I like the way your tank looks, maybe you could post some pictures of your tiger barbs?

[Swifterz]

Originally Posted by TFA101

I like the way your tank looks, maybe you could post some pictures of your tiger barbs?

this is what the tank looks like now, quite different...



lots of slate instead of the limestone. and i added a 2nd filter. i like it like this better.

the barbs are so hard to get a decent picture of because they move so fast. i shot a short 20 second or so video last night though. i can upload that to youtube and post later if you want.

[ATKINSON]

Agreed

[Swifterz]

no pictures because they are too fast but here's a short video.



the tank just keeps changing haha!

[rt12]

The more the better as long as you don't biologicaly overload your tank. Possibly wait until the gouramis are full grown or close to it. They should be able to defend themselves better then.