grouping loaches?

[kangarooooooooo]

heyya everyone,
i currently have 2 clown loaches in my 55 gallon tank. i also have a black ghost knife and 2 angel fish in there with them. i'm so interested in the loaches and wanted to get a variety of them, i was hoping soon to get a yo-yo loach, gold zebra loach, blue botia(orange finned), and a striped loach as well. my question is, if i were to purchase one of each of these loaches, would they go to eachother as companions? i only want one of each but with all the different kinds of loaches, do you think it would be nessesary to buy them in pairs?
thnx for your time!
<3katt 8)

 

[rich311k]

I would think that each species would like to be in a group of thier own. Loaches like to be kept in groups of at least 3. If I were you, I would pick your favorite one and just get 3 of those.

 

[Bubble_B0y]

most loaches are bottom feeders,
and in a 50 gallon - most of the surface area/space will be taken.
especially considering you have a ghost knife - which is very slow compared to loaches (the loaches will take all the food)

with 3 clown loaches and a ghost knife - I would think the bottom of the tank would be fully stocked.

i suggest balancing the middle and top of the tank.
A gourami would be perfect for the middle with the angels, and some danios for the top.

 

[Menagerie]

[center:0b1853bfcc] Welcome to Aquarium Advice, kangarooooooooo! [/center:0b1853bfcc]
It's hard to be a lover of bottom dwellers, since tanks are not 3'x3'x5" (that would be a freakin' fun tank ). You need to research the needs of each loach and keep in mind that the aquarium hobby lasts a lifetime and you do not need to get all the loaches right now. Some loaches are not compatilbe with others and most will tell you all loaches enjoy conspecies. I have a nonstandard 50 with khuli loaches, yo-yo loaches, cories, plecos and a fish at the top. It is hard to balance all their needs, but doable with the proper research. There are fish profiles in the fish and plant profile forum--that's a good place to start!

 

[flamingonhot]

If you do get another type of loach be careful, since the ghost knife gets kinda big itll most likely try to take one out if its given a chance. Don't know totally what would happen though since i think most loaches have spines on the sides of theyre head.

a good place for some info on loaches and a lot of pics is aqualandpetsplus.com's loches page.

like menagerie said do some info before you get any. Some or very quarrelsome with other loaches but some won't really care.
Im suprised nobody warned you that clown loaches get pretty big! lol usually at least one person does that.... but as you prolly already know they are very slow growers,ive seen people that have had theres for a couple years and that are about a little bit bigger from when they bought them.

Another good site i think is called loaches.com but i can't really remember.

 

[Toirtis]

Agreed with much of what has already been stated.

By the by...welcome to the board, fellow Canuck!