I want a school of tiger barbs. One with all the different varieties. Would coolie loaches be good for the bottom of the tank? Would hatchets be good for the top? What kind? Which is the best for a boy who hasn't kept fish for a while? What other fish would go good in this tank(bottom,top, and middle)? It's a 125---> 72"x18"x22". I plan on planting it, so what kind of plants would go good with the species? Both that I want and you recommend. I plan on having Eco-Complete for substrate (black). How should I set it up? Any information would be greatly appreciated!

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I think if all aquatic organisms were to go extinct, I'd go mad.<---I envision this as what I'd be doing!

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Khuli Loaches need sand, so make sure you set up an area with sand for them.

For the Barbs, you can do Tiger Barbs, Albino Tigers and Green Barbs.

If you have Hatchets, make sure you have a lid, cause they WILL fly out of the tank! :D

Pretty sure black blasting sand would work.... you could do the eco on the bottom and sand on top, or, just put a large area of just sand for them... up to you.

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I have gravel with khuli loaches and theyre fine. Just give them some hiding spots. Great bottom feeders.

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16g-2 guppies, 1 bolivian ram, 3 neon tetras,2 khulis
55g-1 red tail shark, 1 rubberlip plecos, 2 banjo cats,
2 silver dollars, 6 white clouds,

I had mine on rounded gravel and eco complete and they lost their barbels - I keep the substrate clean too, so it wasn't bacteria.

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Would I be able to keep otos in this tank? What do u think? I also want feedback on plants and aquascaping plz. thx!

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I think if all aquatic organisms were to go extinct, I'd go mad.<---I envision this as what I'd be doing!

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I found out Ocean Floor has Puntius denisonii. I think I'll just get the Puntius denisonii instead of the tiger barbs, scrape the hachets and get the Ropefish/Reedfish/Snakefish instead and I'll do some sand just in case since reedfish are bottom dwellers like kuliis. Besides it's better to be safe than sry right! also, do you think Discus would be able to go in here as well? All information will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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I think if all aquatic organisms were to go extinct, I'd go mad.<---I envision this as what I'd be doing!

Why that avatar? Visit: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...8040819AAz9c1R Read the best answer.

I've read that Discus can be tricky fish, especially for beginners. Angels would work, but please read up on them before getting them - you can't have too many as they are a cichlid and will fight if kept in wrong proportions... but good news is they don't up root plants!

As for Oto cats, they are super little fish! They need to be in groups (3 being the least). And, you feed them zuchini too - it's so cute to watch them eating it!

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If I learned anything with my first tank, it's tough to find anything that will survive with Tiger Barbs. I even tried a Bala Shark and the barbs harrassed it to death.
My otos got chased around a lot too.
The only real safe options are other tiger barbs (I've seen regualr, albino, and green).

I'm sure other folks have found solutions. But my solution was to just make it a TB-only tank until they all got Ick and died....started over with other fish after that.

My opinion is to go with the Puntius denisonii. I have 3 of them and I can't wait for them to grow. My LFS has a few in their showcase tank and they're like 6 inches long and beautiful!

The more tiger barbs you keep, the less aggressive they will be. They feel safer in larger numbers. See my signature for my tank details, I have no aggression problems.

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55 gallon FW community
20 gallon Goldfish
10 gallon firebelly toad

^ yep - the more there are, the less aggressive they are. Something about spreading out the aggression between themselves instead of other fish and establishing a hierarchy of sorts...

My Dad kept Tiger Barbs and Green Barbs in a community tank, but as I remember, he had quite a few of them.

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