laritheloud Posted February 6, 2022 Share Posted February 6, 2022 Hey everyone! Because I'll be moving my 6 remaining pseudomugil signifers to my 20 gallon tank, I'm looking into getting either another schooling fish for the 50 gallon or skipping the schoolers altogether and trying some more peaceful cichlids (blue acaras, festivums, or keyholes). My current permanent inhabitants are a group of 4 thicklipped gouramis, a group of 4 synodontis lucipinnis, and a bunch of grown/baby rabbit snails. I have a red bristlenose in quarantine that'll go in next, and that's it for now. I know barbs in general have the reputation of being fin nippers, and I'm reading conflicting information over whether black rubies will be okay with gouramis in a big enough school (I was thinking 8 to 10 of them). What do you think? Any alternative suggestions? I'm having great difficulty feeling decisive about it, since I know cichlids especially can live a long time and I want to make the "right" decision. It doesn't help that my daughter and son have been sick with a cold all week and it's giving me a bit of cabin fever. 🤣 Thanks for all your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted February 7, 2022 Author Share Posted February 7, 2022 I just think they're neat. Sources say they top out at 2.5 to 3 inches... Just hoping they're not an obnoxious fish to their tankmates like tiger barbs. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Struggle Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 Those are beautiful fish! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted February 7, 2022 Author Share Posted February 7, 2022 RIGHT??? Those are males in breeding coloration. Supposedly they are not fin-nippy but I'm still worried I'm taking a risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 @laritheloudive heard nothing but good things about these black ruby barbs. I think patience is needed for them to fully color up. Great choice. Not sure how tight a schooler they are. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted February 7, 2022 Author Share Posted February 7, 2022 On 2/6/2022 at 10:51 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said: @laritheloudive heard nothing but good things about these black ruby barbs. I think patience is needed for them to fully color up. Great choice. Not sure how tight a schooler they are. Oh good, I think I'm just going to go ahead and try them. I don't mind if they're not a tight schooler. My Diamond Tetras behave more like shoalers most of the time and I think they're gorgeous! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 My diamonds properly school the majority of the time, maybe having a full grown festivum and an electric blue Acara helps keep the threat/school tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deku-Corydoras Posted February 7, 2022 Share Posted February 7, 2022 I considered keeping Black Ruby Barbs and did a good bit of research on them, but in the end I went for Cherry Barbs instead because my PH tends to be higher than what is reccomend for them. From what I've read, as long as you have a large enough school, they shouldn't be an issue and should keep to themselves. For Barbs in general I think we should advocate for a minimum school size of 8 instead of 6 for this very reason. Larger numbers really seem to keep most of them in check. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted February 7, 2022 Author Share Posted February 7, 2022 On 2/7/2022 at 10:50 AM, Deku-Corydoras said: I considered keeping Black Ruby Barbs and did a good bit of research on them, but in the end I went for Cherry Barbs instead because my PH tends to be higher than what is reccomend for them. From what I've read, as long as you have a large enough school, they shouldn't be an issue and should keep to themselves. For Barbs in general I think we should advocate for a minimum school size of 8 instead of 6 for this very reason. Larger numbers really seem to keep most of them in check. I'm getting a school of 10 to try! Thank you so much for your input. I'm excited to give them a go. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laritheloud Posted February 10, 2022 Author Share Posted February 10, 2022 https://streamable.com/j8czh3 In my quarantine! They arrived today in the mail and they've already colored up tremendously since arrival! They're going to be amazing as they grow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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