Gold Barbs

[Ashnic05]

Ok so here I am trying to stock my tank with a colorful school of fish. I thought I had it narrowed down to Gold Barbs, but then heard some rumors:

1. They eat plants...is this true? I have a heavily planted tank and really, REALLY don't want anyone munching on my babies...

2. They are fin nippers...I know this is typical of barbs but thought that Gold Barbs were the exception to this rule. Not the case? Or are they nippers, just not as bad as Tiger Barbs? I plan on getting about 9 for my 30g.

3. They don't do well with long-fin fishes such as Bettas. Yes or no?

In your experiences/ opinions is any of this true? What are their general temperments? Already in the tank is:

Betta
German Blue Ram
2 Cory Cats
Golden Zebra Loach

They would be one of the last fish added other than some algae eaters when the tank builds up a bit of it...

Oh and one more thing, are they more shoalers or schoolers? Thanks!

[steven p]

I got one with a shoal of Cory cats. He didn't last long alone, but I never saw any lude behaviour. In fact, I've only ever read good things about the fish.

[brainwavepc.com]

I have 8 big ones in my 125g. they never nip, never bother plants, and are not aggressive towards fry or my gourami fins.

mine schoal and school sometimes.

[jart]

Originally Posted by brainwavepc.com

I have 8 big ones in my 125g. they never nip, never bother plants, and are not aggressive towards fry or my gourami fins.

mine schoal and school sometimes.

+1. Great community fish. Very interesting behaviour at times.Highly recommended.

[Option]

Are these the same as green barbs? I thought I read somewhere that gold barbs in the wild are actually green or slightly green colored....can anyone confirm?

[Ashnic05]

After reading your posts I just bought 9 of them and WOW my tank is active! They look fantastic! Thanks!

[micheljq]

Hello,

I had bad luck with gold barbs. I kept nine in a 20H tank. Later learned they grow 8cm in length, even 10cm in the wild. On the beginning it goes fine, but when they reached 5cm problems began..

In hot pursuit against each other, they bumped into my cabombas and destroyed them. They began eating my egeria densa and when they began eating some crypts, I gave them.

If you feed them twice a day, they may leave plants alone. Also, i think my tank was too small for them.

Michel.

[Ashnic05]

Originally Posted by micheljq

Hello,

I had bad luck with gold barbs. I kept nine in a 20H tank. Later learned they grow 8cm in length, even 10cm in the wild. On the beginning it goes fine, but when they reached 5cm problems began..

In hot pursuit against each other, they bumped into my cabombas and destroyed them. They began eating my egeria densa and when they began eating some crypts, I gave them.

If you feed them twice a day, they may leave plants alone. Also, i think my tank was too small for them.

Michel.

The 9 I have are the first school I've added to my tank and EXTREMELY active. I think 9 is too much for my size of tank so I'll be taking 4 back in a day or two and evaluate the other 5 from there. They've nipped my Bettas fins (separated him) and if hungry will nip at my snails. Both times its been the larger Barbs doing the nipping so the small ones may be ok for a time, but I'll still need to keep an eye on them. They're leaving my plants alone (for now).