Newer Tank Needing Help

[RetroTigress]

Firstly, I'd like to say hello, and thank you in advance for any assistance I may receive here. I look forward to learning more about the fish tank experience and enjoying my own at home

I have a 55 gallon, warm fresh water aquarium stocked with drift wood, live plants and real rocks. There are a couple plastic decorations in the tank as well to add to the decore. The tank still also has a lot of open swiming space for the fish, which makes me feel at times that I need to add more hiding spots for my more timid fish.

I orgionally wanted brightly colored fish that were easy to care for, but between different suggestions from pet/fish store employees, ended up with an odd mix of fish that I'm not sure are very compatable with each other. I did inform each person of my tank's current inhabitents, and was suggested with a fish type that would go well, though watching them and reading up on some info have some doubts.

So I come here for help

Currently my tank has the following fish:

2 Guppies + 1 Mosquito Fish (native little pond fish in FL) - My 'starter' fish for cycling which were orgionally feeder fish from the petstore. All are usally well tempered. Ocassionally I've seen them try to nip my beta or angel but overall passive fish. Swim at all depts of the tank.

1 Plecko – Quite Bottom Dweller - overall good temper, all the fish ingore him so he's peaceful

1 Male Betta – Very well tempered - Dosn't show any aggression toward any fish. Tends to hide in the decorations or plant life. He does get bullied however by my Danios and sometimes Tigers.

6 Danios: On and off aggression (?) Fast swimmers occuping the top to middle of my tank. Mostly darting around and chasing something. Two larger Danios tend to bully their own school or turn on my other fish. Big fin nippers (and side nippers!). Then for no reason they turn passive and just swim around making me have second thoughts about returning them to the store :/ All six tend to do this, but the two largest are more frequent.

3 Tiger Barbs – On and off temperment - Mostly quite, but can show domanince. Have scared off my angel and beta, but usually swim toward the fish before trying to nip (Example: Angel was watching us at the glass and a tiger swam up toward it, pretty close. The angel swam off and the tiger left him alone). However when all three group they tend to be a little more nippy

1 Angel – Very well tempered, and very curious about us. Hangs near the surface or in plantlife. Never shows aggression to tankmates.

4 Black Neon Tetras – Tend to swim in the middle of the tank - peaceful little group. Only seen the largest nip at his tankmates a couple times and that's if he was being chased by the Danios.


I might return the two Danios (or all of them) to the store. I'd like to keep the Tiger Barbs becasue I like their personality, but don't want to endager possible new addations to the tank if I kept them. I want to add some brightly colored Platies and/mor Mollies, and would love suggestions of other fish that may work well and what to do with my current situation.

Thanks again for any help <o)))>{

 

[librarygirl]

Hi and welcome.

Tiger Barbs are aggressive by nature, usually with each other but can go after tank mates as well. A larger group is recommended to spread out aggression but with your other fish it may be an issue. I don't have experience with them so I can't say for sure. You could try increasing their numbers and see if that helps. If not you may have to decide whether you want to return some other fish or return the Tigers.

The betta should probably be in its own tank. There's a lot of things going on in that tank that could stress it out and down the road it may turn aggressive particularly toward other longer finned fish like the guppies and angelfish.

What kind of Danios, do you know? If they are that bothersome it might just be best to return them. (they require a school of at least 6 too so removing 2 wouldn't be the best option as it would reduce their numbers).

When you say Mosquitofish, do you mean Mosquito Rasbora? If so they 1) require a larger school and 2) may become food for the angel or/and tigers.

What kind of Pleco? if it's a smaller type like a Bristlenose it's fine but if it's a common it would require a much larger tank as it matures.

The black neons would like a larger group of at least 6.