Compatible community fish with greedy clown loaches?

[fancytail]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if someone can recommend me a good community fish with clown loaches. My clown loaches DOMINATE the bottom of my aquarium, bogarting food and biting other fish that get near. They pretty much.. "wiped out" the competition...

Now that I know that I can't add any bottom dwelling fish, I guess I'm stuck with fish that are more in the mid section of an aquarium. I'm sort of keeping an eye out for shoaling fish that wont get GIMoNgOUS but cute LOL (Like a bumble bee goby <3) as well as social interaction with their owner and possibly breed when they feel like it.

I leaned towards angelfish but I wanted to be original. I felt like they weren't that unique because they're in every aquarium that I've seen and plus they don't school that well unless they are in the wild (Also they eat guppies, which I don't really want). Then I took a look at cichlids, but I don't know what kind of species are compatible with clown loaches. Like, I heard they can be really aggressive and they also can get large, I don't know if there are any species that shoal too. Tetras.. they just didn't seem that interesting to me. It's like when you see a fish in the tank, you see a tetra and immediately you just think "Oh its just a little fish. Whatever." Whereas if you see a clown loach that's playfully looking at you, begging for food and swimming erratically, you think "What a cool fish, I wonder how big they get? Is it hungry? Why is it sitting at he bottom of the tank?"

I'm super picky, I know but I just feel like my tank is empty in the mid-level of the aquarium. I kind of wanted a black knife ghost fish because they're definitely an eye catcher but they're mainly predatory which would eliminate other additions to the aquarium. I may get one if there are no other options though. So yeah! I'd totally appreciate a suggestion!

 

[GBHammbone]

tiger barbs get along great with clown loaches and school well. downside is they are fin nippers to alot of other community fish so that can limit any other additions. i used to have 30 tiger barbs and 6 clown loaches and the clowns would acually come up and swim with the tigers.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if someone can recommend me a good community fish with clown loaches. My clown loaches DOMINATE the bottom of my aquarium, bogarting food and biting other fish that get near. They pretty much.. "wiped out" the competition...

Now that I know that I can't add any bottom dwelling fish, I guess I'm stuck with fish that are more in the mid section of an aquarium. I'm sort of keeping an eye out for shoaling fish that wont get GIMoNgOUS but cute LOL (Like a bumble bee goby <3) as well as social interaction with their owner and possibly breed when they feel like it.

I leaned towards angelfish but I wanted to be original. I felt like they weren't that unique because they're in every aquarium that I've seen and plus they don't school that well unless they are in the wild (Also they eat guppies, which I don't really want). Then I took a look at cichlids, but I don't know what kind of species are compatible with clown loaches. Like, I heard they can be really aggressive and they also can get large, I don't know if there are any species that shoal too. Tetras.. they just didn't seem that interesting to me. It's like when you see a fish in the tank, you see a tetra and immediately you just think "Oh its just a little fish. Whatever." Whereas if you see a clown loach that's playfully looking at you, begging for food and swimming erratically, you think "What a cool fish, I wonder how big they get? Is it hungry? Why is it sitting at he bottom of the tank?"

I'm super picky, I know but I just feel like my tank is empty in the mid-level of the aquarium. I kind of wanted a black knife ghost fish because they're definitely an eye catcher but they're mainly predatory which would eliminate other additions to the aquarium. I may get one if there are no other options though. So yeah! I'd totally appreciate a suggestion!

Good thing you didn't get cichlids. They will get fairly large depending on species and the will kill any fish in there way. Livebearers are cool fish but they don't always school but they are easy to breed. Harliquin rasboras is another choice. They are tight schoolers and look unique and cool in a group of more than 4-5.

 

[Glow light tetra]

I like tetras, because they are friendly and they come in so many varieties that there is a tetra for every one.





These guys are really cute IMO.

 

[azmodan]

Sorry if I missed it but what size aquarium are we talking about here?

 

[fancytail]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

tiger barbs get along great with clown loaches and school well. downside is they are fin nippers to alot of other community fish so that can limit any other additions. i used to have 30 tiger barbs and 6 clown loaches and the clowns would acually come up and swim with the tigers.

I ALWAYS see tiger barbs every where I go! I was super interested in them because they had lots of similarities to clown loaches! Fin nipping kind of scares me though. My loaches would take chunks out of these panda corys I had. Then they all died from a fungal infection.

Good thing you didn't get cichlids. They will get fairly large depending on species and the will kill any fish in there way. Livebearers are cool fish but they don't always school but they are easy to breed. Harliquin rasboras is another choice. They are tight schoolers and look unique and cool in a group of more than 4-5.

I read a lot of forums saying they're aggressive and some aren't. I fell in love with these parrot cichlids that were blue! I don't know why, but I was just soooo amazed by it. How do parrot cichlids do with clown loaches? I hear that when aggressive fish pick on clown loaches, they learn to leave them alone the hard way because of the spines on the sides of the clown loach's face.

I like tetras, because they are friendly and they come in so many varieties that there is a tetra for every one.

How is there behavior? Are they skittish? Do they beg for food? Is there any species you would recommend that do well with clown loaches?

Sorry if I missed it but what size aquarium are we talking about here?

Oops, I left that out. 100 gallon. I left that out because I'm not really looking for anymore fish that would grow awfully large in the mid level of my aquarium.

 

[bettaowner]

A black ruby or rohm barb would be a nice addition. Both species have beautiful colors.

 

[Wiggles24]

Congo tetras! GORGEOUS fish and they get large! Waaaay to big to be considered a cute little fish lol

 

[FishCr8zy]

Blue parrots?! Parrots are usually red. Parrots aren't the most aggressive but aren't the least either. There was a type is cichlid I think was called kribensis or kribens that was peaceful. I saw it on petsolutions and that one popped out at me cause it was peaceful.

 

[fancytail]

Blue parrots?! Parrots are usually red. Parrots aren't the most aggressive but aren't the least either. There was a type is cichlid I think was called kribensis or kribens that was peaceful. I saw it on petsolutions and that one popped out at me cause it was peaceful.

Yup! judging by your response, it sounds like this parrot I saw was dyed. So is there no such thing as a blue parrot? I'll take a picture of it when I get home. At my LFS, it was labeled a "Blue Parrot." It had bronze eyes, was about an inch long, blue and kind of had these black specs that sort of formed horizontal stripes. It was being sold for 15$.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Yup! judging by your response, it sounds like this parrot I saw was dyed. So is there no such thing as a blue parrot? I'll take a picture of it when I get home. At my LFS, it was labeled a "Blue Parrot." It had bronze eyes, was about an inch long, blue and kind of had these black specs that sort of formed horizontal stripes. It was being sold for 15$.

Well, there are no wild parrots because they were actually the result of different species of cichlids breeding. Maybe blue is a new color. $15 for a parrot is a lot. They usually are sold under $8. So the peaceful cichlid is called a kribensis.

 

[bettaowner]

There is a south American cichlid known as the parrot cichlid. Try google true parrot cichlid

 

[Freakgecko91]

There is a south American cichlid known as the parrot cichlid. Try google true parrot cichlid

But hoplarchus psittacus is quite rare in the hobby, and I've only seen adults for sale, ranging upwards of $100. It was more than likely a blood parrot dyed blue

 

[Glow light tetra]

Tetras are good schooling fish, they come in a variety of temperaments and sizes I like my glow lights because they are very social but they can be Ph sensitive

Here are some links about specific kind you could have

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/tetrafish/blackskirttetra.php





http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/bleedinghearttetra.php




http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/blackneontetra.php





http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/paracheirodonaxelrodi.php





http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/flametetra.php

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/glowlighttetra.php

 

[Glow light tetra]

Link for the rummy nose was messed up

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/bleheri.php

 

[FishCr8zy]

Glow lights are pretty sensitive to water condition. Not the easiest of the tetras to keep.
Out of all the tetras "glow light tetra" has posted, I think black skirt tetra( first one ) and the neon/cardinal tetra are the easiest.

 

[Glow light tetra]

Cardinals are even more sensitive than glow lights, they are the most sensitive fish you can keep.

 

[Scottyhorse]

Cardinals are even more sensitive than glow lights, they are the most sensitive fish you can keep.

I will respectfully disagree. A lot.

 

[Oscar98]

I will respectfully disagree. A lot.

Ya so do i. I dont even know that much about little community fish and there are more fish that are more sensitive than cardinals. Like discus and some rams.

 

[FishCr8zy]

Cardinals are even more sensitive than glow lights, they are the most sensitive fish you can keep.

Most sensitive is cardinal. Lol! Have you ever tried keeping discus or rams. Even angels are more sensitive than them.