150 gallon tank: stocking suggestions

Question
QUESTION: Hello there! :)

I've kept peaceful fish all my life and am now wanting to move into the semi-aggressive group of fish. I'm going to be purchasing a 150 gallon tank for them (I keep my peaceful community in a 180 gallon) and am doing research as to what species I should keep. Tiger barbs and tinfoil barbs have captured my heart, although I am aware that tinfoils get rather large. Can you please suggest what other species I should keep that would be compatible with these two? Also, the number of each kind of species would be very helpful. :) I've heard the following are semi-aggressive, is this true and can they be kept with the aforementioned?

Rosy Barbs
Black Skirt Tetras
Serpae Tetras
Giant Danios
Red-Tailed Sharks
Silver Dollars
Kissing Gouramis

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question! :D All advice and help will be cherished. :)

ANSWER: Hi Myra

There are many possibilities for the 150g semi-aggressive tank. The ones you listed are smaller. Rather than type them out, I'll give you links to 2 types of semi-aggressive setups using both small and larger semi-aggressive fish. Both setups use Tiger Barbs and Tinfoil Barbs, as well as many of the other ones you listed. These links contain photos of the fish to give you an idea of what they look like.

For smaller semi-aggressive fish:
http://www.elmersaquarium.com/c106community5barbs.htm

For larger semi-aggressive fish:
http://www.elmersaquarium.com/c106community7silverdollar.htm

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/c106community8firemouth.htm

Stocking should always be 1" of fish per gallon of water. Take a look at the links above and let me know which fish you would like to use, and I'll tell you how many of each to stock your tank.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Richard

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Richard :)

Thank you so much for your quick reply. I've looked through the links you gave me and have come up with the following list. One thing I feel I should mention is that in my previous question, I said I wanted Tinfoil Barbs. What I really meant was that I wanted the Red-Tailed Tinfoil Barb which only grows to around 8" or so, whereas Tinfoils reach around 14". (Correct me if I'm wrong by the way. :)Without further ado, here's my list:

Tiger Barbs
Rosy Barbs
Gold Barbs
Kribensis
Red-Tailed Tinfoil Barb
Serpae Tetra
Black Skirt Tetra
Giant Danio
Kissing Gourami

Can you please let me know how many of each to keep so that they can all be housed comfortably? I really wanted a Red-Tailed Shark, but I think the Kribs would be rather mean to it. (Or vice versa.)

I also think with this arrangement, my tank isn't quite evenly stocked. Most of these fish are top/middle dwellers and so my bottom is sort of bare. Any suggestions for that? (Unless you think the Kribs themselves can dominate that zone. :P)

Thanks for all your help! :D

Answer
This should work well for you using the fish you named. Also, I doubt the Kribensis would bother the Redtail Shark. I have Kribensis in several of my tanks including some with Redtails and they are fine. If they should bother the Redtail, he is more than capable of defending himself.

Any variation of the Tinfoil Barb whether it be Redtail, Tinfoil or Goldfoil can reach 14". I did this based on that size. Unfortunately the Tinfoils and the Kissing Gourami, which will be an average of 8-10", are going to take up a lot of the room in your tank.

The fish that I've listed as 1 means they don't get along well with their own species. I also added a Weather Loach as an additional bottom dweller. I think every tank should have one, except aggressive Cichlid tanks. If you get one, you'll quickly learn why.

Tiger Barbs - 6
Rosy Barbs - 4
Gold Barbs - 6
Kribensis - 2
Red-Tailed Tinfoil Barb - 4
Serpae Tetra - 6
Black Skirt Tetra - 6
Giant Danio - 5
Kissing Gourami - 1
Redtail Shark - 1
Weather Loach - 1 aka Dojo Loach

I think this would work well and allow everyone to have plenty of room. Remember, new tanks, even large ones, need to cycle so you won't be able to add everybody at once. You could start with the Black Skirts or the Danios which are good cycle fish.

Also, when setting up this tank it is important to provide bushy plants, rocks and caves for hiding places.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Richard