Angel Fish and Barbs

[BigEyedFish]

So my LFS has some beautiful Angel Fish for sale, 2/1. They're the large ones, 'bout 4 inches across they're body I'd guess. I have a 30 gallon with 3 clown loaches, and 6 tiger barbs. Would the Angel fish be okay with the barbs? or are they too aggressive for the very passive Angels?

[JDM]

Well ya know I went to my LFS today and thought that same exact thing but I think the Barbs amy nip at thier fins. I would like to keep an angle or two in my 55g but i have 10 Barbs
JDM

[davian459]

I wouldn't put the angels in there. For one thing, if you're keeping them as pets, you'd need a bit more space, or a bit less fish than you currently have. Then there's the agression issue that I think you would really like to know about...

THe barbs are fine, being in a school already. In theory they have enough barbs to pick on so that they don't need to pick on anybody else. But then again, the angels could also territorial once they establish themselves...

The bottom line, adding angels there would be risky even with sufficient space and I would advise against it for now.

[Eustace]

davian459 pretty much said it all. When barbs are in a school there attention will be taken away from other tankmates, but not completely. It's not something i'd recommend doing.

[maxpayne_lhp]

Well, I used to have a school of 4 Tiger Barbs, but they still nipped the fins and caused the death of 4 OUT OF 4 Angels of mine! That was too bad!

[leck85]

yea not a great idea

[maxpayne_lhp]

I don't know, tiger barbs are beautiful but ther are nipping devils!. Anyone knows why? or is it just a normal behaviour?

[judya]

I'd be tempted to set up another tank for the angels. Maybe you could get them to breed at that size, assuming you could manage to get several and have them pair off. Of course then you'd have to get another tank to put the extra adults into, and then another tank to put any babies into to raise up. ....

[MB75]

Originally Posted by maxpayne_lhp @ Thu Jan 20, 2005 8:01 am

Well, I used to have a school of 4 Tiger Barbs, but they still nipped the fins and caused the death of 4 OUT OF 4 Angels of mine! That was too bad!

Maybe that is because 4 Tiger Barbs is not yet a true school. I'm sure they would love the company of 4 more Tiger Barbs to create a proper small school.
Tiger Barbs are truly lively and sparky fish which will turn out a bit evil in wrong company.

[yoink]

I have a school of nine tiger barbs and a rainbow shark. The wont mess with the shark, on the contrary the shark will chase them if they get too near his little tunnle. I have had one in a hospital tank with a few neons and some cory cats and everyone got along great. I think they are mostly aggressive to each other, but they will pick on any other fish that can't hold it's own. I don't think the angles would be much of a match for the tiger barbs though, they are quite the fin nippers.

[(RC)]

Barbs love Angels... The fins anyways. I've found even with 6 Tiger Barbs the long fins the Angels are just to temping to pass up for long.


RC

[penpitt]

I would'nt get the angels. You are already pushing the tanks capacity because clown loaches get fairly big as do the angels,which are already 4 inches. Tiger barbs are a fairly robust fish too.

[Mudd]

i have 4 green barbs with one angel in my tank .. and surprisingly they hardly ever bother the angel ....they give the angel ****a quick chase here and there .. but only for a quick second .. then they go back to their business..

the angel stays at hte top of the tank and the barbs mid to lower part .. so they seldom clash ... i guess i just lucked out with it ..

its actually funny because hte barbs will harass my gouramis far mroe than the angel and hte gourami it harrases the most is atleast 5 times the size of them ... .

[maxpayne_lhp]

Yeah, a school of 4 may be too small to be ... say, a school! When I have a bigger community tank, I'll move them in and add some more!
Thanks!