Looking for fish for 30gal tank (clown loach)

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elliott_001

Aquarium Advice Freak
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I have just started to cycle my 30gal tank (my first tank), and am thinking about what fish to put in it. I would really like to put at least 3 clown loach in, but i have been told they are far too big for this size tank.

I would also like a red tailed black shark, and or a bala shark - but these are best kept in groups??

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
well red tailed black sharks hit 6" easily...so too big for a 30gallon as adults.
Bala sharks get twice that size, so same issue.

And you were correctly informed that clown loaches, too, would eventually outgrow this tank.

I think you should be looking more at tetra, dwarf cichlids, dwarf gourami...smaller fish in general.
 
I got clown loaches in my 29gal and had to relocate them into my 125. I currently have yoyo loaches in my 29 gal. They are quite entertaining. Another good choice for your tank would be cory cats. They are small and very entertaining. You also can't go wrong with dwarf gouramis they have some beautiful colors. Kudo's to you for doing research before buying the fish.
 
you could look at several other types of loaches that would give you the same look as a clown loach. I know that rainbow sharks get bigger than redtail sharks but i think they both get to big for a 30 gallon.
 
Kuhli loaches are very cool. Tiger barbs are also cool and have similar coloration as the clown loaches. They have to be kept in large schools, 6-8, and they may still bother slow moving fish but they tend to leave bottem fish alone.
 
Thank you for the suggestions and advice. I am planning to get this right, i dont want a repeat of what happened with my brothers tank, we were both too keen to stock his tank, we were adding fish quite frequently, he ended up loosing some nice gouramis and a bala.

There are so many possibilities, almost to much to choose from. Dwarf Gourami's look really nice, and i do like the look of the cory's.
It seems all the fish i had originally thought i would like are too big for my tank.

I really am keen to get some clown loach, is this a definate no no?? I would have to buy a larger tank eventually, how far down the line would this be?

Kuhi loach are funny looking things, but i may consider it. My brother has yo-yo loach, they are really cool, buzzing about the bottom of the tank, but i want get different fish than him.
 
i've had my clown loaches for about a year. they started at 1" or so, and are now about 4.5"-5"--definitely too big for a 30g. they even look big in my 125g because they are so FAT! (due in large part to the amount of snails they eat!)
 
Ok, well i guess i can't have clown loach, im probably gonna go for the yo-yo loach then, they only grow to 4inches right? so im thinking i will get 3 or 4 of them.
Also i might go for some corydoras, but im not sure which to go for, which are suitable, and more importantly which are availiable to me.
 
Id say go with whichever cory's are available to you and pick the ones you like the best. THey're all great!
 
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