Stocking more fish for a 55 gallon

[unknown_7]

Hello, in one of my tanks (a 55 gall) I have the following:

- 2 pearl gouramis
- 1 dwarf gourami
- 2 tiger barbs
- 2 rosey barbs
- 2 black tetras
- 1 pleco

What else can I add to it? It looks sort of bare and ther is not a lot of life and movement, so I was wondering what other additions could I put into this tank, thanks in advance for all your posts/ help.

 

[muddlehead]

i vote more tetras so they can school, im not sure about barbs habits of schooling, but i know the best part of my tank is the schooling fish who are the most active

 

[TankGirl]

Rosy barbs and tiger barbs will be rather nippy without more members, and I agree more tetras are in order, but I believe you are really going to be overstocked if you increase the numbers of all of those fish. Rosy barbs can get 4" (profiles say 6" but I've never seen one that big, most are probably about 3"), and you might have trouble with aggression among the three gouramis in that tank over time - I don't know how mature the fish are or how long you have had them together, of course.

If the gouramis are all getting along hunky dory then I'd limit myself to either a larger school of a single species of barb or a single species of tetra. For example, if you returned the rosy barbs and the tetras and just increased the number of tiger barbs, you would have a very active, interesting tank. I love a group of them all zooming around together.

JMO

 

[unknown_7]

The gouramis have been together for sometime and they are the most passive or at least the most unaggressive ones I have ever had. So they gouramis are all getting alone just great. I accidently mixed up the tanks the one with the fish I am talking about are in the 55 not my 40 thanks. Would this change my options?

 

[TankGirl]

Yes, a little. The thing is that you have two kinds of barbs and one kind of tetra, all three in very small numbers that they don't prefer, so if you want to keep them all then I'd add two or three of each, but this might be pushing it, depending on what kind of filtration and water change routine you have.

If you have a little more filtration than what you expect for a 55, and you change water weekly it is doable. The fish will be happier and you'll see some action. In a perfect world each group of these fish would need 7-9 members to have a nice pecking order and more natural behavior, but that would be way too many fish for a 55.

 

[unknown_7]

I c, I just learned something new, thanks.

 

[Guest]

yes i agree.. decide what you want.. do you want 2 schools of barbs? or 1 school of tetra and one of barbs. Either way decide to get rid of a school of soemthing and increase the other groups... they will be happier and you will have more life in your aquarium!!