# Suggestions for a tank?



## Emily (May 4, 2010)

I am setting up an old 30 gallon fish tank at a seniors assisted living facility in my area and would love some help deciding what to go in it. Ideally I would love to do a biotope but I have some rag tag species in my current tank that I would like moved out so I planned to stick them in there. Currently, the plan is 9 tiger barbs and a krib. Ideally, I would fashion the tank around the barb biotope and just consider the krib a tourist :lol: but I have been finding it difficult to incorporate other species that would be native to the areas barbs originate. Loaches seem like a viable option but 1) I hear they need sand and I don't want a sand bottom and 2) 30 gallons seems a little small. Should I stick with just the krib and barbs or could I add in a few other types?

One species suggested on seriouslyfish.com was bumblebee gobies but from what I have heard barbs don't like the slightly brackish conditions those gobies need and I worry that the krib would pick away at them. They sure are cute though. Thoughts?

The species can't be too expensive because I am a college student and am already spending money on additional equipment for this tank, so the most cost effective solutions are the best for me 

The tank will have a piece of driftwood and some stones, and will be planted.

Thanks!


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

Tiger barbs are very hardy and can handle a lot of different water parameters... That said, there are a few different kinds of tiger barbs like green or albino.

Sent via the Shining.


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## dino (Aug 29, 2011)

i found barbs kinda hard as a comunity fish they are normally really fast moving and spook others. That being said ive never owned tigers and you have a bunch so might help aggression also i think you could have really small loaches but they will grow and need good water quality.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

I heard ****** loach can get along quite well with barbs and they are tiny so you can keep quite a few if you like in the 30 gallon. I believe you can keep them without a sand substrate, just a fine substrate is good so they can burrow a bit.. 
Anyway please post a picture of this new tank when you are done, judging from your SA tank I am sure this will be awesome.


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

Foxtail said:


> Tiger barbs are very hardy and can handle a lot of different water parameters... That said, there are a few different kinds of tiger barbs like green or albino.
> 
> Sent via the Shining.


I have heard that too which makes me wonder if they could be ok with the bee gobies. I have only tiger and was consider getting a green or two but I heard you need ample numbers of each to prevent bullying and I don't think having equal numbers is as aesthetically pleasing... I could give it a try though.



dino said:


> i found barbs kinda hard as a comunity fish they are normally really fast moving and spook others. That being said ive never owned tigers and you have a bunch so might help aggression also i think you could have really small loaches but they will grow and need good water quality.


Yes they are very rambunctious so I definitely don't want a fish that is too spooky. I like loaches but I also worried about the tank being too small for them 



Fish rookie said:


> I heard ****** loach can get along quite well with barbs and they are tiny so you can keep quite a few if you like in the 30 gallon. I believe you can keep them without a sand substrate, just a fine substrate is good so they can burrow a bit..
> Anyway please post a picture of this new tank when you are done, judging from your SA tank I am sure this will be awesome.


Aww thanks! I'll try to post a picture for sure. I actually picked up a 7g fluval with a C02 system I should post instead because it will probably be prettier but I'll try to post both  I have been toying with the idea of ******* but I heard that they are so shy you never see them... Which is not good, the seniors have bad eyesight as it is! 

Have you heard this about them?


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

I have read about that regarding the ****** but I had some before (but only for a very brief period of time) with 8 tiger barbs (green and regular) and I could see the loaches crawling on the ground from time to time. A prefilter is highly recommended though as they might get sucked into the inlet. But you are right if the person is not really looking for them or have poor eyesight they can be easily missed. LOL
I had tiger barbs with skunk botia before as well. Skunk botia prefer a softer substate as they love to dig. Not sure if they might become too big for the tank, about 4" or so fully grown I think. 
I really love the way these guys look personally. They ate all my snails in a couple days. LOL


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

*loaches*

I have 5 loaches and a bare bottom tank they don't seems to be bothered by it. As for the size of tank to the size loaches can get depending on species you could always give them away or trade them in for babies at a lfs when they get to big. I think loaches would be a great addition to that tank because there so interesting to watch and they seem pretty intelligent well for a fish anyways lol.


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

Fish rookie said:


> They ate all my snails in a couple days. LOL


I presume that you're talking about your loaches.

Why do loaches eradicate all the snails in everyone's tanks except mine?


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Lamplighter said:


> I presume that you're talking about your loaches.
> 
> Why do loaches eradicate all the snails in everyone's tanks except mine?


LOL.
What loaches did you get? 
I am serious the skunk botia went to town with the snails once he was in the tank, and cleaned them all up in a couple days! 
The ****** loaches did not do nothing so I replaced them with the skunk botia and what a difference. The skunk botia had a very puffy tummy real soon. LOL


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## Lamplighter (Aug 3, 2012)

Fish rookie said:


> LOL.
> What loaches did you get?
> I am serious the skunk botia went to town with the snails once he was in the tank, and cleaned them all up in a couple days!
> The ****** loaches did not do nothing so I replaced them with the skunk botia and what a difference. The skunk botia had a very puffy tummy real soon. LOL


I don't know what the loaches are called. They are kind of yellow with black stripes. PetSmart told me they would kill loaches. I've got 4 that are about 4" long. I'll have to strip down 3 tanks!! Unless!!! Where do I get skunk botas and are you sure they will kill snails???


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Lamplighter said:


> I don't know what the loaches are called. They are kind of yellow with black stripes. PetSmart told me they would kill loaches. I've got 4 that are about 4" long. I'll have to strip down 3 tanks!! Unless!!! Where do I get skunk botas and are you sure they will kill snails???


I got mine from IPU. You can try to get one first to see if it works in your tank. If not, you can bring it back for a store credit. The staff a IPU are very knowledgable and I sure they can suggest you the best fish for the job if this does not work. good luck.


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## Barbie (Nov 20, 2012)

I think you need to change the water in tank in quite and regular intervals in order to keep fishes alive and safe from diseases and infections. Water should not be very cool or warm. Use some heaters and thermo-meters in winter seasons. Use some quality prodcuts to provide them food.


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## FishFanatic245 (Nov 21, 2012)

i don't know if he has tiger loachs or yo-yo's, my yo-yo's are around 4 inches and he described both tiger and yo-yo. just to let you know bee goby are and absolute no. if you want a nice community tank as they are highly aggressive and will vicously defend their territory from everything. i have 12 tiger barbs- 4 normal, 4 green, and 4 albino and i don't think that a 30 gallon (depending on the demensions) is large enough as they use lots of room for the amount of barbs you will need to spread out the aggression. why not go with bleeding heart tetras, lemon tetras, or serpea tetras. all 3 are nice schooling tetras that seniors would most likely love.


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

I'm gonna shamelessly plug my blackskirt tetras I have foe sale 

Sent via the Shining.


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

Rummynose tetras!


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

I love the idea of loaches but it's a gravel tank and as far as I have heard loaches need sand or fine gravel, and the gravel in that tank (while not rough or sharp) is not really sift-able


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## funkycat (Nov 3, 2010)

Would cories or pleco's be an option? I dont think the barbs would bother them too much as they would also stay on the bottom. then again plecos tend to hide all day. 
I've always had unpleasant memories of tiger barbs ever since one took the eyes out of my dwarf frog, leaving two red sockets. =(


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

lexingtonsteel said:


> Would cories or pleco's be an option? I dont think the barbs would bother them too much as they would also stay on the bottom. then again plecos tend to hide all day.
> I've always had unpleasant memories of tiger barbs ever since one took the eyes out of my dwarf frog, leaving two red sockets. =(


Cories are out because they need sand, unfortunately  I was thinking of putting my rubbernose pleco in there actually, but I was just hoping to find something else since he barely ever comes out and mostly hides. Since the tank will be on display for seniors I wanted fish that were bold and easy to see. I totally know what you mean about the tiger barbs as they are pretty intense - I wouldn't dream of keeping dwarf frogs with them. With the right tank mates though they are very interesting to watch. While they were doing too much bullying in my 90 gallon, I still can appreciate that they are cool fish


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## FishFanatic245 (Nov 21, 2012)

cories are fine in gravel as long as there are no sharp edges, i have a bronze cory, and yo-yo loaches in a tank with chicken grit as the main gravel. i also had weather loaches (first fish i ever got) and they were also in a chicken grit gravel tank. yes, sand is the prefered substrate for bottom feeders with barbels, but, lots of people keep loaches and cories in with gravel. as long as the subrtate is not sharp enough to cut the barbels it is fine.


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

Tiger barbs are really aggressive. I've not had much luck with them in community tanks, and 30g is pretty small for 9 of them. I have a couple of spare female kribs that I will happily donate, but a few different schools of tetras would make a nice, peaceful display tank. Groups of odessa barbs also do well with tiger barbs and go with the SE Asian biotope theme - they are just as nasty as the barbs are, so the aggression balances out, but again you would need a larger tank.

Do you need any other equipment donated? If so let me know and I'll see what didn't go to the auction.


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## Emily (May 4, 2010)

FishFanatic245 said:


> cories are fine in gravel as long as there are no sharp edges, i have a bronze cory, and yo-yo loaches in a tank with chicken grit as the main gravel. i also had weather loaches (first fish i ever got) and they were also in a chicken grit gravel tank. yes, sand is the prefered substrate for bottom feeders with barbels, but, lots of people keep loaches and cories in with gravel. as long as the subrtate is not sharp enough to cut the barbels it is fine.


Good to know, I may reconsider cories as a possibility. I just didn't want anything being unhappy.



Elle said:


> Tiger barbs are really aggressive. I've not had much luck with them in community tanks, and 30g is pretty small for 9 of them. I have a couple of spare female kribs that I will happily donate, but a few different schools of tetras would make a nice, peaceful display tank. Groups of odessa barbs also do well with tiger barbs and go with the SE Asian biotope theme - they are just as nasty as the barbs are, so the aggression balances out, but again you would need a larger tank.
> 
> Do you need any other equipment donated? If so let me know and I'll see what didn't go to the auction.


I actually am down to 5 after a heater malfunction two days ago  I didn't have too many problems with them when they were in the 30g previously (before I set up the 90 gallon and transferred them to it) but they are larger now and since I won't be there everyday keeping an eye on the tankmates I don't want to take risks. My krib is just as much of a jerk and has basically killed off every female I have ever put in the 30 gallon with him so for the well-being of your females I had better keep him as the solo cichlid of the tank  I appreciate the offer though!

As for equipment I am pretty much set, but thank you  The tank has plants in it and is currently cycling, and whenever I am there fiddling with it I get approached by the residents asking questions and wanting me to hurry up and put fish in it. It seems like they are excited for it and I am genuinely excited to be able to give them fish soon. It is starting to look like I should just give up and stick with maybe 7-8 barbs and the krib, but that just seems so boring!

ETA: I did wonder about putting a dwarf cray or bamboo shrimp in there, and would be interested in some feedback on that idea. I don't know the first thing about them so I could be totally off-base lol.


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