Tiger Barbs And A Lone Molly

Hello all,

I’m writing here as a beginner fish keeper. I have had a ten gallon tank for about two months now. Temp 78 degrees, ammonia .25ppm, nitrite 0 and nitrate Around 20ppm. As a beginner I did not receive much help in starting my aquarium from my LFS. I had to learn about the nitrogen cycle the hard way, losing a few fish in the process (I am not proud of this and want to learn as much as I can to prevent any and all fish deaths in the future).

The reason I am writing here today is because I unknowingly bought 2 tiger barbs (they were in a community tank with tetras just labeled GloFish, and I was immediately attracted to their colors and stripes) when I first put fish in my tank. Not knowing they were tiger barbs or what they needed I bought more fish to stock up my tank, including another barb. Now all that’s left is the three barbs and a black Molly (the Molly was there since the start as well). I absolutely understand now that ten gallons is much too small for the barbs and I need more of them since they are schooling fish. They have become aggressive and the community seems very unhealthy. Because of this I plan on bringing all of the barbs back to the store tomorrow in hopes they can find a bigger, more suitable home. My question is, can the black Molly thrive alone? Is ten gallons too small for mollies? I would also like to get some more fish to make a small community, maybe 1 or 2 guppies, tetras or mollies, and would love any advice on what fish can thrive in 10 gallons? I’ve also grown to really love my black Molly and would prefer not to give him back. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

 

Welcome to FishLore!

The preferred minimum tank size for mollies would be 20 gallon (long). This is do to their bioload (mollies are huge waste producers) and their activity level. So you may want to consider rehoming the molly also.

Here's a link that you may find helpful in choosing what you want to put in the tank:
Stocking List for 10 Gallons

Best of luck!

 

if you're doing barbs id go around 6 and leave it at that, they are schooling fish and they will also include other fish in their pecking order if there isn't enough of their own kind. so the barbs will probably end up getting aggressive to the other fish. If you get rid of the barbs and the molly, you can do just straight guppies, around 4 or 5 of them, they have huge variation in color so I'm sure you will find something neat, try to keep mostly if not completely female guppies, all males will cause fighting problems. If you do add males, keep it around 1 male to 3 females.

 

if you're doing barbs id go around 6 and leave it at that, they are schooling fish and they will also include other fish in their pecking order if there isn't enough of their own kind. so the barbs will probably end up getting aggressive to the other fish. If you get rid of the barbs and the molly, you can do just straight guppies, around 4 or 5 of them, they have huge variation in color so I'm sure you will find something neat, try to keep mostly if not completely female guppies, all males will cause fighting problems. If you do add males, keep it around 1 male to 3 females.

Do you think I could do 6 barbs in a ten gallon? It’s strange, most of the time the three barbs and molly seem to get along. It almost seems as if the molly is part of their school and they are always together in the tank. Then at least once a day, usually after feeding, they start nipping at each other. Most recently I’ve noticed it’s mostly the molly showing aggression. I would love to keep all these fish, but without adequate room for a larger tank feel it would be cruel. Thank you for your response!

 

I don't think a small number of barbs will work out with many fish, and it would probably ultimately turn out to aggression. I'm not sure how many you can fit in a 10 gallon though, at my best guess you can probably get away with 3 on their own. Id probably go for other smaller varieties of fish instead.

 

Mollies get up to 6 inches and have a large bioload like most livebearers. I wouldn’t recommend them for a 10 gallon tank. Also tiger barbs need at least 20 gallons imo

 

Agree a 10 is way to small for tiger barbs and mollies. Tiger barbs are tough to keep in a community tank. They work best in a species only tank. There forever nipping fins.