Re: Tiger barb co-habitants/Crayfish -- fishlover forum

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Date Posted: 13:48:33 05/26/02 Sun
Author: Diva
Subject: Re: Tiger barb co-habitants/Crayfish
In reply to: K 's message, "Tiger barb co-habitants/tank requirements?" on 05:50:49 03/17/02 Sun

>I am interested in getting some tiger barbs for my ten
>gallon tank, are there other attractive fish that
>could live with them? I have live plants and some
>driftwood. Thanks
>K

Hi there. We have our tiger barbs in a 35 gallon and they are great! Ours live happily in a group of six or more (right now we have 12) in three colours - orange, green and albino ("Peach"). Everyone in the tank gets along, although personality has a lot to do with it.

We have only 3 species in the tank and this simplicity works well. In addition to the barbs we have...

Two bottom-dwellers that the fish store said were both Chinese Algae eaters... we're not so sure. Likely, one of these fish ("Lisa") is indeed a CAE or perhaps a Simese Algae Eater. The other ("Skeletor") is a Gold Chinese algae eater we think (or a poser). He is quite an interesting guy with his bright yellow head and big sucker. He's now about 4 inches long and very quick when he zooms from one landing spot to another. If you ever see a creature like this, grab him, because he is a really good character who likes to perch with head up as well as sucking onto glass and rocks. Not too sure he's eating algae though, so :)

The other inhabitant, one we HIGHLY recommend with tiger barbs, is the freshwater crayfish (lobster at the LFS). Tiger barbs are a SUPER fast fish, especially when in warmer waters. That means that 9 times out of 10, Mr. Barberella will escape the claws of even the most mean-spirited lobster tankmate.

A note on lobsters - We have had two different kinds now.

We found the Blue variety to be quite inclined to do a little brutalized "fishing" now and again (especially when it came to not-so-fast bottom-dwellers like the poor plecco who got snipped in half... only sick Tiger Barbs were caught by "Beeker", a Blue that died of suffocation during a moult and we didn't rush out to replace him.

When my husband decided to give it another go with a Red this time, I wasn't so sure what to think. But it has turned out to be great. This crustacean is friendly and interesting in our tank. He hasn't bothered any of the fish and he performs a valuable *scavenging* service in the tank. He is quite interactive and fun to feed with shrimp pellets and just about anything else that gets to the bottom. It's neat to see him using his 8 arms and claws! You know he's basically an armoured underwater spider... they grow by shedding the shell (tenticles and all) and soaking up water and expanding by doing so. At this time the crayfish is most vulnerable and will stay in a sheltered safe spot. For this reason, it's advisable to keep only one in your tank. And make sure he can't climb out (our Blue was big on escape attemps via the air-stone hose, so be careful).

Our Red crayfish is quite a wonderful neighbour, I would think if I were a fish. I can't say for sure if this non-bloodthirsty nature is inate in Reds or if its because we generously feed it, which is fun to watch.

Habitat: Our tank features stone caves and plants, and I think this is probably the most important part about setting up your tiger barb community tank. Keep it simple, make it comfortable, make sure everyone has a place to flee to if necessary. Don't get any fish with long fins, as you probably already know what will happen.

I hope this helps some of you who are looking for some exitement in your Tiger barb tank. We love our set up, and everyone in the community is doing great! Tiger Barbs are the best. Rawr!

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