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One of our small tanks 18" by 12" by 9" with the temperature set at 25C only has two tiger barbs and a smallish plec in it. I would like to add more fish but am aware that barbs can be aggressive. Can anyone suggest good neighbours?

Rainbow Shark, Red Tail Shark, Gouramis, Platies, Swordtails, Mollies.i had one sometime ago he assassinated all me Guppies. lmao!! so dont get any of them. i have been told if you have six or more Tiger Barbs in your tank they dont go for other fish

By the time I've got 6 barbs there'd be no room for other fish anyway lol. Tried sailfin mollies once but they were in the same tank as a siamese fighter and I think he took them as competition cos he was forever chasing them round the tank.

A bit narky them Siamese fighters, should never be put in a tank with other fish, or even ones of the same breed unless they're female. A bit like Stu really.

I have and i no of loads of others that have had all kinds of fish with them. if anythink the other fish go for the fighters. tiger barbs & Rainbow Sharks are more narky.

betta's (fighters) are generally fine with other fish. fair enought there will be odd cases where they arent but the majority r ok. but CANNOT an i mean CANNOT (only in rare cases) be kept just as a pair. if ur keeping female fighters. it is suggested to have a minimum of 5 as they fight for dominance otherwise. but if there is 5 they sort of choose a leader and follow that leader. (dont know y they dont do the same with just 3. they just dont) and NEVER keep 2 males together. will be certain death for 1 after a week and the other's fins will be shredded to bits. the odd cases where betta's r kept as a pair r when u can get hold of a REALLY dosile male. but if they were to breed. the male instantly kills the female after spawning. he will chase her round the tank till she dies of stress or just ram her to death. but all in all betta's on their own r a great adition to a community tank.

as for tiger barbs. my gf had 2 in a community tank an d they were fine,. they were mixed with guppies, neons, harlequin rasbora's, rummy nose tetra's, mollies. and other fish. only problem is when they grow on abit they tend to kill each other lol. may not be all of em dat do this but i know of a few that have.

I've told this one before but someone emptied all the fighters out of their little jars in the Oxton Rd petshop years ago and they were all at it. They used to be displaying at each other all day long which is what attracted people to look at them and some to buy. It was a bevvied bloke that let them all out. Can only go by what I saw. The books at the time also recommended the advice and I kept fish myself in those days (4 big tanks) but didn't go against advice.

what u mean all at it ? flaring up at each other (sign of aggression) ? or hanky panky ? lol. if hanky panky was the case and they were friendly with each other its probs coz they can see each other through the containers and got used to being around each other. if av got this wrong please explain wot u mean ?

even betta's born in the same brood fight when they hit a certain age. u have to split all the males up and keep ALL the females together. if u brake the females up into small groups or pairs they start fighting.

Just thought i would update my list as i have just bought a breeding group of 5 bristlenoses on ebay


9 bristlenose plec's (2albino 7 brown)
3 albino cory's
1 anchor catfish
13 baby guppies (bout a month old)
8 assorted swordtails (3 males 5 females)
1 kissing gourami (1 died just yesterday)
1 assassin snail

Wow Rickie, you sure have some dealings with siamese fighters. My daughter insisted on having 3 females to her male and that worked just fine till one of them jumped out of the tank. Once the status quo had gone, so did the fish.

lol. yea. they can be fine. i know a lad hu had a male and added a female and they were fine for ages. he was even defending her and stuff. if another fish came near her he would shoot in front of her and flare up and make the other fish back away. then 1 day about 2 months after introducing the female. the female was found ripped to shreds in the tank and all he kept other than then fighters were mollies and platys. without a doubt the male fighter. if u want quantity get 5 females (maybe 3 could survive without killing each other. but dno i only had 2 and they killed each other off.) but if u want it for looks get 1 and order it off aquabid.com bout 30 kwid a fish with delivery but they r stunning. u can also get giant betta's(fighters) can grow to about 7" really nice fish betta's.

Nice one Robbo, they start displaying aggression and changing their colours and flaring out their fins and doing a sort of fishy war dance, hence the little jars they are kept in so that they don't get at each other. Should imagine the pet shop people (no, not the effin group : that's for the smarties), know what they are doing and ditto the people who write tropical fish keeping books. It is a fascinating hobby and you are gutted when your kids find the anti-white spot fluid and pour it in the tanks and kill all your fish and that's when you pack it all in. Funny now but it wasn't then.

devastated mate. dont hve kids so aint gunna happen lol can't wait for my breeding group of bristlenoses arrive tomorrow tho

o yea and if ur a betta fan. y not go for something like these ? GIANT betta's

http://www.giantbettasworld.com/index.php?lay=show&ac=article&Id=538642998&Ntype=1

can get em on sites like aquabid.com. but make sure u tell them ur from UK before bidding. as some dont ship to uk.