70 Gallon Tank, Schooling/Fish Selection Question

Tank Setup: 70-75 ish Gallon Tank, pH 7.4 Last check Temp 76 Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate All Around 0

Tank has been cycling for 2 weeks with 10 Zebra Danios just to help things along, I started out with pretty good water and it stabilized quickly.

I have just put in 5 more Danios and 9 Tiger Barbs (3 different kinds). I am wondering if there is a point where I could have too many schools of fish, I plan on getting Cory's for the bottom 6-10. And am looking at finishing off my tank with a mid size fish, rainbowfish or rams and maybe another school possible tetras (unsure what kind but <3" adult). I just am looking for some advice on what would be better for the community of the tank, will having a few larger fish reduce the stress in the tank or will it not have any adverse affects of putting in another school of smaller fish.

 

The only thing that limits the number of schools of fish is simply your tank size/bioload. One of the big things that I would be worried about is the school of tiger barbs. They are known for being aggressive fish and causing a lot of problems in community tanks. Having multiple schools of different kinds of tetras would look great in a tank that size. If you want to get some nice centerpiece fish then you could go for a nice larger gourami or some rams. Cory cats are great additions to community tanks as well.

 

The advice I've received/read is to avoid long fin fish and the Tigers will be okay. I enjoy the really active tank more then the a "centerpiece" type fish.

I would love to get some of the larger neon tetras and just have a very active tank but am kinda worried about all the mid/high level fish.

 

They've also been known to harass cory cats as well so it isn't just long fin fish. Of course each fish and each tank is different so some people have better luck than others.

In regards to the schools of fish I just wanted to get this straight. These are the fish you have so far:

15 x Zebra Danios
9 x Tiger Barbs

In a 75 gallon tank you could fit an additional two schools of about 6-8 tetras, two schools of 6-8 cory cats, and a pair of rams and be fine with your bioload.

 

Yes, those are what I have currently going to let them settle in for atleast a week before putting in anything else. Is there any other type of cats/bottom dwellers you would recommend to go with the tigers?

Would having a larger fish in the tank be better to "put them in their place" and quell some aggression?

 

Off the top of my head I can't really think of any. Rams tend to hang out towards the bottom and idk if you would count a BN pleco as a bottom dweller. The thing with fin nippers is that they don't really care about size. They're tiny fish and still pick at larger fish because they're fast and can get away usually. I think the best way to keep aggression down is just to keep their numbers up. Maybe someone else can chime in with some personal experience.

 

Tiger barbs aren't tiny fish, they can get to a good 3", I would get a few more & hope they'll keep their aggression amongst themselves.
I've seen tiger barbs rip all the fins off corys as they tend to be sitting targets so I wouldn't recommend getting any, or any slow moving fish like plecs.
Imo tigers are best kept in species only tanks, you could have a large mixed colour ( green, albino & regular) shoal of them to add interest.

 

Harlequin Rasboras might be nice. I believe they get to 2", are peaceful community fish and school. You could probably put in a nice group of 8-10 and they'll school around the middle to upper area. They do like a planted tank though, with rocks and driftwood. But they should get along with all the other fish.

Harlequins are so pretty with their coppery color and black triangles.

 

Welcome to FishLore!

I would not recommend adding any fish until you finish cycling the tank. It is surprising that after having fish in the tank for two weeks that you have 0ppm ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.