Rasbora espei or Five-banded barbs?

[gouda]

Hello,

I am a newbie from France starting my first aquarium, a Juwel Rio 125 (about 30 gallons) with a length of 80 cm (about 30 inches). I filled it about a month ago and last weekend, after the cycling was complete and the nitrites back to zero, I introduced my first fish, 6 kuhli loaches (yay!) My parameters are Temp = 26 C (78 F), GH=7, KH=4, NO2=0.01 mg/l, pH=7.5-8 (I am aware it is a bit high; any ideas to lower the pH are welcome!). The aquarium has a bunch of plants that grow well, a large root, and several fish hideouts. I kept the original filter to which I have added some peat moss in the hope to reduce the pH (without much success so far).

I am planning to add a couple of honey gourami (Colisa chuna) next, and I would also like to have a group of shoaling fish. And here comes my question: I am having a hard time to choose between a group of 8-10 Rasbora espei or a group of 6 Pentazona barbs. If you have experience with either of these species, your advice will be greatly appreciated. My preference would be to have a group of rather active fish, but who also get along well with the loaches and gouramis.

Thank you very much for your advice!
Gouda

 

[Rivercats]

Personally I'd go with the Espei rasbora's. They are active and make very good community fish.

As for ph I wouldn't worry about it. Most fish can easily acclimate to whatever ph your water is. Messing with trying to lower ph can cause a lot of problems and a steady/constant ph is better than one that bounces up and down.

 

[Niccobacci11]

definitely go with the Espei's over the barbs.