Rethinking my stocking plan...

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

GouramiFanatic

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Apr 2, 2005
Messages
598
I had originally planned on getting the following fish for my 75 gallon tank.
- 9 to 10 Tiger Barbs
- 3 Bolivian
- 3 to 4 Yo Yo Loaches
- 2 Opaline Gouramis
- 2 Gold Gouramis
- 1 Sailfin Pleco (will coming home shortly)
- Possibly 2 to 3 Ropefish

I currently have
- (3) Yo Yo Loaches
- (2) Gold Gouramis
- (1) Opaline Gourami
- (2) Pearl Gouramis (couldn't believe the lfs had them so I snatched up a pair!)
- (2) Bolivian Rams

Now, I'm doubting myself on the Tiger Barbs. On one hand I'd love to have them because I think they're pretty fish and they'd be new to me. On the other hand, with the other fish I think it may look kind of weird when they're all full grown. They'd all be pretty big fish and I don't know if it would look good or not to have a tank full of 2-3"+ fish. Know what I'm saying? Not to mention the Pearl Gouramis were dropped from my original stocking plan because I never thought I'd be able to find them so that's essentially cancelling out 2 Tiger Barbs.

What do you all think?
 
ive done that.
i wanted to have some rams and figuring no fish store would sell them i went for 2 pairs of gouramis instead of one. and woala the next time i went to the other pet store what did they have just arive dwarf rams. so i ended up wih 2 of those at the time (althogh they didnt make it)
then when i went shopping for fish i ended up with some i didnt want like 10 white cloud minnows. which my fish arent eating. which essentially takes out at least one more fish i could have that i really wanted.
you could always get some neons or something cool. and little.
or you could just stick with it.
or get a few more rams instead.
rams are really nice
im not sure what goes together well or not.
 
rich311k said:
I would think the tiger barbs will nip at your gouramis especially those tasty looking feelers.
That's what I was afraid of too, but several people said they have kept the two together with no problems. As long as the Barbs are kept in a good sized school they'd mainly stick together.

I'm stumped! What are some other ideas of good schooling fish?
 
I would be more worried about the barbs stressing the gouramis out. Gouramis are pretty slow, especially compared to the barbs. Their activity level may stress out the gouramis.

I would choose some more peaceful tetras.

Ropefish get pretty big also (about 35 inches). One may work in a 75g...but I wouldn't have 3. They will probably eat smaller fish also, so if you got one, be careful what fish you add in (mainly tetras).
 
Black Phantom Tetras, Harlequin Raspboras, and Rummynose are all beautiful schooling fish that stay relatively small, but not so small that they would disappear in your tank. I would think a group of 10 would look very nice - and the nice thing is that they actually school together, unlike some "schooling fish." With the Phantoms, be sure to get a mixed group of males and females, at least 50/50. If you can't find even numbers then get more females than males. With the Rasboras and Rummynose it doesn't matter.
 
So I've decided to drop the tiger barbs from my stocking list. I think I'll end up going with some Harlequin Rasboras or maybe even some Silver Tip Tetras. I've also been thinking of dropping the Ropefish and going with 2-3 Dojo Loaches. The only I concern I have with this is that I'd have a few Dojo Loaches and YoYo Loaches, can they exist together in harmony? This considering the fact that my Sailfin Pleco will also be joining the mix shortly.

One last question. I've noticed that one of my Rams is being exceptionally dominant with the other Ram. I'd like to get at least one more Ram to try to get the dominance spread out a little more. Now I fear that I'll get another Dominant one and they'll tag team on the more submissive one. Should I get just 1 and see how it goes or should I get another pair or 3?

So stressful!!! :x
 
You don't have to drop the barbs. I have 6 tigers in with 5 gourami and the tiger barbs never even so much as look at another fish.

Keep the barbs with a few of their own and they'll leave everyone else alone.
 
Ropefish are relatively undemanding in terms of space, for their length (from what I've seen). I also doubt highly that one would reach more than about 2' in captivity, and they certainly don't mind being in groups... But if you do decide to go with dojo loaches, they'll be completely fine with yoyos.
 
Thanks, I decided to go with Dojo Loaches instead of Ropefish afterall. Last weekend I purchased 3 of them and they're all doing great so far. I'm starting to pick out markings to help tell them apart. One of them has been dubbed 'Spot' because it's got a dark spot almost in the middle of it's right side. I haven't named the other two yet. Still thinking. So far everyone is getting along great! :)
 
Back
Top Bottom