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So I finally got my 45 gallon up and now need stocking suggestions. I currently have 1 rainbow shark and 6 tiger barbs that will be going in there and was looking for suggesting for fish for the upper region of the tank. I was considering upping the tiger barbs to 9. But other than that I am open to all suggest even ones with not upping the school to allow more space. I'm looking fish that are active and semi-aggressive. I have no real preference in look my be something with some blue but not a must. The only thing I don't want is something that can look like another rainbow shark because he is aggressive enough. : ( In all I just want lots of options to research to kill time until I add them over the next couple of months. : )

By the way it is a low light planted tank.

Thanks for all the suggestions,

Tigermom

oh wow great, another TB enthusiast!! Do you have greens and albinos in there with them? I am working on building the shoal of TB's in my 20g.

Would a shoal of corys do well? I think the shark would leave them alone, and as long as the TB's are in a big group, you'd be great! Of course, corys are on the bottom, lol and you're looking for upper... I love Bolivian Rams, maybe 2 males and a fem of those would go nicely...

Yes, I am a big fan of tiger barbs. I actually have a very similar set up to yours. I have a 20 gallon with 3 green and 3 albino and want to add 3 regualars once there in the 45. As far as cories Im not sure my shark would like them to much even though I am intrested in the fish. Maybe something to look in to once I get a 55 next year. The ram idea I really like though, they were actually something I was definately looking into. One thing I know is that i dont want breeding so I wonder if I could do one or two males, or 2 females? thanks for the post though. Let me know how you shoal building goes!!!


tigermom

The tiger barbs should be in larger schools than just 3. Minimum is usually 6 of each. I've seen regular tiger barbs attack green ones to death when kept in small groups. Since you already have albino and green leave the regular tiger barbs out and build each of those schools up to 9 or ten each.

Not only will the different schools be less likely to be aggressive towards each other but they'll also display their schooling better.

^_^

I never knew that tiger barbs of different colors would team up against one another. I guess thats why in stores you see the green and albino together and the regualer seperate. I am more than willing to builb up the schools seperately. But would maybe a school of six-eight be okay and each fit in a 45 with a a rainbow shark and some other type of fish?

thanks for the useful info, you probably just saved my fishes lives!!!

tigermom

Six to eight will sure be better than just the 3, I'd suggest adding them 3 of each at a time to prevent putting too much of a stress on the bioload, or letting one school get much bigger than the other.

Don't have any experiences with rainbow sharks, someone else will have to weigh in on that. I'd say work on building the TB schools first then think of the other fish you might be interested in.

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Have you considered female betas for the top region of your tank? possibly 3 or 4 of them, they are only a third less pretty than their male counterparts,quite social, and semi-aggressive(when needed). but iv'e not had much expierience with TB's , i'm thinking tiger barbs are more aggressive than a few female betas would be, especially a school of eight TB's, but some betas are more aggressive than others. so i suppose its smart if you kept barbs and betas 2:1 and the tank is planted so the betas would appreciate that much. then theres that rainbow shark, my expierience with sharks is not a nice one. i had 3 thai crabs in a tank with a red tail shark.....it killed all three crabs overnight.....i have to admit, bravo shark. how often do RB sharks go to the surface? do they care about the fish above them? betas usually mind their own business and dont go snooping in well guarded fish territories. so i dont see much conflict, maybe a few fights here and there, but no blood thirsty hunts to my judgment.

~He who dares not grasp the thorns, should never crave the rose~

I don't think I'd mix the tiger barbs with female bettas. It seems likely that the tiger barbs would go after the bettas, unless they were in a nice sized shoal. Zebra danios might be a good option for other fish, they're fast enough to get away from the TB's should they need to.

i expected that much from a tiger barb, just thought i would get the idea out. dianos do sound like a good idea, but dont zebras have those long flowing fins, a tiger barb would just love to tear such a fin type to ribbons, what about giant danios instead. theyre big,fast,peaceful,and i doubt tiger barbs would even try to bother 6 or 7 of them together, i'm not too shure about their bioload, one would think, big fish=big poop.

~He who dares not grasp the thorns, should never crave the rose~

Real zebra danios have short fins and are fast swimmers. Genetically modified zebra danios include such creations as the long finned zebra danio which I've found to be a slower swimmer (and yes with those long flowing fins that bettas would love to attack), more expensive, and the one that came with a tank I bought was one mean brat and would attack even other zebra danios.

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