Setting up new tank, confused by conflicting advice!

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pkremer

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 30, 2004
Messages
479
Location
Fargo, ND
Hello there!

I am just now setting up a new tank, have been doing a lot of research, checking out all of the pet stores in the area. I am getting a lot of conflicting advice, just looking for people who may have more experience than pet store employees who have never had a tank!

I know that it will take me months to get my aquarium fully stocked and going the way I have it envisioned in my head, but here is my general plan:

38 Gallon Geneva series tank. 36x12x20. I will have dark mixture of gravel, dark red, black, brown. I have a large cool decorative piece of driftwood (fake) that measures around 15x11x15. It has a lot of holes, open middle, lots of hiding places.

5 Tiger Barbs
4 Albino Tiger Barbs
1 Pleco
1 Red Tailed Shark
3-5 Swordtails
1-2 Underwater Crabs
maybe a few other fish, maybe not (will decide if I get this aqarium up and running well)

Penguin 330 Biowheel Filter
200 watt heater
Haven't decided whether or not to get power head, aerator, whatever it's called.

This may be a laughable list for all I know, but very few people agree. Some people have told me the Tiger Barbs will eat the other fish alive, but others have said in schools of 4 or 5, they calm down and aren't so agressive. Some have said only 1 Red Tailed Shark in a tank, others say 3 or 4! I chose the swordtails as a book I purchased says they are peaceful and get along with other fish, also they will give me a well-layered aqarium. I chose the crabs because I think they are great, but nobody at any pet store knows much of anything about them!

I have no intention of having guppies, angelfish, cichlids, or oscars. I love the way tetras look, but pretty much everyone agrees that tetras won't work well in a barb-dominated tank, and I really really like the barbs. I could almost be happy with just a mixture of barbs!

I hope I gave enough information. I would be happy to hear any advice about keeping the fish that I am contemplating, and any potential tankmates that may work well with my list. Also, is it really worth my time to buy a 10 gallon tank with a small filter to quarantine fish for a couple weeks before I put them in my main tank?


Thanks!
Paul
 
There is a few minor problems with your fish list, but otherwise it's fine. First the crabs. Crabs are nasty little buggers and will kill and eat anything it can catch in its claws. I advise you stay away from them. If you want invertabrates look at snails or shrimp. And the tiger barbs might try and nip the swordtails, but it could work. And your pleco will need some driftwood to eat (maybe just get another small piece). Have you checked out green tiger barbs? You should get some of them too.

The red-tailled shark might get aggressive and chase the barbs, but he probably wont cause any physical damage, most tiger barbs could use the excercise anyways! :lol:
 
Also, if the crabs are fiddler crabs, they might not become aggressive toward their fish (but do not take this as a guarantee), but they often will die within months of being put in tanks because they are better off in a brackish or at least salty species tank with land areas they can crawl out onto.
 
First off...
[center:64b4c2c6ea] :smilecolros: Welcome to AA, pkremer! :n00b: [/center:64b4c2c6ea]
Also, congratulations for thinking your aquarium through!!! When I first set up an aquarium for my fiance two Valentine's Days ago, I researched all I could, but had no idea this board was here--it would have saved me a lot of headaches!!
I have no intention of having guppies, angelfish, cichlids, or oscars. I love the way tetras look, but pretty much everyone agrees that tetras won't work well in a barb-dominated tank, and I really really like the barbs. I could almost be happy with just a mixture of barbs!
Guppies, Mollies and Swordtails are all livebearers and if you want to guarantee no baby fish, get only males. Females can store sperm and you will wind up surprised down the road! Angelfish and oscars are types of cichlids. There are hundreds of types of cichlids from docile (yes, peaceful, small community cichlids) to nasty cichlids that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. From the research I have done on fish, tetras and barbs do not mix. And you may be best off having a barb only tank.
Also, is it really worth my time to buy a 10 gallon tank with a small filter to quarantine fish for a couple weeks before I put them in my main tank?
Yes. I would go with a 5 gal and small filter and heater with only one decoration for the fish to hide behind, no gravel. This will be good for QTing new fish and being able to QT ill fish. Personally, I have a 2 QT tanks.
5 Tiger Barbs
4 Albino Tiger Barbs
1 Pleco
1 Red Tailed Shark
3-5 Swordtails
1-2 Underwater Crabs
There are smaller plecos that reach 4-5" in length--clown, Bristle Nose and Rubber Lip. I own three RL and a BN--love them all! (Plus a common in the Mbuna tank.) Put in a small piece of wood for the pleco--he will love you for it! Crabs will probably not be a good idea--there are shrimp and snails out there that will add variety to the tank. I would not even bother with the swordtails. Barbs are known nippers and the swords will be awfully tempting. It is not fact that barbs will be calmer in larger groups, sometimes they can be worse. If this were my tank, I would get a variety of barbs, skip the swords and get a RL pleco and some snails.
Sorry this was so long!
 
I want to thank everyone for their help!

I just had a few more questions. I think I will focus on the barbs for right now, it will take several months to get them all in there, so I have some time to decide if I want to add other fish later.

A couple more questions:

1) Some people have told me that Pleco's will only grow to the size of tank, based on environment and feeding. For instance, my dad had a Pleco he bought at a pet store for several years, and when he ended up dying he was only about 5-6" long. However, a local pet store owner showed me a GIANT pleco in a pond that was well over a foot long. Who is right? Will he grow to the size of my tank, or will he eventually outgrow it? If he will outgrow it, what are some good variants that will not?

Thanks Managerie for your suggestions, but in searching, I didn't really care for the way the Bristlenose looks, and I can't find the Rubber Nose. Would this be the Rubber Pleco found here? I DO like him very much, but it says a recommended tank size of 50, I have a 38. Does this matter?

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=1004

Also, what will a real piece of driftwood do for him? It will be very simple and inexpensive for me to put one in, but what does it do?


2) Also, I wasn't sure how to describe these crabs. They aren't fiddler crabs or anything like that. I actually couldn't find them anywhere to show an example. They are presented at the pet store as "underwater crabs," are $2.49, and are about the size of a quarter. They have them in tanks with barbs. They told me that they may try to catch slower moving fish, but that it would be very difficult for them to catch the barbs. I didn't ask about the shark or the pleco though. That's why I thought they might work? If not, I guess I will just have to be disappointed...:)
 
Welcome welcome!
First off, tiger barbs will NOT eat other fish alive although they are pesky fin-nippers. In groups the size of around 4-6 + (which you have already put together) they will stick with each other and generally only harass each other.
As for the crabs: they may or may not be fiddler crabs grown to size; check for one claw larger than the other for identification. Crabs, though, generally aren't the best idea unless you can completely safeguard your tank to make sure that they CANNOT climb out via the heater wire etc. (Happened to a friend of mine and completely freaked out his entire family - he found crabs crawling on the carpet . . . )
Stick with only one red-tailed shark. Although generally harmless as juvies, with age, they grow to completely detest their own species and when they're old they're territorial even to other species of fish. The decoration you described will give them clear hiding places and a good identification for a territorial range (a good thing so that it doesn't go haywire and get mad at all the fish all over your tank).
Keep looking for your rubber-lipped (rubber-nosed? mine was called rubber-lipped . . . ) pleco! ( 8O ) I have one and absolutely adore he/she/it. Lots of personality, better than normal plecos . . . (IMO). It's sometimes sold under the name "bulldog pleco." I got mine at Petsmart.
And as for the swordtails, I don't know. (Never kept 'em or researched them . . . ) I know that the males are the only ones with the sword, so an all-male stock would eliminate the fry possiblity. Avoid any males with really spectacular tales (like the guppies which can hardly swim) because they'll be easy targets for any fin-nipping the tiger barbs may be subject to.
Okay! That's it. You seem to be well on your way to a successful tank. Sorry this was huge :)roll:) and welcome again!
 
In groups the size of around 4-6 + (which you have already put together) they will stick with each other and generally only harass each other.

Not always. Infact, I wouldn't count on it. My group of 8 tigers are still horrible nippers. And your dad's pleco might have stopped growing on the outside, but his organs and stuff keep growing. This probably caused the early death of his pleco.
 
There are 7-8 inch pleco species out there....he may have had one of those. But since it is not still alive I think crowded conditions killed him when he reached the slower growth stage. :(

Conflicting statements occur when some lucky stiff advises you according to his experience where an exception to the rule remained the exception. Or facts from "no problem" people whose juveniles haven't got the mighty rage of hormones yet. (they are often the same ones that have sudden mystery die offs and "unexpected " aggression "out of nowhere"). :roll: :wink:
 
Plecos are funny, as they go by so many names and so few people REALLY know about them. Those that know a ton about them go by the L numbers for identification. Rubber Lips, Rubber Face, Rubber Nose.... are all the same thing, but I did not think they were bulldog or pitbull plecos, as they are even smaller. When I bought my RL pleco from my fav and very informed LFS guy, they were sold under a name of something albinus (spelling??), but they are definitely not albinos. Anyway, keep up with your researching and you will be happier in the long run and your fish will be healthier!!
 
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