Thinking about putting Tiger Barbs and rainbow shark together

[Shortyusa]

Hello i have a couple of questions about how many fish i should put in my tank and if it would be wise to do so.

I just picked up a new 55 gallon tank and i really want to stock it with some tiger barbs and maybe a rainbow shark.

My main question is if i just put them in how many can i put in a 55 gallon tank together.


Also if i choose not to put the max amount of these guys in the tank would it be possible and or wise to get an electric blue crayfish or should me just be in his own tank?

Thank you

 

[jcolon]

TigerBarbs and an RBS is fine .... Put them in together would be my suggestion.
In a 55gal with good filtration you can easily have 15-20 TigerBarbs... maybe more... But 20 would be a good number. Are you doing the GreenTiger and Albino TigerBarbs as well? If so they'd make a great color combination.

 

[Shortyusa]

TigerBarbs and an RBS is fine .... Put them in together would be my suggestion.
In a 55gal with good filtration you can easily have 15-20 TigerBarbs... maybe more... But 20 would be a good number. Are you doing the GreenTiger and Albino TigerBarbs as well? If so they'd make a great color combination.

Never reall thought about the green little guys...my girlfriend was asking if there was any other colorful fish we could put in there...so they might got the bill

So if I were to have 20 barbs and a rainbow shark would my tank be at cap?...I'm gonna have a 2217 filter running on it so I think my filtration should be amazing

 

[alLexX]

20 barbs and a rainbow shark would be great stocking,bioload wise you may be ble to fit more,but i suggest getting the 20 and shark and seing how they look a t full size. and a crayfish will detsroy your fish

 

[jcolon]

So if I were to have 20 barbs and a rainbow shark would my tank be at cap?...I'm gonna have a 2217 filter running on it so I think my filtration should be amazing

The GreenTiger Barbs are my favorite .. the green can get really dark and rich. If your willing to go a little different Barb ... same Genus different species ... then consider the Black Ruby Barb. It's easy to confuse them with TigerBarbs as they both have the similar striped pattern and grow to the same size. However the males, during breeding change colors. The body turns a jet black color, and the head a red/ruby color ... absolutely gorgeous!
The females are more of a light honey like yellowish brown with black stripes.

I'd say 20 is a good number to reach and then if your filtration can still handle, you could go a couple more.

Tiger and BRB's will get along and shoal together .. both species are very energetic!

 

[Shortyusa]

The GreenTiger Barbs are my favorite .. the green can get really dark and rich. If your willing to go a little different Barb ... same Genus different species ... then consider the Black Ruby Barb. It's easy to confuse them with TigerBarbs as they both have the similar striped pattern and grow to the same size. However the males, during breeding change colors. The body turns a jet black color, and the head a red/ruby color ... absolutely gorgeous!
The females are more of a light honey like yellowish brown with black stripes.

I'd say 20 is a good number to reach and then if your filtration can still handle, you could go a couple more.

Tiger and BRB's will get along and shoal together .. both species are very energetic!

wow the Ruby barbs look amazing...i had never heard of them before...gonna have to find a place around me that has them...

could i throw a couple of neon tetras in with these guys to give the tank a little more variety or would the shark takes its aggression out on them?
I figured with all the aggressive fish in the tank they might just mess with each other and leave the tetras alone

If its possible how many would u recommend or would i have to lessen the about of barbs to put the tetras in

Thanks

 

[alLexX]

wow the Ruby barbs look amazing...i had never heard of them before...gonna have to find a place around me that has them...

could i throw a couple of neon tetras in with these guys to give the tank a little more variety or would the shark takes its aggression out on them?
I figured with all the aggressive fish in the tank they might just mess with each other and leave the tetras alone

If its possible how many would u recommend or would i have to lessen the about of barbs to put the tetras in

Thanks

i wouldnt reccomend neons in there,they just couldnt compete with the barbs for food

 

[jcolon]

wow the Ruby barbs look amazing...i had never heard of them before...gonna have to find a place around me that has them...

could i throw a couple of neon tetras in with these guys to give the tank a little more variety or would the shark takes its aggression out on them?
I figured with all the aggressive fish in the tank they might just mess with each other and leave the tetras alone

If its possible how many would u recommend or would i have to lessen the about of barbs to put the tetras in

Thanks

Good Question.

Tell you what ... hold off on the neon tetras for a moment and also look up
Odessa (Males) and Denison Barbs. Both will give your stock some color and will get along fine with the Tigers and BRB. Odessa Barbs are fairly common. Denison Barbs can be expensive ... up to $30 per fish. However if you have a Petland Discounts and Petsmart, you can find them much cheaper.

I've heard conflicting stories about Neons and TigerBarbs ... However if you'd like another Non-Barb schooling fish ... Zebra Danios I've heard / read would work with TigerBarbs, and will give your stock some blue color. Another possible alternative to bring some blue color may be Cardinal Tetras. Not sure if they're compatible with TigerBarbs ... but the big secret to T-Barbs is keeping them in a big enough shoal of 6+ so they take out their aggressive fin-nipping nature to themselves.

You can see the Barbs I have in my signature for other ideas.

 

[jcolon]

Oh an FYI on Rainbow Sharks ... when they're juveniles they're ok .. but as they mature the territorial nature will show and then will become aggressive. I have a Red-Tail Shark(similar to the Rainbow) and during feeding it can chase tankmates around. In a 55gal it's safe to have one RBS and make sure you provide territories by using decor, plants .. either real of fake .. DW and caves.

 

[alLexX]

Oh an FYI on Rainbow Sharks ... when they're juveniles they're ok .. but as they mature the territorial nature will show and then will become aggressive. I have a Red-Tail Shark(similar to the Rainbow) and during feeding it can chase tankmates around. In a 55gal it's safe to have one RBS and make sure you provide territories by using decor, plants .. either real of fake .. DW and caves.

as long as theres no other bottom dwellers,you only need 1 cave for it,of course if theres more bottom dwellers there should be a couple extra caves

 

[jcolon]

as long as theres no other bottom dwellers,you only need 1 cave for it,of course if theres more bottom dwellers there should be a couple extra caves

LOL ... with my RTS, forget caves ... mine's practically claimed the tank as his territory. And also forget bottom dweller ... mine openly swims in the water column as much as it hangs out on the bottom .. it even goes up to the surface a few times in the day ... go figure.

Thankfully, mine only gets mean during feeding... and then only with the TigerBarbs it started the tank with. It doesn't bother any other Barb.

 

[Shortyusa]

ok so i think i have decided what im going with. After finding out about the ruby barbs i think im gonna go with

1 rainbow shark
15 tiger barbs
5 ruby barbs
and 10 Cardinal Tetras

the tetras might wait as i don't want it to look to crowded

Do you think the tank is an adequate size for a load like this or is it not good?

 

[jcolon]

The RBS and Barbs is a good start, I'd say add the Barbs in groups. Keep in mind, any you buy may be juveniles so at first they may not "fill" up the tank ... but the'll grow up to 2-3inches, the RBS up to 6.

Start with the RBS and 6 Barbs ... then add more in groups of 2-3. See how it works out and then maybe the tetras. You may decide 20 Barbs and the RBS is enough.

If in the meantime ... you feel like Cardinals and Tigers may not work .... Serpea Tetras I've read shoal well with Barbs .. they have no blue in them but is an option to keep in mind.