Rasboras or Cherry Barbs in a 5 gallon?

[An t-iasg]

I want to try something different in my 5.5 gallon tank. (I still have two 5 gallon betta tanks!)

I did a search here and found that some members keep cherry barbs or rasboras in a 5 gallon tank. The recommended tank size on Live Aquaria is 10 for the rasboras and 30 for the cherry barbs. I'd like to know if these fish would do well in a 5 gallon tank, since I have no experience with them and their behaviors.

Is this advisable, and if it is, which species would work out well?

 

[crazyred]

I would say a small school of cherry barbs (2 females/3 males) would be perfect in a 5. They are not "schooling" fish like other barbs, so three would be great, and they are very peaceful and stay small. Rasboras allegedly prefer schools of 6 or more which might cramp quarters in a 5, but they are smaller than the cherries. I have both in my 29 and they are both very pretty and fun to watch. I would go with with the cherries IMO.

 

[newfound77951]

I would agree. I had a couple of cherries in a 5 gal once and they were very happy. I still have one, she is huge now (for a cherry barb, anyway), and has progressed from the 5 to a 30 and now a 55. They are very mellow fish that seem to be happy with whatever they have for surroundings.

 

[An t-iasg]

Thanks, crazyred and newfound77951! I have to say I was sort of leaning that way too - picking the cherry barbs! I may save the rasboras for my new 10 gallon tank.

Some more Qs:

How many cherry barbs? Crazyred, do you mean five in all - or pick between the males and females? Since the tank is small, should it just be females, if they can be picked out?

Newfound, what was your filtration in your 5 gallon? I have a sponge filter in there now (the tank is up and running and planted, but no fish). The sponge filter is from when I had a betta in there. I was looking at some of the smaller internal filters. Would the cherry barbs need more filtration than a sponge provides? I would like more particle filtration than what the sponge can remove.

 

[newfound77951]

I had an Aquaclear HOB on my 5 gal, it was actually from a 15 gal so it was too big and I just turned the flow rate down as far as it would go. The smallest Aquaclear should be plenty of filtration for a tank that size. I haven't ever dealt with sponge filters so I can't really tell you how good they would be. Cherries are pretty forgiving but you'll have much more biomass than you did with just your betta.

 

[crazyred]

oops, I meant 2 females and 1 male. You want a boy cherry to have a couple of girls to chase. They are so beautiful when they do their mating dance....deepest red you've ever seen. I think a tank with a boy in it is prettier...they are so red when girl chasing.

It's easy to sex them. The females are brownish gold, and the males vary from pale pink to bright red.

 

[An t-iasg]

Thanks again, crazyred and newfound77951!

I do have an AquaClear mini (the smallest one - I forget the model number) that I am not planning on using for my new 10 gallon. So I'll use it on the 5 gal. and I won't have to worry about too much current for a betta with this filter and also I won't have to buy a new filter!

Thanks for the clarification, crazyred...I was kind of thinking that 5 fish would be on the verge of overstocking...three sounds better. I don't think I want to overstock a very small tank.

 

[crazyred]

Yeah, sometimes I get carried away when I'm typing. LOL I think 3 cherries in your 5 would work perfect and be very entertaining. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

For a 5G, I'd do 5 cherry barbs and 3 cory cats on the bottom for cleanup.

 

[An t-iasg]

I have been doing searches on cherry barbs and almost all of the sites I found say that the cherry barb is a prolific breeder. They almost sound like guppies! How would I deal with that in a small tank? (meaning, I'd rather not, lol!)

I could get all females but I'd miss out on the pretty coloration of the male.

 

[rich311k]

They are egg layers and you have to save the eggs from being eaten by the parents. You should have little or no trouble with it. The babies are tiny and need small food as well, so if any hatched they would probably starve anyway.

 

[An t-iasg]

I did read that the parents and other tankmates will eat the eggs. There really wouldn't be other species of tankmates in the tank. I don't want to raise fry, so I may not try to save the eggs, but if I saw any free-swimming fry I would certainly try to feed them.

If I had a 55 gallon or so I would not mind some fry, but I don't want to go beyond four small tanks right now.

 

[crazyred]

I have had my cherries since like September of '05 and they have yet to breed. They go through the motions, but ...nothing. I think you have to condition them and have the correct water params. They prefer slightly acidic, soft water to successfully hatch fry (from what I understand). I'm not sure what your water params are, but my water is about 7.2 in pH and as hard as liquid nails, so I think that's why I have no cherry babies. If you have similar water, I would cross this off your list of concerns. If your water is soft & acidic you might could buffer it up a bit with a little crushed coral to prevent egg hatching.

FWIW, I've never even seen eggs in my tank.....just a lot of "hanky panky".

 

[An t-iasg]

Thanks, crazyred. I ran across that in my reading too - my water is very hard, about 8.0 from the tap, 7.8 when "rested", and 7.6 in the tank. I wondered if the harder water would dissuade them from breeding. Hopefully it won't make them sick, and of course I'll acclimate them slowly. My other tanks have CO2 but I wasn't going to use CO2 in this tank. There are ambulia plants in this tank. They are tall and make a little bit of a canopy on top of the water, so the rasboras would like that.

It's not like I'm heartless and don't want fry I just would rather not deal with it in a small tank. It would break my heart to see fry that didn't make it or got eaten because the 5 gallon is too small for them all to hide and grow up. I don't think I can take juveniles back to the lfs either. The lfs in my neighborhood is mostly a SW store with some FW cichlids, discus, and angels. They don't have many other FW fish but said they would order the rasboras for me. That also means that the fish won't be in a tank when I come to get them...I'll get them just as they are packaged from the shipment.

 

[crazyred]

Nah, it won't affect their health at all. There are very few cherry barbs left in the wild, and the ones you buy are all tank bred and raised so water params are not super important on this front.....just when it comes to breeding. I understand the same thing is happening with tank bred Rams and Discus; they're fine in harder more basic water except when it comes to breeding.

Now, are you getting the cherry barbs or the rasboras? We've been talking about cherry barbs, but in your last post you said rasboras. It doesn't matter on the water issue and breeding, I was just curious.

I understand totally about not wanting fry...my platies are about to run me out of house and home with all the babies they keep having.

 

[An t-iasg]

Oh no! I must have been stressing myself, lol! I am getting cherry barbs for this 5 gallon tank.

I am also starting a 10 gallon tank soon, and I am deciding between one species of tetra OR rasboras for that tank. So that's where the rasbora slip happened!

Yes, it will be cherry barbs for the 5 gallon tank! I was thinking that the reason the recommended tank size is 30 gallons due to the breeding activity. But my water is hard enough that like your water, crazyred, they probably won't breed. I think it will be a nice little tank!

 

[crazyred]

Indeed it will be great! I have no idea why the tank size would be listed at 30. They're tiny and don't seem to need that much swim room.