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I'm going to try and kill two bird with one stone here...hopefully it'll work.

At the moment, I'm trying to save up some money to buy some new fish for my tanks (I've had some deaths over the past few months) and I wanted a little more advice before I cash in.

First, I have a 15L tank with barbs in it. The current count is the following:

2 Arulius Barbs
1 Green Tiger Barb
1 Checkered Barb
2 Tiger Barbs

I would like to get a few more barbs as tank mates for them, maybe a couple more Aruilus and one or two more tigers. Would this be overstocking the tank, or are there any other suggestions out there for my barb tank? Any comments you may have for these guys would be great.

My second issue runs with the following problem. My 20H tank recieves a lot of extra sunlight I can't block from my bedroom windows. Therefore, I have gotten a small problem with brown diatom algae (I believe that is what it is--it adheres to the glass/faux plants/rocks, is flat and brown in color). I would like to find a suitable algae eater for this issue, if possible. The current tank is set up with the following:

2 Dwarf Flame Gouramis
1 Long Finned Zebra Danio
3 brilliant Rasbora
1 Dojo Loach

I know there are a few issues here, mainly with the danio (he was a gift from my boyfriend) and the loach (who is currently enjoying burrowing under my decor). I hope to later on get a larger tank for the Dojo, and he is providing no problems as of yet with his current set up.

I would like to get a few more rasboras to round out that school, and possibly get another community fish, perhaps around 5 or 6 to add a little more dynamics to the tank. I don't want to overcrowd, but I also don't want my community fish to be lonesome or scared b/c of a lack of schooling companions.

What are my options for my two tanks, if any?

I was confused about something when reading your post so maybe some others are too. Is that 15L a 15 gallon long or a 15 liter tank?

Sorry about that. I have a 15 gallon LONG tank, and a 20 gallon HIGH tank. I didn't even think about folks translating that into metric. Sorry! ^^;;

From my bit of experience, barbs like to school with their own kind, or ones that look simmilar. I've had issues with aggession keeping individual barbs; if it's not the case for you allready then i can't help too much there.

For the 20g, once you've got all your other fish sorted out in your 20g, i'de reccomend going with a pleco. They're a bit heavy on the bioload but they'll clear that algae out quite nicely. Also i'de reccomend doing fairly frequent water changes and maybe throwing in some plants. For plants, if you're just starting, you can't go wrong with java fern or dwarf anubias; they're common plants and they're very tough.

I think for your 15g you should pick one kind of barb and trade in the others for more of that kind.

Inky

I concur with Inkling. And, given that one of your species is the Checkered Barb, I'd run with a shoal of 6 of those as being less nippy than the Tiger Barbs, thus increasing your options later. If you have space and only plan on getting something like the odd bottom feeder, I'd make that shoal 10, then let some Otocinclus loose on your algae because they stay MUCH smaller tham most Plecs in circulation and won't impact your biofilter too much.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Hmm...

I know the barbs are a bit of a fistful, but I got all of them under wierd circumstances (pet store just gave me the Checker, my bf bought me half of them after accidentally wiping out my entire school...) but in any case, I really do enjoy all of them, and they all get along. I don't really want to give any of my current crew up...I really like Aruilius barbs, if I had to choose just one kind, though. I still dunno about that.

I've thought abotu plants and Otto's for my tank, but i have a few questions...namely, are the plants difficult o care for, and what care do they need...as well as what do Ottos require in a tank, as well as how much company do they need?

Also, what other community fish if I want some schooling or neat behavior for my 20 gallon, if I can put more fish in?

Thanks for all of your comments thus far,

-Silver

honestly, if you want interesting behaviour, small schooling fish aren't the way to go. They look pretty, but they aren't very bright. Go hunt down some apistogramma's if you want interesting behaviour in a 20 gal. If you get more than one male, it takes a little reading and learning about how to create territories for them properly.

Well, if anything, just a little group of Glowlight tetras would satisfiy my tank, I think. But what do you think number wise? Could I put another, oh, 12 fish in my 20 tank and another 4 or so into my 15 tank?