Newbies Looking for Advice on a Tank Passed To Us

[jetli1981]

Hello All,

My wife and I got a 29 gal aquarium recently from a neighbor who was moving out. We currently have 2 gold gouramis, 2 tiger barbs, 1 green severus and a zucchinni catfish. We are already planning on trying to give the cichlid to a shop or a friend b/c he just seems a bit too agressive and greedy with food. Unfortunately, the 2 pairs don't seem to get along very well. One of the tiger barbs, who is slightly larger, constantly chases and nips the other one (we've noticed a bit of damage on the littler one's top fin). The same is the case with the gouramis. One is about twice the size of the other and always attacks the smaller one (we also found evidence of nipping). We just got the smaller one a couple of weeks ago, and the bigger/older? one has been mean from the beginning.

So a couple of questions.

1. We read that tiger barbs are best in at least groups of six - would this be a solution to get more of them? Could the tank support that many fish?

2. We also read in passing on the gourami forum that it might be good to remove the agressive one?

3. Also, an extra question from my wife: the severus is constantly grabbing the catfish's food pellet. We try to get it in a hidden area for the catfish, but is there much else we can do? How important is the pellet for sustaining the catfish?

Sorry for so many questions on our first forum post, but it seems we've inherited quite the dysfunctional tank. Any advice would be much appreciated!

[annageckos]

Hello All,

My wife and I got a 29 gal aquarium recently from a neighbor who was moving out. We currently have 2 gold gouramis, 2 tiger barbs, 1 green severus and a zucchinni catfish. Rehome the severum, they are too big for a 29 and not a community fish. Also I have never heard of a 'zucchinni cat', I have some guesses. Can you get a photo please.
So a couple of questions.

1. We read that tiger barbs are best in at least groups of six - would this be a solution to get more of them? Could the tank support that many fish?
Tiger barbs are schooling fish. Schooling fish should always be kept in groups of 6 or more. Up the school, it will help with aggression, but they will always bicker amoung eachother. They are barbs, thats what they do.

2. We also read in passing on the gourami forum that it might be good to remove the agressive one?
I would rehome one of the gouramis. It is best to only keep one per tank.

3. Also, an extra question from my wife: the severus is constantly grabbing the catfish's food pellet. We try to get it in a hidden area for the catfish, but is there much else we can do? How important is the pellet for sustaining the catfish?
Rehoming the sev will solve this problem. But we really need to know what the cat is. Different catfish have different needs. Some eat veggies, some need more meat, others even eat wood. Also some catfish are schoolers.
!

Do you have a liquid test kit? If not then you want to get one, I like API liquid master test kit. Stay away from the test strips, they are often inaccurite. It is alway good to know what you parameters are, and anytime you need help that is one of the first things that will be asked.

[Northernguy]

Welcome to the Fabulous AC!:22:
annageckos has given great advice.Try and rehome the severum.They get way to big for a 29.
The TBs are best to have more females than males in the school.
That pleco gets over 20" long.Its a great looking fish but should be in a much larger tank.
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

Also please give the ebook a read! It will help you out quite a bit.

[Spartanhockey89]

Like NG and annageckos said, the barbs are best kept in groups of 6 or more. To go along with NG, the females are the rounder, slightly larger ones. With the gouramis, try getting hiding spots like fake plnts, driftwood, etc.. If the aggression continues, you may have to remove one. On your question if the bigger one is older, probably, but individual species vary, so any details you have on the two would be useful. try googling them by color and markings to find a name.

[Lady Hobbs]

Welcome to AC.

I would give your friend that Severum and the Barbs, myself, and just stick with a nice community tank.

[rich311k]

I would remove the barbs as well. They will never be completely peaceful. As stated above keep just one gourami.

The sev and the cat really must go as they will get to large.

[troy]

Why are people assuming the "zucchini catfish" is a common pleco? Plenty of species of catfish will eat zucchini. For all we know it could be one of the species from the otocinclus genus.

[Cliff]

You got a lot of good advice here.

perhaps you could provide moe details about the cat fish, a pic maybe.

That way there could be someone who could better identify the fish and give you some even better advice

Just a thought

[jetli1981]

Thank you all for the responses. This is all good food for thought. I don't have a picture of our exact catfish - the zuccinni pleco, but I've attached a pic from a link provided in the Fish Compatibility forum: [Only Registered Users Can See Links.].

I'm bummed to learn that the catfish may need to go. He is by far our favorite. I've heard it's good to have bottom feeder, but should we get a different type of catfish then? Ours is fairly small - only about 4 inches long and he likes to camp out under an ornament we have in the middle of the tank. I've seen the very large ones, but I just didn't think ours could get that huge unless he's still very young.

Also, if we were to get rid of the TB's and one gourami that wouldn't leave us much left in the community. Any suggestions as to better community fish to fill out the group? I like the idea of at least trying to get four more TB's to see how they do and getting rid of the bigger gourami. It may be time for a complete revolution in the tank, though, eh?

[annageckos]

To me that looks like a common or sailfin. I have never heard the name 'zuchinni pleco'. I would rehome it and get a bristlenose pleco, they stay small and are really interesting to watch. I have two and really like them. There are also rubber lip and bulldog plecos too that would do well. If you like the tiger barbs keep them, you can add a couple of the different color forms too like albino and green. It limits what other fish you can do in the tank, but they are nice. If you do deside to rehome the tiger barbs take a look around your LFS and see what you like. Write the names down and then do some research first.

[Northernguy]

Read the link I posted earlier and you will see a zucchini pleco.
They do get up to 20" long and are not right for your tank.

I do recommend a smaller pleco as suggested.