appropriate fish for a 30 gallon tank

miagrrl

I have a new 30 gallon tank cycling with two zebra danios in it right now. My plan is to have a small school (at least six) tiger barbs in it. my question is, how many fish can i keep safetly in a tank that size. Ideally, what I want is 6-7 tigers, the 2 danios currently residing, and one bottom feeder OR algae eater (pleco or a Red Tailed Shark). Is that too high of a load for a 30 gallon?? the barbs are a must, cause I already have three in a smaller tank, and they will agress on my danios if i don't have enough. i really want the benefits of a scavenger like a pleco or shark- but if i will be pushing the limits of my tank, then i won't do it. it is a moderately planted tank, if that helps.

Also- my 10 gallon will be vacant once I move my barbs over, I was thinking of keeping mollies or guppies, hwo many can I keep in a 10 gallon tank? or is there a fish that prefers a solitary life (other than a beta)??

THANKS!!!

Enzo

for the 30g u probably will want a pleco and u can get a redtailed shark too cuz 7 tigerbarbs and 2 danios is nothing u could get yoyo loaches gouramis livebearers or cichlids u can have alot of fish in a 30 gallon especially if their the size of a Tiger Barb if u just get tiger barbs u can have over 20

JouteiMike

No that should be fine. Just whatever you do, don't put them in all at once. Let the tank cycle with the Danios. Then once the readings level out, add some more danios to make a nice school. Then I would wait at least a few weeks before adding anything else. If you want a school of barbs, I would add 3, then wait a couple weeks, then add 3 more so to speak, or however many you want to add. The trick is to be patient and add them SLOWLY. This entails your biological filtration, IE Beneficial Bacteria, to develop and acclimate to the amount of waste being produced. I would add the algae eater last. Give the tank time to develop algae naturally. And I've also heard that algae eaters tend to be more sensitive to water conditions, so make sure you add him when the tank has somewhat matured. I would steer clear of adding the shark, you'd need a much larger tank.

I'd say maybe 2 or 3 guppies would do fine in the 10 gallon. Also there are many shrimp/snails that would be okay in a small tank.