Tiger Barb with Rummy Nose

[ren_hao]

I am in the process of stocking up my tank.

Here's my tank parameters
60*40*45cm
Ehiem 2032 (pri) + Gex Slim L (back up)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2
pH: 7.4~7.6
Moderately planted tank with 3 small java ferns and a couple of "large" artificial plants and rock-caves

I have the following in my tank now:
3 Electric blue ram
6 rummy nose
6 panda cory
1 platy

I am thinking of adding in a small school of tiger barb but AqAdvisor is saying that tiger barb + rummy nose is not recommend.

Any of you have experience in keeping tiger bard + rummy nose?

[stormhawk]

The common tiger barb in the shops are not recommended for most community tanks because they are fin nippers. However, if you have Systomus hexazona, the 6 banded barb, this is not a problem. Instead of mixing tiger barb with Rummy Nose, why not get more Rummy Nose? They look great in a big school.

[Trichopsis]

Another option is the five-banded tiger barb, which in my opinion is less aggressive than the "common" tiger barb (sometimes differentiated by the name of four-banded tiger barb), and isn't likely to become a fin nipper as long as they're kept in a school. These five-banded tiger barbs are usually sold as feeders, but after quarantine and given some time to settle in, they make a great addition - lively, but with none of the potential aggression seen in the tiger barb, and they also max out at a slightly smaller size.






Small is good.

[ren_hao]

Any idea where to find five/six band bard? I think those at most aquarium are the common four-banded tiger barb

[Trichopsis]

Five-banded tiger barbs are sold by the bagful in some shops as feeders; I've seen them at Arowana Avenue & C328 in Clementi. There's also a tank of five-banded tiger barbs at Qian Hu.

Six-banded barb's appearance in LFS seems to be sporadic.

[ren_hao]

That's great!
Off to Qian Hu tomorrow than

[Trichopsis]

The five-banded tiger barbs at Qian Hu are stocked in the same row of tanks as the four-banded tiger barbs (and other assorted colour varieties); it takes a while to differentiate the two species. Look out for the third black bar on the body; if it is separate from the black bar at the base of the dorsal fin, it is five-banded. If the third body bar and the base of the dorsal fin form a single continuous stripe, then it's four-banded tiger barb.



The five-banded tiger barb also has a more slender body, whereas the commercially-raised four-banded tiger barbs tend to have a very deep body; you can view the photos at Seriously Fish to differentiate the two species:

Four-banded tiger barb
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/puntius-tetrazona/

Five-banded tiger barb
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species...artipentazona/

[ren_hao]

Thanks. Heading down soon