Y'all ready for this???
1) Get driftwood or bevelled/pockmarked rocks. ENs love to forage, and if you've dropped many brineshrimp into the tank, they will try to hide in crevices. When they do, the elephant nose will come in and suck the brine shrimp/bloodworms out.
This is essential, as you can tell by the fish's morphology (body shape) that it is designed to forage in the places other fish don't/can't reach.
2) Let's see. I know that some ppl have combined elephant noses with other species successfully. My recommendation would be to combine this fish with algae eaters and bottom dwellers.
a. Algae Eaters: 1-3 dwarf plecos (e.g. bushy nose (see my gallery), king tiger, queen arabesque (see my gallery), hairy tiger, candy stripe, mega clown peckoltia) for algae cleaning. These fish will not bother the sensitive EN, and will keep water quality better. Number will depend on tank size.
b. 4-6 small loaches for bottom scavenging. Recommendations include: Kuhli Loaches, Yoyo Loaches, Angelicus Loaches, Tiger Loaches. Not clown loaches, since they'll get too big
These species are all quite peaceful and will not bother the EN.
3. I'm worried about too many free-swimming fish, as they'll eat the EN's live food in the water column. These fish will be faster and more adept than the EN. And the EN will need a fair amount of live brineshrimp etc. to survive. If you know
SW fish, think of these guys as the Seahorses and pipefish of the
FW world. They eat slowly and methodically, and can't be put in a position in which they're outcompeted. Like pipefish and seahorses, they really need to be pampered!
OK, now the interrogation!
So what size tank are you thinking of? I'd recommend a 30 Gallon or larger. They'll grow to about 6 inches, so they'll need at least that amount of space to move around. How many are you planning on buying? Have you thought about getting a brineshrimp hatchery (simple to use, cheap to operate--don't worry) so that you don't have to rely on the expensive packages of brineshrimp LFSs sell? Here's one example:
http://www.bigalsonline.com/ Go to "USA" first. Then, at the main page, do a search for "Brine Shrimp." Select "HATCH N' FEEDER BRINE SHRIMP CORRAL." There are some other external hatcheries, also. Check out the options. This is you're cheapest bet for the hatchery--Bigals is very inexpensive. I buy all of my equipment there. Take advantage of this great site!
Enough for now. Keep on asking questions. It's good to flush out important issues and problems so you have a good experience with these fantastic fish.