Thinking about adding some fish

[kimberly]

I have a 58 gal planted aquarium that has been up & running for several months. It is doing great. It currently has 3 clown loaches (2-3 inches), 6 male fancy guppies and 8 orange von rio tetras. I saw some beautiful dwarf gourami today at the lfs and I am wondering if I could add them, and if so how many? I will do a bit more research as well before buying as I don't want to stress out my tank and fish and/or make a bad purchase.

Thanks.

 

[mattrox]

The clown loaches will slowly out grow the tankl, 3 fully grown clown loaches will be very crowded in there. They are slow growers, but you might like to factor that into your future plans. As they grow you most like will need to reduce the numbers. Right now you might be able to fit a gourami in, but I don't really know the life expectancy of a gourami or the growth rate of clown loaches. Maybe someone else will have something to add.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I have three clownloaches in my 55 gallon tank, and they have grown about 3 inches in about 2.5 years. Quite slow. I think you will be ok with a gourami in there. A dwarf especially as they max out around 3 inches, as opposed to 5 or 6 inches with some other gourami species. As with most though, getting more than one can sometimes spell trouble with fighting, so I would stick with one.

JMO

 

[kimberly]

I know that the loaches will eventually outgrow the tank, and at that point if MTS hasn't set in enough to have a bigger home for them I will find a better home for them. Until then, they are my favorite fish in the aquarium!

Thanks for the advice. I will probably add one gourami.

 

[SeaDana]

I had one dwarf male gourami in my tank with guppies and they got along fine.

Also, if you notice any problems with your guppies in general, I would recommend getting some females, as they generally do better socially with more females than males.