HELP!! Selecting Fish

[ArmyFins]

I REALLY want this to work out. I'm starting my first real aquarium with a 40 gallon tank. I briefly had a 10 gallon tank for a couple weeks, but besides that I have no real experience. I've been doing some research about compatibility and want to make sure I get the right fish. I also want to make sure I don't overcrowd the tank. I would definitely like a nice school of fish as well as a couple larger fish as eye catchers. Generally, I've tried to get the typical peaceful fish. Please tell me if these are too many or a bad combination.

2 Pearl Gourami
2 Powder Blue Dawrf Gourami
6 Green Tiger Barb
6 Harlequin Rasboras
1 Bumblebee Catfish
1 Plecos

All advice is appreciated.!

 

[Fresh2o]

You could try a calculator such as the one found on AqAdvisor with your stocking question. It will prompt you for the tank size, filter, and inhabitants. It will provide stocking volume %, filtration %, how much water you should change each week, comments on incompatibility, conflict, and species specific info. It's a handy tool.
I don't have experience with all of the fish you've mentioned but I do know that plecos are most often sold as common plecos which can get huge. There are other, smaller pleco varieties which would be more suitable for your tank.


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[Fishperson]

Please take this with a grain of salt.

In my humble opinion you should do enough research about the fish you want to answer this question on your own. After you've done serious research and see no real flaws in your stocking plan you could post something like this and ask members who've kept these fish to give you some final advice. That way you'll be able to really understand the level of risks that each tank has (for example, the risk that my fish will fight, the risk that this fish will eat those, etc.).

But of course, we're (I'm) glad to help anyway.

Aq advisor is a great place to start but IMO that shouldn't be the limit of your research.

Before I buy a fish I try and search the Internet to see forum posts about what other people said about theirs. How did their experience go? Was the fish too aggressive?

I've only ever kept tiger barbs from this list (although it was quite some time ago) and I can say both from experience and research that they're pretty aggressive. I think with the longish fins and slow behavior of the gouramis, tiger barbs are a bad idea.

I agree with fresh about the plecos. Common plecos get HUGE. Look for bristle nose or rubber lip plecos, those are just a few examples.

I've heard that some gouramis are aggressive. I think two dwarf gouramis in a small tank would be a bad idea but in this size tank it might work. I couldn't tell you for sure though, so that's something that you should do research about.

Hope this helps!

 

[plantnoob]

All of what the above poster said.

Plus - do either the dwarf or the pearls. My preference is he pearls. Beautiful fishes and less possibility of disease.

Rasboras are fine.

Keeping the tiger barbs in this tank will result in the death of all the fish except the plecos and the barbs. If you plan to keep them, do so in groups of 12 or more only with other semi aggressive FAST moving fishes, preferably other barbs. Contrary to what you may hear, 6 is not enough and having 12 or more does not guarantee a trouble free tank. Trust me, I have extensive experience with these guys.

Some more research on compatibility and you're on your way to a beautiful tank!

Cheers


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[Arthur75]

As others have said. sumatra barben (tetrazona) not fit to this community.
This are beautiful fish, but only as a swarm of 12 pieces and nothing else.