David Zopf wrote:

I think you're probably feeding them well. Sparingly and with variety is
the best guidance for feeding omnivores like your barbs. Keep a few things
in mind; Its really really hard to starve a fish. Captive fish are beggars,
to the last fin. Behavior at feeding time is _never_ an indicator of how
appropriate the quantity of food you are serving is... Track your water
quality parameters, too. High phosphates or nitrates may be an indication
of a heavy feeding hand (a lot better indicator than begging fish, anyways
;-).

Hmmm, point taken. It's hard to resist them though - they seem to beg
at the glass when I walk up to the tank, especially if they had a brine
shrimp treat at their last meal. I guess what I'm trying is 5 flakes
of about 0.7cm square twice a day and every other day a small
additional snack of either brine shrimp or bloodworm (just enough so
that all traces are gone in 5 min). Do you think that sounds OK?
I've done some water testing and it's at Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm,
nitrate 20ppm (just above tap water here.) Oh BTW I have loads of
trumpet snails and they seem to clean EVERYTHING.


You are right, 5-bands can max out at 2 inches. The cats might get a little
bigger, too. Is this your breed?

http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/hy...us_flavus.html

...or is this your breed?

http://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/ba...ridionalis.htm

Get those cats ID-ed! If you've got something which will grow bigger, you
need to plan for that (either return the fish now for some panda cories, or
otherwise plan for their eventual growth).


I'm pretty sure the chaps at the shop said it was this one
http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Spec...y.php?id=23084

It was Panda Cory's that I originally asked for (I love their 2 little
black blobs) but the shop chaps said that the barbs would nip the
pandas because they had a black dorsal fin and I would be better off
with these. I felt sad at the time because I had been hoping for the
pandas for ages but now I've seen how lively and interesting these
little guys are I would probably go for these next time. They even
swim in and out of my plants cleaning them! One of them plays in the
bubbles sometimes, swimming in near the bottom and then shooting up to
the top. But most of the time they both flit around eating a bit of
something here and a bit there.



Assuming your cats will remain under 2 inches, you will still be looking at
a total of 10 inches of adult fish , or more. Note, the "inches of fish" is
just a general guide, and a poor one at that. Taking the fish's mass
("girthy" fish count for more... an inch of Pearl Gourami doesn't equal an
inch of neon tetra) and dietary habits into account (carnivores and messy
eaters should have more water than others), as well as its behavior, like
the swimming preference you mentioned, is a much better indicator. I think
your fish will eventually outgrow your current tank.

Ahh, the slippery slope of fishkeeping... I suggest you think about a
20-ish gallon (75-80 liter) setup in the coming year, or so. Your adult
barbs and bagrus will be very happy in there (plenty of free swimming space,
more tank bottom for the cats), the tank will be a lot more stable, and
there'll be a bit of room for some tankmates, which you've probably already
been eye-ing.

I've already been looking for another tank. I've really been bitten by
this fish keeping bug - it's so additictive! I though that 20 gallons
would be good, then I could transfer all these fish into it, add some
bright orange platies and then perhaps use the old little tank for a
betta and some corys.
What I don't understand is why I am so addicted to all this?

About the "four minimum" rule, every group is different, but less
aggresive barbs like your five-bands can get by in a smaller group. The
"gang of four" minimum is more for the more aggresive fin-nipping barbs, and
is designed to disperse natural aggressions across a greater number of group
members. Five-bands are generally less aggresive with nipping, so you will
probably be alright in that respect.

That's a relief. On their second day they seems slightly aggresive
with each other and one kept hiding in the weed from the other 2 but
they seem to have sorted out who's boss now and shoal quite happliy
with no more chasing or nipping. I think I have 2 males and 1 female
which I suspect is less than ideal. (It was the female which was
hiding - if I've got this right, she has lighter less distinct stripes
than the other two.)

Thanks ever so much for your post - very much appreciated.


jazz