South American Cichlids & Red tailed barb

[mjsnyder]

Help! My neighbor is wanting to give us a ~6" red tailed barb. We have 6 south american cichlids in our tank...for just under 2 weeks. I am hesitant to put this fish in our 55 gallon tank. Will these mix well? Or would this harm either of the fish?? Please help!!

 

[lauraf]

Do you know if it is a tinfoil barb, or an actual red-tail tinfoil barb? They are closely related, but one grows huge very quickly - too big for a 55g. You can google to find out how to differentiate the two. Both kinds are okay with cichlids though, as long as the cichlids aren't too small. How big are your cichlids now?