# tiger barb question



## Criss Fish (Nov 26, 2011)

so i have a 60 gal and it has 3 bala sharks, 4 tiger barbs and a small pleco in it. it is very under populated as they are all small and it looks very wasteful and boring in the tank. 

i am wondering what kind of fish i can put in the tank with them. i want a variety of fish in the long run like a community tank but not sure what fish will work with these

any help is appreciated, 
thanks
-Christian


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## Licciardi (Aug 22, 2011)

Be aware that bala sharks do get considerably large, sometimes even close to a foot and a half, so if you plan on keeping them you are definitely going to need a much larger tank. Eventually near 100+ gallons... Since your fish are mostly small at this point i wouldn't recommend any fish that are very aggressive. There are some cichlids you could find that do not grow very large, and could work well with your fish, although some caution might be required... At the moment I have a tank containing almost all cichlids that are generally aggressive in nature, but work very well together and have never fought, as well as a smaller tank which i moved my small fish to so that they wouldn't get attacked or eaten by the larger fish. If you think you would want to move the barbs, cichlids could be a cool idea, and they look great as well.. You can even add cool invertebrates to spice up your tank as well, like fiddler crabs or maybe even a small crayfish... I own both a hammers cobalt blue "lobster" and 4 fiddler crabs in different tanks. They add a lot of extra detail to the tank, especially in eye catching colors such as the crayfish. My fiddler crabs like to climb up my cartridge filter and hang out inside of it where it is humid and they can get air, and its very cool to lift the filter lid and see them just sitting there.. I highly recommend invertebrates, just do a lot of research before you consider buying anything, or ask an employee at your local fish store


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## logan84 (Jul 27, 2011)

You can pretty much go with anything you want for now that can handle your water conditions. Remember though that tiger barbs are fin nippers so you want faster moving fish for them. And those bala sharks are going to grow up some day so nothing so small that they'll snack on. 

A fish I love are the hatchet fish. They're great because they stay at the top of the tank which usually goes unused. Plus the deep bodies on them keep them from being snacks too easily. And while they tend to spend a lot of time not moving around much they certainly can haul it if they see a pesky fin nipper coming their way.

Good luck either way!


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I think Licciardi makes a good point about the size of bala sharks, you are going to have space problems in the future so I'd think carefully before you add to your load with more fish. Also do you know what kind of pleco you have? Common plecos get really big and are messy.


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## dvanbramer88 (Jul 23, 2011)

get a few more tigers and you can get pretty much any other tetra. Look at my signature. i have no problems with nippers or aggression.


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## Licciardi (Aug 22, 2011)

you can check out liveaquaria.com and research up on fish.. They have a lot of great fish on the site, with tons of useful information on each fish, as well as invertebrates. They have a compatibility chart that you can check out to see if the fish you might want to get can be combined with yours. Its very very helpful, and it has definitely worked for me. I wouldn't consider buying things from the site however, since it is much easier to buy fish locally, considering they come in better shape, and you don't have to pay the $40+ to ship them. If you are looking at a $200+ budget for fish that are rare or not available locally, go right ahead, cuz you get free overnight shipping


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## MarcGh (Oct 11, 2011)

Thanks Andrew for the link. 
Very interesting site!
I can't buy anything there due to my distant location but will surely read a lot!


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