Tiger Barbs and Cichlids in 55g new tank

[Waremblem]

Hey all, I looking to start a new 55g tank. It's been about 10 years since I've kept an aquarium so I'm looking for some stocking advice. My past experience was with an aggressive community cichlid tank, but my dovii ended up killing everything and I don't want to end up with that scenario again. Although he was one of the most unique pets I've ever had, I don't want a single fish in an aquarium again.

I'd really like to see a school of active fish in action and I'm drawn to Tiger Barbs so I definately want to include those. Here is what I'm kicking around.

8-14 Tiger Barbs
1 Jack Dempsey
2-4 Firemouths
1-3 Red Devils
1-3 Convicts
1-3 Green Terrors or Blue Acara
1 Rainbow Shark

I'm looking to make the tank full enough with fish so they don't have the opportunity to get overtly territorial. Obviously I don't want to overcrowd which is why I have flex numbers in mind and would be looking for some advice on what is ideal. It seems to me these cichlids should be be able to stand up to each others aggression, though I'm not sure if that is correct. I've had red devils and green terrors before, but singlely and they succombed to the dovii so I don't know how they would react in what I hope to be a balanced community.

Is this a good basis to start, or should I culll a few of the aggressive species with something else (keeping in mind I want the Tiger Barbs and some cichlids, I like their personality). Also, who should I add first?

 

[Gui101do]

I don't personally have tiger barbs with my cichlids, but I was told by my LFS that larger cichlids, once full grown, could devour the smaller barbs.

Terrors and devils are definitely at the far end of the aggressive side.

One final thought, as I also have a 55 gallon; I too wanted my tank to be full, but once these fish reach adulthood, your tank will be overstocked. Currently, I have 4 cichlids, a gourami and a featherfin catfish in my 55. They're all juveniles and I could fit more right now (similar to your suggestion of a dozen or more fish), but re-homing some in the future would be a must. I'm planning for another tank in the next year or two, which may perhaps be an option for you as well, if you go for a larger group.

 

[logansmomma1228]

Is that overstocked? 55 seems like it wouldn't be enough room. for all those ..

I think the convicts will breed like crazy for one.
I am not a cichlid expert but I do believe Green Terrors are very mean, hence the name.
Not sure if the shark will stay small enough.

Like I said I am not an expert on that stuff but just my opinion

 

[DragonFish71]

IMHO you're going to be way over stocked for that 55 not to mention you will have too much fish in general. If you're thinking that 1 inch per gallon thing while you were thinking of your stocking list, you were given very, very bad info.

The JDs alone can get up to 12 inches, the Green Terrors (which are appropriately named terrors) another 8-10 inches of fish, the Convicts 4-6, the Red Devils 6-12 inches, Firemouths 4-6 as well.

Honestly, you are looking at causing a lot of problems with your current list. Not only are you mixing highly aggressive to mid-aggressive, but also the grown size of the fish vs the size of your tank. Not only will their life span be shortened because their growth will be stunted, they will beat the tar out of each other.

I have Firemouths, JDs, Jewels and have kept/bred convicts. I can tell you the best combination I've kept has been the JDs/Jewels. The convicts killed everyone in my first cichlid tank, so I gave up for a few years and researched. Now we have 2 JDs 2 Jewels and had 2 Firemouths all together in a 120g. The Firemouths had to be moved out for being too aggressive towards the others, they are happily spawning in their own tank now. In this 120 with the JDs, and Jewels, we also have 2 dozen tiger barbs, 2 dozen giant danios, 2 syn. catfish, 3 pictus and a pleco (he OWNS the tank).


I would suggest 2 JDs or 2 Firemouths if you want tiger barbs. I would strongly suggest against any of the others on your list with tigers or piled together in that small of a tank.

 

[maxima423]

sounds like a UFC fight, my bet is on the terror( brock lesnar ), tell me how it goes =]

 

[Waremblem]

So too aggressive? As I listed, 1-3 is optional. Ideally I would like the Tiger Barbs, two solo cichlid, a paired cichlid and a the small shoal of 4 Firemouths. Looking for a good combination of activity and personality.

 

[mfdrookie516]

sounds like a UFC fight, my bet is on the terror( brock lesnar ), tell me how it goes =]

My bet is on one of the red devils... I saw one a while back at a guys house that was well over a foot and at least 6" tall and 2" thick... I wanted a few for my 150g and was warned that red devils live up to their name and do not play well with others... IMO the stocking plans for this tank sound like a disaster in the making

 

[Sonomakid]

+1 on the Red Devil, even though you can never count out a terror , buddy had a breeding pair of texas along with 2 green terror and 2 jaguar cichlids in 185g last fish standing was a green terror

 

[DragonFish71]

+1 on the Red Devil, even though you can never count out a terror , buddy had a breeding pair of texas along with 2 green terror and 2 jaguar cichlids in 185g last fish standing was a green terror

jaguar cichlids! Dang I miss my big guy. Maybe when everyone is deceased in our 120 I'll do 2 jags.

 

[taylorodw]

Hey all, I looking to start a new 55g tank. It's been about 10 years since I've kept an aquarium so I'm looking for some stocking advice. My past experience was with an aggressive community cichlid tank, but my dovii ended up killing everything and I don't want to end up with that scenario again. Although he was one of the most unique pets I've ever had, I don't want a single fish in an aquarium again.

I'd really like to see a school of active fish in action and I'm drawn to Tiger Barbs so I definately want to include those. Here is what I'm kicking around.

8-14 Tiger Barbs
1 Jack Dempsey
2-4 Firemouths
1-3 Red Devils
1-3 Convicts
1-3 Green Terrors or Blue Acara
1 Rainbow Shark

I'm looking to make the tank full enough with fish so they don't have the opportunity to get overtly territorial. Obviously I don't want to overcrowd which is why I have flex numbers in mind and would be looking for some advice on what is ideal. It seems to me these cichlids should be be able to stand up to each others aggression, though I'm not sure if that is correct. I've had red devils and green terrors before, but singlely and they succombed to the dovii so I don't know how they would react in what I hope to be a balanced community.

Is this a good basis to start, or should I culll a few of the aggressive species with something else (keeping in mind I want the Tiger Barbs and some cichlids, I like their personality). Also, who should I add first?

So too aggressive? As I listed, 1-3 is optional. Ideally I would like the Tiger Barbs, two solo cichlid, a paired cichlid and a the small shoal of 4 Firemouths. Looking for a good combination of activity and personality.

It is a mixture of too aggressive, and too many fish that are too big.

In a 55 you could keep:
8-14 Tiger Barbs (I would say 8-11 so the school is happy but your bio-load is low to offset the cichlids)
1 Jack Dempsey (keep in mind this is bare minimum for a JD)
Pleco (Bristlenose)
Maybe a pair of keyholes/festivum (flag cichlid), or ONE convict

Really you are being over-ambitious with the stocking IMO... things you should completely cross off the list are red devils, green terror, and most likely the rainbow shark. Firemouths you could keep, but IMO not in a 55 with the JD.

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

Hey all, I looking to start a new 55g tank. It's been about 10 years since I've kept an aquarium so I'm looking for some stocking advice. My past experience was with an aggressive community cichlid tank, but my dovii ended up killing everything and I don't want to end up with that scenario again. Although he was one of the most unique pets I've ever had, I don't want a single fish in an aquarium again.

I'd really like to see a school of active fish in action and I'm drawn to Tiger Barbs so I definately want to include those. Here is what I'm kicking around.

8-14 Tiger Barbs
1 Jack Dempsey
2-4 Firemouths
1-3 Red Devils
1-3 Convicts
1-3 Green Terrors or Blue Acara
1 Rainbow Shark

I'm looking to make the tank full enough with fish so they don't have the opportunity to get overtly territorial. Obviously I don't want to overcrowd which is why I have flex numbers in mind and would be looking for some advice on what is ideal. It seems to me these cichlids should be be able to stand up to each others aggression, though I'm not sure if that is correct. I've had red devils and green terrors before, but singlely and they succombed to the dovii so I don't know how they would react in what I hope to be a balanced community.

Is this a good basis to start, or should I culll a few of the aggressive species with something else (keeping in mind I want the Tiger Barbs and some cichlids, I like their personality). Also, who should I add first?

I wont beat a dead horse here, you can already tell from the above posters that your list needs a little reworking...I would start with the fish you cannot let go, if its the jack then keep the jack and work around it etc....

You said you would like to keep the tiger barbs, keep in mind just because petsmart lists them as aggressive, they will NOT stand up to red devils and jack dempseys once theyre big enough. This leads into my next point...you list suggests all those fish may be fine if theyre only a couple weeks old, but as mfd said the red devils get big, as do the jacks and acara's...55 just isnt big enough for them.

My suggestions...If you want to keep the tiger barbs i would get 9 of them, then go with either the blue acara (some will say he will out grow the 55) or one firemouth (if you have two and they breed you can say goodbye to the tiger barbs) Some say you can get away with having convicts in there, but they will breed, get nasty while breeding, and then over populate your 55 assuming one of the other large fish i suggested dont take care of the fry depending on how good the parents are. if it were me i would sum it up like this
9-tigerbarbs
1-blue acara
6-cories (could prob get away with more)
5-giant danios
1 bristlenose pleco

The reason i chose this is because the jack will get big and aggressive as will the green terrors and red devil. You could plug in the firemouth or convict depending on how you feel. I threw in the danios for movement and theyre super fast, cories are great for bottom feeders and awesome to watch.

Others to consider....blood parrots (awesome personality and very compatable) Electric blue jack dempsey (not as big or aggressive)

 

[MartinBlank]

Also, and I could be wrong, but filling the tank up with the idea that the fish will be less territorial I think is the wrong track.

What will happen is the fish will be just as territorial (it's their nature) but won't have enough room to establish territories, and thus will just end up fighting constantly as all of their territories will overlap.

 

[maxima423]

I'd really like to see a school of active fish in action and I'm drawn to Tiger Barbs so I definately want to include those. Here is what I'm kicking around.

well since you said you like tiger barbs ill work around that, you can get:

school of tiger barbs of around 9-12
school of another kind of barb ( optional )
school of corys 5-6
few plecos 1-3 ( depending on what kind ofcourse, dwarf plecos dont get too big so you can have 1-3 and ofcourse their are otos =] which get around 2inches )
you can add a few shrimp


remember that barbs are fin nippers so dont add anything that has long fins like bettas/grouramis/angel fish

 

[fairghum]

I vote with Taylorodw. My two tanks are mostly entirely barb tanks. Please don't put Tigers in with those nasty, nasty overly aggressive cichlids (and you've been given great advice about which ones those are). personally, I love my barb tanks because there's always something going on in there!!!