New 27 gallon - recommendations please

[swanandmokashi]

Ok MTS stuck !!!
I got a 27 gallon now for $50 with hood, light, filter and heater
I am thinking of replacing the filter and heater

I am gonna get Marineland Emperor 280 filter and Ebo Jager Heater - 125 Watt

I am gonna put the heater and filter i got with the tank on eBay
the heater is 50 W whisper summersible and the filter is 20-40 Aqua tech one.

I am thinking of 6 tiger barbs and 2-3 zebra danios or serpae tetra (undecided as yet) and 2 scanvengers.

I know I have been asking questions about this tank even before it existed and might be repeating some of them here again

Please let me know what you guys think of my setup and also please advice on the scanvengers. Also can i put just 2-3 serpaes or do they need to be more . Also is it a good idea to forget about the danios/serpae tetra option and go with a single red fin shar k ..ireally like those but was thinking the bio-load may be too much ?

 

[ferret]

1 albino rainbow shark
4 albino cories (If you could find albino green emeralds, do that. Otherwise, bronze)
8 albino tiger barbs

Get white gravel It'll look cool

 

[swanandmokashi]

sorry forgot to mention the substrate : Schultz Aquatic Potting Soil

 

[swanandmokashi]

anybody?

 

[Bioworldmaker]

Wow, good deal on the fishtank!
As far as fish, I love tiger barbs. Actually I like them so much they have their own tank.
Those are the cutest little fish and they are not shy at all. Good choice.

 

[swanandmokashi]

how is the shark + barb compatibility

is 6 barbs , 1 shark (red tailed) and 2 scanvengers a good plan ?

 

[ferret]

I vote rainbow shark. Exactly the same as a red tail in general but all fins are red, not just the tail. Rainbow sharks are good scanvengers and cleanup too, you'll only need one (And can't have two anyways, they'd fight each other).

Scavengers really depends. The shark is one, and a good one. You might consider a bristlenose pleco. Cories need a group of at least 3.

 

[swanandmokashi]

how big does a rainbow shark get ? i thought upto 8" ? i just have 27 gallons

 

[ferret]

6 inches, max. They don't grow fast and can live perfectly fine in a 27 gallon. They aren't particularily active, they're bottom feeding scavengers. Red-tails get just as big to my knowledge.

 

[swanandmokashi]

is red tail shark a scavenger too ?

 

[ferret]

To my knowledge.

 

[Bioworldmaker]

The tiger barbs are very compatible with the redtail shark...

My Redtail was a little shy at first with the barbs around, but now he even schools with the barbs sometimes!...
Redtails are generally hidding (maybe because they don't like the light too much they preffer to swimm through caves and under leaves) and you will hardly see them feeding - other than looking for algae sometimes.
Actually, the only time the redtail is territorial is when food is an issue. You can clearly tell when this fish is hungry because then they really become territorial but at all other times is really easy going with the barbs.
I have 10 barbs with one redtail shark and one oto. They all get along very well, even though sometimes they have some harmless chasing around the tank going on.

 

[swanandmokashi]

Thanks !

I have 10 barbs with one redtail shark and one oto. They all get along very well, even though sometimes they have some harmless chasing around the tank going on.

What kind of tank do you have ?