Hmmm...
I was thinking the Tiger Barbs might bother the Keyholes... I was eyeing up some alternatives again today. The Odessas or Rubys as previously discussed are still high on the list. Today I was wondering about my local fish store and I saw some Neon Ruby Barbs. Beautiful BRIGHT orange! and then I had a thought, what about 5 banded barbs? They're smaller and less aggressive (than Tigers) aren't they? But still a nice size / colour and nice and active.
Then I saw some beautiful dwarf neon rainbow fish that only grow to 6cm and thought why am I stuck on barbs? Would a decent size group of dwarf rainbow fish be happy in there?
I love the idea of a group of Keyholes...!
So, from my original list I'm looking at;
- Changing the Tiger Barbs for something less aggressive and / or keeping more of them
- Changing the RTBS for a Rainbow Shark. (This decision has now been made final by the fact my wife prefers the Rainbow to the RTBS now we've drawn her attention to them!)
- Adding more Keyholes and / or not keeping the Ellioti
- Adding more Ellioti and not keeping the Keyholes...!
- Choosing Polka Dot or Yoyo Loaches, and maybe going for 8 of those... I'm told they'll love that and the shark will ignore them as a larger group.
- Losing the Torpedo Barbs, or at least ensuring they are captive bred and having a plan for when they outgrow the tank.
- Keeping 3 male and 6 female Platys or Swards (If any)
- Bristle Nose probably to take the Pleco role
And I recon that's me for now. A work very much still in progress, but coming together. I'm enjoying planning this so much more than I did planning my wedding...!