good replacement for clown loach

[lornajane89]

Hi there, we are saying goodbye to our 3 clown loaches, one of which is almost 6'' and out growing our 165l (45g) tank. The others are only small but we have found a good home for all 3 and they are to be collected later. i am sad to see them go as out of all the fish that came with the tank these were our favourites and have been the most enjoyable to watch.

can anybody suggest a replacement for them that will not grow so HUGE, once they are gone we will have :

3 guppys - 1xmale 2xfemales
2 pakistani loaches
3 neon tetras
5 black neons
2 julii corys
3 dwarf gouramis

any ideas for some nice additions would be appreciated, i have looked for other types of smaller loaches on another website but would be interested to hear of other people recommendations availability is of course another issue with certain species all our lfs seem to have similar stock. we would like something colourful with plenty of presence in the tank

Thanks

Dean

 

[joel618]

Either botia loaches or 6+ cory cats.

 

[lornajane89]

we have got 2 pakistani loaches that are very similar to the botia's. i think we could do with a few more juli's as our 2 are quite lonely and i know they like to be in groups like you said 5+
what sort of corys would you recommend we had to rehome 2 big pictus cat fish when we bought the tank cause they bullied all the other fish.

was after something really colourful and playful

 

[Bubble_B0y]

I recommend filling out the schools of julii cories and pakistani loaches.
(4 pakistani loaches, and 6 julii cories)

They will be much happier and more active with several others of their kind.

 

[joel618]

I recommend filling out the schools of julii cories and pakistani loaches.
(4 pakistani loaches, and 6 julii cories)

They will be much happier and more active with several others of their kind.

Agree. Oops didn't see the other loaches and cories.

 

[lornajane89]

i like the sound of that the loaches are quite colourful and playful. The clowns and pakistani loaches were always frolicking with the corys. will having 10 bottom feeders not cause problems the gouramis come down for food aswell.

 

[absolutangel04]

I also recommend filling out your schools of neons and black neons to at least 6 each. No, that may bottom feeders should be fine in a tank that big. The julii only reach like 2 inches and are peaceful, so there shouldn't be a problem.

 

[lornajane89]

ok.. took your advice to fill out my numbers and went to buy 2 more pakistani loaches today. We searched high and low and eventually found 2 which we happy with and have now added to the tank. The problem i have now realised is that our original 2 loaches were actually polka dots..... i dont know how i missed that. We had done several comparisons and i was CONVINCED that what we had were pakistanis. my question now is will these shoal or am i going to have to take these back? the new yoyos seemed keen on befriending our polka dots swimming around with them almost as soon as we put them in but they have now separated into the 2 groups of 2 and dont seem that interested. does anybody have any experience with mixing loaches? The clowns that we just rehomed got on with them well playing all day but is it better to get more of the same species. I also realise there is a bit of a size difference that might come into all this. but what do you think?

thanks
dean

 

[lornajane89]

Bump... Anybody

 

[FastFly67]

I've had 2 different type of loaches (both botiine) that schooled together.

 

[absolutangel04]

Bump... Anybody

Honestly, I don't know. You will have to watch them and see I guess. Similar species will often school together if you have enough of both species, but I sort of doubt these will since you only have 2 of each, but maybe. I keep a school of corys that has multiple species in it. The different species always hang out together though, although the formation is a little loose to be called a school. Still, they hang out and are happy, so I think that is fine. Does it look like they are going to school?

 

[lornajane89]

Well it turns out the yoyos were pretty nasty to all my fish. i bagged them up and put them in separate breeder nets last night after doing a 50% water change and they went back to the lfs today. on a positive note we have managed to get 2 more polka dot loaches to replace them, had to go about 80 miles for them but they are worth it, not showing any signs of aggression to any other fish. They joined the original 2 immediatley and have barely stopped playing since we put them in.

Its nice cause there is no dominance at feeding time everyone gets stuck in and there is no fighting. Ohwell thanks for your advice and opinions its all one big learning curve atm. Just need to get my julis now but will be more patient.

Thanks

Dean