Cherry Barb Tank Mates? 29 Gallon Tank

Hey, I'm still pretty new to keeping fish and I have a 10 gal that's doing well (Molly's and guppies). I'm getting a 29 gallon tank, maybe larger if needed for ideal stocking.
I have well water, so it is pretty hard. I have conditioner, ph reducer, and the aquarium salts that help a lot, but I need hardier fish.
I really want cherry barbs! But I have no idea what can go with them. I've heard about Angel's, tetras, dwarf gourami's, and swordtails with them mostly. HOWEVER I am super dead set against tetras bc I was told neons were good beginner fish and they were too sensitive for my water - live and learn. Never really recovered from the many deaths. Many mixed opinions on stocking options for cherry barbs. Any suggestions are super appreciated or any advice!

 

I'm sorry about the neons , I've heard that neon tetras in general are just not very hardy so don't feel too bad about it. I'd try to maximize the amount of cherry barbs and skip other schooling fish but you could mix with tetras and rasboras as long as you have a sufficient school size for both of them. With the 29 gallon, you could do a school of bottom dwellers like small loaches (rosy, kuhli, dwarf chain...) or a school of one of the many varieties of Cory that matches the temperature of the tank. I think a dwarf gourami would be a great option for a centerpiece fish or you could try an angel. Just know that there is a dwarf gourami disease that's hard to treat so another gourami that you could do is a few honey gouramis. Apistogrammas and dwarf ram cichlids are also another option for a colorful centerpiece fish but they could be kind of difficult as well and aren't as hardy as the angels and gouramis.
If it were me, I'd do:
10 Cherry Barb
8 Kuhli Loach
3 Honey gourami

 

I have a 30 gallon tank, I have Rosy barb's so similar to the question you have in mind. My set-up is:
6 Rosy barb's (which I might be upping to 10 soon)
2 Golden Gouramis M/F
1 Angelfish
3 Bandit Cory's

People might say this is a bit "overstocked" but with the filtration I have and my very regular cleaning/ water change routine I have it works really well. Barb's are great fish to keep there always so active but I would probably avoid another school with them due to the tank size I would just have a large Barb school and some nice centre piece fish that get on well with them then a school of bottom dwellers

I also have 1 Albino Rainbow Shark that I forgot to add sorry

 

Thanks for the suggestions! I actually went to the Petco near me and fell in love with the honey gourami lol but looking into it, it seems sometimes they really arent compatible with cherry barbs? And for the life of me I cant find cherry barbs near me - the only time I did they only had 2! So maybe 20 harlequin rasboras and 1 honey gourami with a couple panda corys would work well?

 

Try and keep Corydoras in higher numbers, aim for 5 or 6 of the same species as a minimum.

For Cherry Barbs have you considered buying online from a reputable trader? Usually postage can be high but fish are usually cheaper.

You other stock plan seems ok, i'd go with less Harlequins though maybe 12, either a pair or trio of Honeys and 8 Pandas. If you where to get the Cherry Barbs I would switch them with the Harlequins and go for 8. Also why aren't they compatible?

 

Okay sounds good and I've just read things of the honey gourami being bothered or nipped by the cherry barbs. I really hate fin nipping if I can avoid it as much as I can, I'm dealing with it now with my guppies and their poor tails they're healing well tho now that I removed the bully and have the medicine. They are related to barbs i just thought they were the peaceful ones?

 

Barb's tend to only nip when there is like 1 or 2 of them in a tank. Keeping the school of barb's above 6 in my opinion usually stops most if not all of the nipping they spend to much time chasing eachother that they leave there other tank mates alone.

 

In my experience cherry barbs are super peaceful compared to other barbs. This is especially true if you have larger numbers and equal male to female ratio.

I have them in a tank currently with female guppies, angelfish, neon tetras, cories, and BN plecos.

I wouldn't give up completely on tetras in general! There are SO MANY types out there <3