Danios vs. Tiger Barbs

[mapexmac007]

Hello friends,
Tank History:
After disaster took my veil-tail Goldies away, I learned my lesson, and after rebuilding/regrowing the entire aquarium, I opted for smaller fish species which have stomachs. I learned that Zebra Danios are hearty fish, and I've always loved the appearance of Tiger Barbs. So, I bought 6 Danios, and everything was great. Some 60 days later, I added 6 Tiger Barbs. Everyone got along (species-wise), although I had two Barbs getting into nose-nipping battles. (fascinating how their black stripes turned greenish when in battle!!) - - - left pic - - -

Currently:
Several months down the line, I lost two Danios (mysteriously - NEVER found their bodies!!) - first one, months later, the second. And one by one, I'm down to two Barbs. No sign of ich, no sign of illness or odd behaviors from any of these fish.

I feed them ZooMed Spirulina Flakes (pre-soaked so they're not eating off of the surface) and every third day they get "V-Pure" Mysis Flakes, a mostly protein flake (I pre-soak these flakes too). They used to get the occasional frozen blood worms (once/week) but my LFS forgot what customer service is about, I don't patronize them anymore. - - - right pic, my fish LOVE living in that plant growth! - - -

Dilemma:
I want more fish. Do I rebuild the Barb population - adding perhaps 6 more Barbs? Or do I add 6 more Zebra Danios, knowing the Barbs will eventually fade-away in such low numbers?

Thanks for reading through the lengthy details; I appreciate and respect everyone's knowledge and certainly, I value any/all input.
- Mike P

 

[Barliman]

Just out of curiosity, have you looked behind your tank to see if there were any jumpers?

If it's a 29g, I don't see why you couldn't add 3 more barbs (school of five) and 3 more danios. That would be a very active tank.

Have you checked your water conditions since the disappearances?

 

[mapexmac007]

No jumping allowed

Hi Barliman,

Thanks for your reply. I'm pretty sure we didn't have jumpers, no room in the small cracks where I cut out the tank topper to allow for my Fluval plumbing. Small gaps; they'd have to more accurate than Luke Skywalker launching two rounds into the exhaust port!

Chems were tested two days prior to losing the last Barb. They were very well within healthy parameters (see my signature for average chems). In fact, that morning at feeding, all three Barbs seemed normal and active. Really struck my as sudden and without warning. It did have a distended stomach/abdomen. Gives me suspicion of impacted digestive track perhaps??

I love the suggestion of getting them up to six and six again, as they were several months ago. Thanks again!

 

[Upstate TBarbs]

I'm kind of biased, but get more tiger barbs. They are are usually happier in 6 or more. Green, albino, blushing, get a mix of them.

 

[mapexmac007]

Thanks for your thoughts, Upstate. How many TBarbs could I add, if I leave the Danio count at four? We're talking 1.5 - 2-inch long fish; using the 1-inch per gallon rule of thumb, I could have 15 fish in this water. I say that, knowing that the math/chems MIGHT be OK, but socially, that might not be a good population mark.

Eight Tiger Barbs, four Zebra Danios... 12 small fish in 30 gallons of water - done.

Thoughts??

 

[Upstate TBarbs]

According to the AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor you can safely add 6 more tiger barbs. They also recommend that you have at least 5 zebra danio, so you can safely add another one. So with 13 fish, you would be at 72% stocking capacity.