Fish compatibility

[Adam Swarbrick]

Hi all,

Please could you let me know your thoughts on adding black Ruby barbs or Odessa barbs to the following community.

12 rummy nose

10 corydoras

1 long fin bristlenose 

thanks in advance

[Fish Folk]

Here’s a video from Cory, 5-years ago on them…

Got to keep in a school. I like 12x for a size

[Scapexghost]

I think that would work fine

[Flumpweesel]

Sounds like it would make a nice conmunity 

[mynameisnobody]

I’ve kept Odessa Barbs and they can be gorgeous depending on where you get them from. I’d do a minimum of a dozen. They should do very well for you. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/25/2022 at 10:43 AM, Adam Swarbrick said:

12 rummy nose

10 corydoras

1 long fin bristlenose

Which species of corydoras? (Just curious!)

Rummy nose, depending on size I think will be fine. The species you're talking are barbs and can be a bit intimidating for other fish. As long as the scape is good for them, it should be sufficient and a great community tank.

I generally prefer Odessa over the rosy barbs, but even something like melon barbs might be slightly smaller with similar behavior and compatibility.

I think, depending on what type of a setup you're looking at, having both the rosy and the Odessa is a route to go. They will compete with one another as opposed to competing with the tetras. Same thing, if you add another set of tetras as well it would diffuse the aggression if you opt for one species of barb. They will likely try to push back both groups from their own species as they swim around the tank.

[anewbie]

On 12/25/2022 at 12:43 PM, Adam Swarbrick said:

Hi all,

Please could you let me know your thoughts on adding black Ruby barbs or Odessa barbs to the following community.

12 rummy nose

10 corydoras

1 long fin bristlenose 

thanks in advance

Depends on tank size and temp which depends no which species of corydoras you have ... btw i tend to prefer cherry barbs (though they don't school); and kubotai rasbora (which school and swim constantly like rummies).

Edited December 26, 2022 by anewbie

[Adam Swarbrick]

Thanks all,

 

I have a reasonably planted 40 gallon tank with orange Venezuelan corys. Was just looking for something bigger for a centre piece. I’ve allready and and bred Pearl gourami so I was leaning toward a barb but was worried about nipping my long fin pleco.

 

[IHOctopus]

@Mynameisnobody Can I ask you a few question on Odessa barbs since you say you've kept them? Did you find them to be a schooling or shoaling fish? And would you say they like flow or fairly still water?  I'm stocking a new stream-style scape with schooling fish, and would love to add some Odessas.

[mynameisnobody]

@IHOctopus They are definitely shoalers at least with a school of a dozen. If you add more, they may school, but I’m not certain. I would say a medium flow, but definitely nothing too strong. You also may want to look at Select Aquatics. Greg Sage has the premier Odessa Barbs, they are unmatched and I’d never purchase them from anyone else. He has taken years to perfect his line, and holy wow, in person they are stunning. Good luck. 

[IHOctopus]

On 12/26/2022 at 6:51 PM, Mynameisnobody said:

@IHOctopus They are definitely shoalers at least with a school of a dozen. If you add more, they may school, but I’m not certain. I would say a medium flow, but definitely nothing too strong. You also may want to look at Select Aquatics. Greg Sage has the premier Odessa Barbs, they are unmatched and I’d never purchase them from anyone else. He has taken years to perfect his line, and holy wow, in person they are stunning. Good luck. 

Yes, I had my eye on Greg Sage's line! They are stunners.

Thanks for the info. I'm really torn between odessa barbs or a huge school of active schoolers, like danio kyathit. It will take me a while to set up the tank, so I have plenty of time to see where I land.

[mynameisnobody]

@IHOctopus If it were me and I wanted an intense schooler, I’d go with danios or rummynose. If you’re going for a loose shoal of beauties, then you really can’t beat the Odessa barbs. Good luck! 

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/26/2022 at 1:10 PM, Adam Swarbrick said:

I’ve allready and and bred Pearl gourami so I was leaning toward a barb but was worried about nipping my long fin pleco.

The barbs won't be at the bottom of the tank.  They will stick to the top half of the water column.  Barbs usually only go down there when hiding or sleeping. 

Looking at the tank setup you have a lot of open space.  There's some, but not a ton of swim-throughs or things that break sight.  There is a big island of tall plants in the middle, but I do see some slight risk if you're talking about an aggressive type of fish.  Ultimately, this just means to make sure you have enough, add more hardscape, or be sure to add a few species to diffuse aggression and encourage schooling behavior.

Not mine, but here is a video showing a scape of a pretty good size tank that does have barbs with a similar type of "open scape" issue.  This one has slightly more swim-throughs but you can see how active some barbs will be. having the sight breaks can be important.
 

 

Here is a good example, of a species very similar to what you're looking at in terms of barbs.  You can also see that as there is other fish in the tank, the barbs stick together and show off that schooling behavior.