How many fish?

[awat13]

I just added fish to a new 29 gallon tank. Right now there is:

1- Blue Guaramis
1- Red Tailed Black Shark
1- Zebra Danio
6- Tiger Barbs

All of the fish are looking great and seem to be doing well. I wanted to add more Danios (he seems lonley, and further research has informed me he's a schooling fish) and more Barbs. I'm really new to having an aquarium that has more than 1 single fish in it so I didn't know how many I could put in without overcrowding them. They are all fairly small right now, so it seems like they have ALOT of space, but I know they'll all grow.

In summary how many Tiger Barbs and Danios can I add to my current setup?

 

[rich311k]

Five - six more danios, and a couple more barbs should do it. Watch the gourami as those barbs may nip at his feelers.

 

[Sparky74]

I'll tell you the biggest trap I think most fall into, including myself....You get a tank and a few nice fish that you like. Guy at store has no knowledge. So, off you go with a mix of fish that you come to find out should be in schools So you try to make fish happy and add enough to fill a school, but before you know it, you have too many fish and need a new tank (this sounds familiar)


If the Barbs get nippy, add another. I found adding 1 or 2 more can make huge difference in the whole schools behavior. The difference for me between 6 and 8 was surprising. They actively school more and generally got more peaceful(though mine have never bother any other fish in the tank).

 

[librarygirl]

Just checking, but you said it's a "new" tank. Has it been properly cycled? (Letting it "run" for a while and then adding fish isn't cycling, btw). You may be in for a lot of work. Read this guide to help your fish: I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

 

[awat13]

Yes, the tank has been cycled.

 

[jcolon]

I'd be a bit more worried about the RTS as is gets larger than the TigerBarbs. RTS's like rainbow sharks are best in a 55 gal or larger ... they tend to get large (6 inches) and very territorial. Having caves, plants (fake or real), DW and ornaments to set up territories for it to claim help.

If it's a juvenile .. 2 inches or less, it's fine for now ... when mine hit the 3
inch size, it started to get really aggressive during feeding .. still does.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

I agree with all the replies on here. Also tiger barbs should be kept in a school larger than the one you have, just to be safe in case they nip the gourami. Keeping them in larger schools really makes a difference with fin nippers.

 

[awat13]

Everyone I talk to seems to be concerned about the gourami, but if you were to call any of the fish any kind of aggressive it would be him.If anyone is doing the bothering it's him. I've had him the longest and i added him to this tank after he had been alone in a 10g. The fish store I went to told me gouramis needed to be kept together and convinced me to get 2 more. I took them back the very next day because my original gourami went from being completey docile to a wild man and constantly harassing the other 2. Now that theyre gone he's back to being completely chill and friendly. The 6 tiger barbs aren't showing any type of aggression, I just wanted to add more because I really like how they look in a group not because they are nipping on other fish and I want it to stop. Basically all the fish in the tank are keeping to themselves and not showing any type of hostilty. The shark is probably the least aggressive one and completely minds his own business. You wouldn't even think that any of the fish are labeled semi-aggressive because everyone just keeps to themselves.

So I'm basically trying to figure out the biggest school size of tiger barbs and zebra danios I can have in my tank because I would like to have the biggest school possible.