55 Gallon Tank Fin Nipping Cherry Barbs?

I posted on here a while back looking for inputs on adding another school of fish that will add some more color to my tank. I had some very good suggestions. I still have not made up my mind on what I want to add. Recently I have been thinking about adding 6 to 8 cherry barbs. My only concern is that they may start nipping at the fins of my Longfin Danios.

My 55 gallon tank consist of about 5 Zebra Danios, 8 Longfin Danios, 9 neon tetra, 1 Tiger Pleco, and 1 Bristlenose Pleco, give or take a few of the neons and danios since they are hard to count. Does anyone have any experience with Cherry Barbs and them causing a problem with fin nipping? I know that larger schools usually tone down the nipping, but sometimes it doesn’t. What’s your experiences with them?

 

That is a good question. I was always under the impression that cherry barbs don't nip. A few months ago I bought a large school of them to be in a planted tank with angelfish. They were fine for a while but they did indeed end up nipping the angels fins. It was very disapointing... Danios are a lot faster than angels so it just may not be a problem for you. I'd wait and see what others say.

 

I currently have 11 cherry barbs, 6 white cloud minnows, and 2 weather loaches in a 50 gallon. I have never seen my cherry barbs go for a minow there is a few tail chases amongst other cherry barbs, and the minnows have their squabbles amongst themselves, but from one school to another school, I have no issues. Not to say that a pretty, or a fancy fin might trip a trigger somewhere.

 

I have seen some people complain about the cherry barbs getting aggressive, but in almost every case there was something that was contributing to it - too small of a tank, too small of a school, bad sex ratios, etc. I've never seen mine nip.

they are a good choice, the vast majority of the time

 

I am not even sure what my sex ratio is on my cherry barbs.. one fish I thought was a female was in my eyes portraying the male in a courtship (triple X rated) scene... I have one barb that is not red, nor is it tan/brown. It is so darkly colored, it is almost black... I have so much fun watching my barbs... I don't watch TV anymore.

 

I've had Cherry Barbs nip the fins of an Angelfish. I wouldn't mix them just in case, but as it does not seem to be a guaranteed trait you might think it's worth a try.

 

I have 5 cherry barbs with 10 danios zebra and leopards. no problems.

 

I'm thinking that since the danios are so fast already then they may be ok. The neon tetras are not as fast though so they may be of concern too.

 

They're not a concern IME, and the danios will be fine. You;ve got the wrong idea about cherry barbs...

In a 55 gallon tank you won't have any problems.

 

Right now my cherry barbs are not with many other fish. If in not to small of a group it may level out aggression. I wouldn't worry about your danios, they are fast and quick. Give it a try.

 

Please pay attention to thread dates. This thread is old and the concern with Cherry Barbs has most likely already been dealt with.

Welcome to the Forum FishLoverByHeart.

Thread closed by Ken