Bottom fish for 75g

[Mcgolg76]

Got a cycled 75g tank I need to stock. Current inhabitants are a baby bushy nose pleco and an African Brown knife fish. The afb has lived in a community before and will not bother anybody. Scared of his own shadow and has to be hand fed with a turkey Baster.

My plan is to add about 25 Cardinal tetras
2 pearl gouramis for the top
And a pair of gbrs

Tank is planted with a sand bottom

Trying to decide on the bottom fish

Really want dwarf chain loaches but having trouble justifying spending over 100$ to get at least 10. So either a big shoal of kuhli loaches or corys. I love loaches but worried I won't see them much. Any suggestions to fill my tank floor



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[serena00]

I vote Cory or kuhli loach for sure!!

 

[Werebat]

I got about 15 cories in my 55g. Awesome display when they are feeding.

 

[FWFishTanks]

You could do clown loaches, but they would outgrow the tank after a while.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Unsure about the 2 gourami.

Clowns do get big and would outgrow the tank BUT they grow very slowly from what I have read.

I was going to suggest pictus cats but they eat fish that can fit in their mouth sometimes and not sure how big cardinals get.

Nonetheless i would say like 6 Kuhli loaches. I'm a sucker for loaches


Caleb

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[Pseudomugil]

My pictus cat ate every fish that was about an inch long and stayed near the bottom like neon tetras. Cardinals get to 2 inches so I'm not sure if they're small enough for the pictus cat but the tetras don't start at that size. I would recommend a pictus cat (sadly mine died from an ich outbreak ) but let the cardinals grow to their full size first or get a baby pictus.

A school of a larger Cory cat would be nice.

Hollow catfish are also really cool. They're pretty small and cruise along the bottom.

I would recommend any of these 3 options.

 

[stooker]

A large group of corys would be awesome. They are not at all shy from what I've experienced and they are very entertaining. Even though they are bottom dwellers, they swim around quite a bit on hardscape and plants.

 

[TheresaM]

Kuhli loaches are awesome, they get my vote!

 

[FWFishTanks]

For a permanent resident, my vote would be kuhlis too

 

[Mcgolg76]

The one worry about the kuhls is the African knife fish. Although he is peaceful as they come. He eats blood worms and black worms. Even though the kuhls are much bigger they are still wormed shape. Plus he is so lazy about eating that he misses a lot of worms. Which will attract the kuhls to the area. Prob going to get about a dozen corys. Really want the dwarf chain. Just got wish they weren't so expensive


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[ImACoolguy]

The one worry about the kuhls is the African knife fish. Although he is peaceful as they come. He eats blood worms and black worms. Even though the kuhls are much bigger they are still wormed shape. Plus he is so lazy about eating that he misses a lot of worms. Which will attract the kuhls to the area. Prob going to get about a dozen corys. Really want the dwarf chain. Just got wish they weren't so expensive


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Kuhli get 5 inches. If you're worried about the knife eating them I'd worry more about Corydoras and your other fish.


Caleb

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[Mcgolg76]

Kuhls have that thin body shape while the corys are much wider


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[ImACoolguy]

Kuhls have that thin body shape while the corys are much wider


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Corydoras are still much smaller regardless of body shape


Caleb

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[Mcgolg76]

He has lived with corys and even shared a cave with them. Ended up getting some panda corys


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[stooker]

Ended up getting some panda corys

Cool, how many did you end up with? Good luck, I hope they work out. I love my corys. My regret is I didn't get them earlier!

 

[Mcgolg76]

Got 6. In a few weeks will prob get 4 more.


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[stooker]

Cool, you're gonna love em. My peppered corys never cease to entertain. I love how they go about their business with quiet disregard for their tankmates.

 

[Mcgolg76]

My knife fish is loving all the company. Before i added these fish he was with an Oscar. Then alone for a few months after the Oscar died. Seen him move around more in the last day then in last two years. He thinks he is a pearl gourami. Been following around the pAir all night


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[Pseudomugil]

I think you should get a pair of rams too. Nice choice with the cories.

 

[AngelFishGirl]

My vote would be on clown loaches. Although they'll eventually outgrow they grow very slowly. You'd have a good 2 years at least before you'd have to consider rehoming. Just remember they are very shy, and you should have about 6.