Tiger barb tank mates

[kcochran]

Any suggestions on some tank mates for tiger barbs? I’ve added some cherry barbs today and they seem to be getting along well so far.

However, I would like some more colorful fish I guess. I’m considering a red tail shark, but I’m stumped from there. I keep getting conflicting information from my LFS and articles on the internet.

What have been your experiences with tiger barbs and tank mates for them?

[EVoyager31]

I have a tiger barb dedicated 75g tank (about 35 of them) and have tried a couple things. I had some cherries from a previous tank that aren’t bothered at all and some kuhli loaches as well as some amano shrimp (they have large driftwood to hide in). I’m sure that you could probably do some neons or similar for some color variety if you wanted. I also had to get a “tank boss” so they wouldn’t fight as much and a opaline gourami worked well. 

[kcochran]

On 8/10/2022 at 9:05 PM, EVoyager31 said:

I have a tiger barb dedicated 75g tank (about 35 of them) and have tried a couple things. I had some cherries from a previous tank that aren’t bothered at all and some kuhli loaches as well as some amano shrimp (they have large driftwood to hide in). I’m sure that you could probably do some neons or similar for some color variety if you wanted. I also had to get a “tank boss” so they wouldn’t fight as much and a opaline gourami worked well. 

That’s what I’m wanting is a tank boss too. I’ll have to check into those. I looked at some gouramis today, but I wasn’t sure if the tiger barbs would pick at them.

[EVoyager31]

On 8/10/2022 at 10:32 PM, kcochran said:

That’s what I’m wanting is a tank boss too. I’ll have to check into those. I looked at some gouramis today, but I wasn’t sure if the tiger barbs would pick at them.

The opaline I picked up was fairly large maybe about 3.5-4”— much larger than my tiger barbs. He went after the tiger barbs a lot at first and got them in line. I don’t know if a dwarf gourami would do it as they're roughly similar in size

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/10/2022 at 6:45 PM, kcochran said:

However, I would like some more colorful fish I guess. I’m considering a red tail shark, but I’m stumped from there. I keep getting conflicting information from my LFS and articles on the internet.

What have been your experiences with tiger barbs and tank mates for them?

RTBS is probably way too small of a tank for them.

Barbs:  Melon barbs, Odessa barbs.

I kept white clouds with mine. 

As the fish get big you're going to run into some pecking and fighting.  So I would try to stick to bigger schools of smaller fish. 

Kabutai rasbora, white clouds, etc.  Melon barbs I think stay decently small, but others stay pretty big.

With the scape you have, it's a PERFECT setup for some hillstream loaches or borneo loaches. 🙂
 

All you would need to do is add an airstone somewhere.

Corydoras also work if you want something on the bottom to clean up food the fish miss out on.  with the sand, they'd do well.

[CrepaPark]

Definetely bottom dwellers or algae eaters should be pretty good for the Tiger Barbs 

[Scapexghost]

Ive had success keeping swordtails and platies with tiger barbs.

[kcochran]

On 8/10/2022 at 9:52 PM, EVoyager31 said:

The opaline I picked up was fairly large maybe about 3.5-4”— much larger than my tiger barbs. He went after the tiger barbs a lot at first and got them in line. I don’t know if a dwarf gourami would do it as they're roughly similar in size

I tried a dwarf gourami last week for about 5 minutes and they wouldn't leave him alone, so I had to put him in my 20 gallon community tank.

On 8/10/2022 at 10:30 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

RTBS is probably way too small of a tank for them.

Barbs:  Melon barbs, Odessa barbs.

I kept white clouds with mine. 

As the fish get big you're going to run into some pecking and fighting.  So I would try to stick to bigger schools of smaller fish. 

Kabutai rasbora, white clouds, etc.  Melon barbs I think stay decently small, but others stay pretty big.

With the scape you have, it's a PERFECT setup for some hillstream loaches or borneo loaches. 🙂
 

All you would need to do is add an airstone somewhere.

Corydoras also work if you want something on the bottom to clean up food the fish miss out on.  with the sand, they'd do well.

My thinking with the RTBS is as he grows I would move him to my 20 gallon and then on to my son's 55 gallon.

I will check into those Hillstream Loaches. They look very interesting. I do have an airstone tucked in behind the heater. It's hard to see, but it's there.

I was also thinking of a small school of the pygmy corys for the tank since its small.

On 8/10/2022 at 11:02 PM, Scapexghost said:

Ive had success keeping swordtails and platies with tiger barbs.

I have some platies I'd like to move down there, but the LFS said it was a no go, but I've seen multiple articles on the internet saying they would be fine. I may give them a try! Thanks!

On 8/10/2022 at 10:34 PM, CrepaPark said:

Definetely bottom dwellers or algae eaters should be pretty good for the Tiger Barbs 

It think I'm going to get a small school of pygmy corys if I can find them.

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/11/2022 at 5:02 AM, kcochran said:

My thinking with the RTBS is as he grows I would move him to my 20 gallon and then on to my son's 55 gallon.

From the start it's too small. They get overly stressed and aggressive when closed in and will kill other fish to protect their area. I recommend minimum a 40B or preferably a 75G for that species.

This also applies to most semi aggressive or aggressive species. Bala sharks, barbs, etc.

For clarity, you might get one RTBS that is very mild mannered. Similar to Betta where personality does come into play. Small, they are very calm and cruise around. I do think they'd go after barbs in general due to behavior and how they navigate the tank.  Once the RTBS realizes it's the tank boss and sets its boundary it will be pretty dominant towards anything around there.  When I had mine in a non optimal situation I used a large pleco cave and that fish seemed to really prefer a cave to protect and claim.

Edited March 14, 2023 by nabokovfan87