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I havent decided, but i am thinking of a new set up after only a month of my tank being completed...."smacks forehead".

I am not happy with my school of 8 barbs. i cant keep any fish with them, because 8 barbs and all the bottom feeders i have is overload anyway, and even if i get a larger tank my options are limited.

what i am asking is, i have a possible home for the barbs. if i do give them away, is there a couple fish that will work better in a tank with 7 assorted corys,1 south american bumblebee catfish???

i have a BN pleco now as well, from before i found out how messy they were, also, she is very agressive and my corys are scared to death of her....she is only half grown now too, if she gets 4" or more i worry about injury to the corys, which i LOVE... and the south american cat HAS to stay.

any thoughts? should i keep the barbs and keep up the routine of twice a week water changes and be happy? the barbs are colorfull but dont display any character really.

any thoughts??? im thinking maybe 1-3 larger "centerpiece" fish. less active, but fewer in number so a 29 would be enough room. ph stays at 7.0, temperature can be adjusted slightly as long as it doesnt interfeire with the corys or bumblecat,i guess i just want something in there that doesnt eat and poop as much, i am ready for one water change a week on it, since i have a 2 gallon with a beta in it. i have a two year old and me and my wife work over 40 hours a week, and she has nothing to do with the fish,lol. im starting to feel overloaded.

anything that even when full grown will be happy in a 29 gallon tall tank with 7 corys and a south american bumblebee cat(he is alseep all day in a cave anyway).

here is the tank


Last edited by reun at 14-Dec-2005 21:51

The tank looks very nice. The barbs are hard to see though. I'm surprised they don't show any character though. I would add a cichlid, like a krib, a ram, or a keyhole. They seem to really bring the barbs out and the barbs are good target fish for cichlids, even the semi-aggressive ones. The cichlids I mentioned are fairly well tempered. I wouldn't get more than one as your tank has less surface area (tall as opposed to long), and they like to chase each other around. If they decide to breed they get more aggressive. They will be fine with the other fish as they will be the last ones to go in and the other fish have already established territories.
Barbs do tend to limit our options a bit and I just learned they can live up to 7 yrs.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

that shot was taken before the barbs were added to the tank, trust me, you would see the 8 barbs,lol...they dont hide at all,lol.

well, im thinking about selling or giving the barbs away...last thing i wanna do is add ANOTHER fish and make care even more intensive...if i get rid of the barbs what to add is my question...

im thinking that my pretty BN pleco needs to go too...she is far too agressive, when she gets to be over 4 inches and the corys are still 2 inches i worry for their safety, she slaps them with her tail and nose slams them, they dont seem to be getting injured, but, she is still only 2.5" and very slender. not to mention a 29 gallon without alot of bottom space for 7 bottom feeders and a 4"+ pleco is not a good idea.

the barbs have filled outalot since i purchased them a couple months back, at least the 6 little ones i started out with, some are still only 1.5" or so. its not that i hate the barbs, i just dont care for their nippy behavior, and they are very greedy, they school up and chase my corys away from their own food in the pebbles.

the fish just arent my style, they eat alot, tend to shred the food they get unless it is a small pellet they can swallow in one bite. live foods or any type of flake gets shredded and becomes waste on the bottom.

i dunno, maybe i should just be happy since my tank is currently balanced. im just thinking i might like 1-3 beautifull, intersting to watch, yet maybe not as active fish. 1-3 that will be happy in a 29 gallon. no live bearers, nothing messy, something that likes the water peramiters my corys do yet will leave them alone, and big enough that the bumblecat wont swallow them whole (larger than 1".

maybe i want something i shouldnt have. i just want easy mantanence since i am a novice, and soemthing that will allow me to do less than 2 water changes a week to keep water peramiters safe....

Not being too hard on you. What exactly do you want?
To me it sounds like a ???? tank if at all that looks after its self. Sorry there is no such thing.
The only tank I know off is the one attached to the side of a computer at my local computer shop all sealed and artifical.
All living creatures require loving care and attention.
This is 35+years of experience talking it takes me a small amountb of time every day and several hours every week end for the water changes etc.

My Profile will have my 2 tank details.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
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Keith

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no, please dont mis understand, what i am saying is due to real life, doing water changes twice a week, carefull monitering off all my differant types of fish and metering out food to them all is taking a fair chunk of what little time i have off...i have been working 6 days a week, 10 hours a day (if i dont get out late).

what i am saying is, i dont want a tank that is "self sufficient", i just want one with maybe fewer fish so i only have to do a 20% water change once a week, and a less demanding fish perhaps.

the main thing is something that wont bother my corys as much and that is a little more fun to watch and has more personality. the barbs all act the same, out of my 5 banded tiger barbs i cannot tell a differance between any of them other than slight external differances. they are very fast paced fish, i thought they would be fun to watch, all they do in my tank during the day is hover by the glass waiting to be fed...they dont swim or do anything, sometimes they chase each other around or the 8 of them group up and pick on corys.

im sorry to sound like someone who doesnt seem to care, but i do...i just for see as my current set up of fish gets larger as they grow, even more attention will be needed and i fear if something ever comes up like a family emergency, i dont want the fish to suffer because i couldnt change the water 3 times a week.

im sorry if i seem ignorant and want a "self sufficeint" tank, because i dont, i love caring for and watching my fish, but yet, the barbs arent any fun to watch really, i cant attach a bond to them because they all move as a school and seem to have no personality. yet i can tell all my corys apart. even my super agressive BN pleco has a personality...even if she is just mean at least she is "differant".

i dunno, i just want less of a work load than the barbs, and something with a bit more personality and a bit more entertaining....