2 questions ,barbs and discus

[zeebo]

here's my set-up:

54USg trigon/corner tank

filters: aqua-clear70 hob, hot magnum hob, 2 hydro-sponges #'s 4&5
2 8''air stones
gravel bottom
a few plants
temp 79d
wood
lots of slate
4 caves and hidey holes
ph6.8
stock:
2 L128's med size
9 harlequin raspbora
3 dwarf rainbow
4 pencil barbs
1 farlowella

maintence:
10% wc daily
gravel vac every Friday
feed once daily

first question : I have 3 cherry barbs in q-tank now
I read they are a great community fish , not fin nippers
I recently heard they are fin nippers
if this is so, i will put them in my very understocked 20g with 1 bn
so what is anyone's experience with them ? i don't want to put them in the 54g with my L128's or find they cause havoc with the other fish in the tank.

I would like to hear others' experience with them

2nd question , I have been doing much reading on discus and would love to add 2 to my 54g ,however I am not sure they would be a good fit for me and my tank. There is much to read and some scares me away, and being they are expensive fish, I wonder if I have enough fishkeeping experience for them.

also a concern, would their size freakout my smaller fish to the point of stressing them? Are they truly as fragile as the interpertation I get from the reads ? any advice would be greatly appreciated.

thanks, Georgie

 

[SS317]

I used to breed discus and at one stage had over 50 adults, and IMO if you are wanting only 2 fish you need a pair, they never do well in small numbers as young fish and 5 is a minimum.

 

[zeebo]

thanks SS, for the heads up on the discus..so i won't be getting any unless i get another tank(did i just say that?) shush, dont want hubby to hear.


now , about the red cherry barbs ?? I did my research and said they are a great community addition...got 3 , but is tail nipping a trait these guys have or has the'' rumor mill'' misled me?

counting on members here for any info as they will be ready and out of the q-tank next week.

many thanks

georgie

 

[zeebo]

ok,maybe not many cherry barb fans here :dk: fine , i hope they are not nippers.

I need a few more friendly fish for my 54g as it looks too empty...anyone have any ideas ?? no more bottom dwellers, but would love to hear your ideas so i can read up on um, see if its a good fit . Just want to see more fish swimming around ,mid area .

any ideas would be highly appreciated (see my 54g stock at top of thread)

So please throw me some ideas , love to hear them

Georgie

 

[Stan]

Hi Georgie,
I had 7 cherry barbs with angel fish for about 3-4 years without a problem, however, with 7 of them perhaps they spread their agression amongst themselves. I find with barbs that greater numbers spread the agro out as they are too busy picking on each other that they don't worry about other tank mates. I currently have 9 tiger barbs with a red severum and also no probs. HTH.

 

[zeebo]

thanks stan. the cherry barbs will go in the 20g with the BN .


so..anyone got any ideas for my 54g? I have credit ,wanna use it soon.

:dk: anyone ?
georgie

 

[Stan]

Aside from the 128's, what else do you have in the 54?

 

[zeebo]

hi, Stan,

thanks so much for your willingness to help !

all my tank and fish info is at the top of this post ,so if you scroll back to the beginning of this thread , you see eveything you will need to know

was getting no comments till now ,so i began looking up emporer tetras ,but not really my cup of tea -no color and not big enough. see what you think ..perhaps there is something better you have in mind. thanks

Georgine

 

[zeebo]

emporer or bleeding heart tetra?

here's my set-up:

54USg trigon/corner tank

filters: aqua-clear70 hob, hot magnum hob, 2 hydro-sponges #'s 4&5
2 8''air stones
gravel bottom
a few plants
temp 79d
wood
lots of slate
4 caves and hidey holes
ph6.8
stock:
2 L128's med size
9 harlequin raspbora
3 dwarf rainbow
4 pencil barbs
1 farlowella

maintence:
10% wc daily
gravel vac every Friday
feed once daily


still looking for more fish to add to the 54g. No luck last post so try again.
Has anyone had experience with etiher bleeding heart tetra or emporer tetra ? would they work here ?

thanks , georgie

 

[Lornek8]

What exactly you looking for?
There are a couple thousand fish that could be listed. Could you provide a bit more criteria?
You looking for:
Mid-water? Top dweller? Bottom dweller?
Schooling?
Colorful?
Active?

I kinda like furcata rainbows, fetherfin rainbows, black phantom tetras, red phantom tetras, cardinal tetras, rummynose tetras, even relatively plain tetras like siler-tipped tetra & glowline tetras

For larger schoolers: Congo tetras, diamond tetras, torpedo barbs

 

[Stan]

Hi Georgie,
sorry for taking so long to get back to you, I was out of the country for a couple days. How about Puntius denisonii [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denison%27s_Barb"]Denison's Barb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/Filedenisonii.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/Pdenisonii.jpg/250px-Pdenisonii.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/e/e2/Pdenisonii.jpg/250px-Pdenisonii.jpg[/ame]
They are a personal favorite of mine.:thumbup:

 

[zeebo]

oh, no prob, been off a few days anyway, that is a beautiful fish!! thanks for showing .... as for now I have asked the aq store to hold 6 bleeding hearts for me.

thanks Lornek8, good question, calm, mid or top dweller , color. hope the bleeding hearts are mellow enough.

thanks guys !
Georgie

 

[Mooo]

Cheery barbs are great fish, I love their colours, but they need to be in a tank where the mates can take care of themselves, maybe an all barb or larger tetra tank..They don't mix well with sensitive tank mates...I've kept them and never have liked them, IMO they cause stress on other fish as they chase and nip..I wouldn't keep them with sensitive discus...

 

[zeebo]

thanks moo,
appreciate the reply...and the discus are out and I nixed the barbs too.
I decided on 6 bleeding heart tetra ,and perhaps later another type of tetra .

mellow is the word here

many thanks , georgie

 

[mpfsr]

I would add a few more rainbows..I'm guessing you have the neon's (Melanotaenia praecox). they are also a schooling fish and love to have friends..

 

[zeebo]

I would add a few more rainbows..I'm guessing you have the neon's (Melanotaenia praecox). they are also a schooling fish and love to have friends..

thanks mp , yes , I love the rainbows and do plan to add a few more:yes: the blue really shows up nice and they are so darn mellow !
love um !
Georgie

 

[lnb]

hi I have had 3 discus about 3 years now and I dont find them any harder to keep than any of my other fish, they are in a tank with a mixture of fish,l270s,elephant nose african butterfly cichlid had angels inwith them but found them to be a bit aggressive,I think unless they are wild discus they dont really need the detailed care,but do appreciate regular water changes and warmer water, which helps with not getting ich ,and they are the most beautiful fish to have in a tank very relaxing to watch.Good luck anyway

 

[zeebo]

thanks INB, discus are very beautiful fish, the reason I did much reading and asking here , during my quest for additions to my main tank.

I have decided on 6 bleeding heart tetra and a few more rainbows, just want color,and peace ! for me, nothing worse than watching certain fish chase others to no end and stressing eveyone in the tank out. Mellow is my goal

plus, with the new black gravel and black backround, i NEED color in there :yes:

will post some pics when i figure out how to set up the photoshop on my laptop :wb: lazy or intimidated --i need to give it a try i guess

thanks , georgie