Tinfoil Barbs

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
no no tanks usually full to the top!! these pics were taken during a water change,
the filter is a fluval fx5, yes its like a waterfall when levels down but wife goes mental with the noise, and it dont alf make you need the toilet
 
its two pipes an intake and on output the output<the one your refering to is cut through the lid and goes in the corner of the tank<those cut outs on the class in corners!! then it runs down side of tank, its cut through side of cuboard and runs into the cuboard uneath where the filters housed......its just a usual external filter
 
Tinfoil barbs really need to be in groups to be happy. If you are planning to upgrade to a larger tank in a year and want a single large center-piece fish to play nicely with the balas, look into getting a flagtail procilodus. They have a thick shiny silver body like a tinfoil barb, but much more colorful fins and tails. Also, they are best kept without others of their species and are excellent algae eaters. They grow to about 14 inches.
 
jayclarke;1940087; said:
Tinfoils are big stocky Barbs ....
They like a lot of room as well :)
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jcardona1;1940257; said:
tinfoils get BIG, much too big for your 55g. i would suggest this fish be kept in nothing smaller than a 180g. they get big and fat, needs lots of room and eat like pigs.
they are extremely fast swimmers and need plenty of room to move around. and most definately do not keep tinfoils with any shy or slow moving fish as they will probably starve to death. tinfoils are extremely greedy eaters. i always have to throw extra food in there to make sure some of it reaches the bottom of the tank for my bottom feeders and slower moving cichlids.
i think tinfoils do good as dithers in an agressive community tank*. good luck
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*In an aggressive BIG community tank.
aidenb;1940262; said:
i have 2 and the do just fine with my clown knifefish. but i would recomend getting at least 2 so they have a bit of company, aND YES THEY ARE PIGS
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Yes, two or more
Bogwoodbruce;1940328; said:
Ive kept them they do grow very fast, i kept a trio great fish, but youll need to upgrade.
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Good advice
Aquariumjunkie;1940128; said:
they can reach 12" or more. they're cool for a while, but you're gunna need a bigger tank if you want to keep them long term:)
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^^ All of this is excellent advice ^^
Overall, they are schooling, you need at least two, they get huge, and they get huge fast, they eat like pigs, and they are good dithers. They are extremely hardy.

groovylime;1946328; said:
Tinfoil barbs really need to be in groups to be happy. If you are planning to upgrade to a larger tank in a year and want a single large center-piece fish to play nicely with the balas, look into getting a flagtail procilodus. They have a thick shiny silver body like a tinfoil barb, but much more colorful fins and tails. Also, they are best kept without others of their species and are excellent algae eaters. They grow to about 14 inches.
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That would require a signifigantly larger tank, so let me emphasize the need to upgrade. I have also found that they do well with fire eels and other similar-sized peaceful fish. I have 3 balas with my lemon-finned barbs.

Great info, guys!
 
Hooray for tinfoils! I've got five B. altus (red-tails), and they're a delight. I'm tossing my hat in with the others that say you need groups of them. I started out with three, and they were constantly shoving each other around. They became less aggressive toward each other after I added two more. I'll be joining you in the search for a larger tank soon. :)

They certainly do keep the tank inhabitants moving. Feeding time is like watching a tag football match.


PS: Pics per your request, even if my reply is a bit belated relative to your original post.

DangerTank.jpg


FusiRamsXaaron.jpg


TinfoilMafia.jpg
 
Nice barbs, they are atlus you say? The difference is the dorsal fin lacking red? Or is it the tail having less black? I hear they get smaller, about 8-9 inches.

How big are they now? Based on your tape measure I would say a little over 5 inches each.
 
Def best in a group, used to have 8 12 inchers in a 220 gal, along with a giant gourami... they used to steal the G's food from right in front of his face!!

Just got 4 more as going back to FW after new job meant not enough time for my reef..

They're with a clown Acara, a plec and some flying barbs (which aren't moving)... doubled in size since I got them, in about 4 months!

There gonna be in a new tank in a couple of months, thinking of getting another 2 or 3 to keep the infighting spread out a bit...

There's some pics in my thread in newbies bit...

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=203867

Good luck, they are awesome fish and really hardy...
 
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