New 55 Gallon Stocking

[Karatepig]

I have some aquarium experience, a small 20 gallon with peppered cories, small dwarf gourami, and a small sailfin pleco (yes, I'm aware of the potenial size, hint 55 gallon), a smart and knowledgable LFS, and a grandfather in the hobby for 15 years. 20 gallon has been established for around 3-4 months.

Onto the purpose of this thread.
I am getting a slightly used 55 gallon aquarium with a correctly sized filter and a hood/light for $40 (good deal right?). I have been doing research for months now, even planning tanks I may never build. Also I have the materials to fix a leak from a 10gallon I fixed for my grandfather

Ideas: Loaches, loaches, and loaches.
Love 'em. Clowns are too big, Yo-yos are awesome, kuhlis are like snakes. They're just amazing. So, two things.
Will Yo-Yos and Kuhli's do well together?
Tank mates besides my sailfin pleco? I like Opaline Gourami and tetras.
Oh, and no live plants for me. Nuh-uh. Nope.

 

[Karatepig]

N-n-no reply?

 

[Evo8]

I'm not sure about the loaches..but red flame gouramis could be a good choice...bleeding heart tetras?..maybe some tiger barbs if you wanna do a semi aggressive tank.. when I had my 60g as a tetra tank I had about 12 tiger barbs 8 bleeding hearts..3 silver dollars pleco about 6 Cory cats..7 or so misc. Tetras..and some danios..everyone got along perfect it was a good mix..Im probly missing a few but hey..it gives you an idea

 

[mistersprinkles]

I think it would look really sharp with just loaches and tiger barbs.

 

[Rivercats]

You could do yo-yo's and kuhli's since the foot print is large enough just make sure to have enough hidey holes and watch carefully during feeding to be sure all loaches are getting enough food. I'd be more worried about the kuhli's being outcompeted. I've kept yo-yo's for years and they are right up there with angelfish for being ultra food hounds. Also be sure you have enough DW, cave, etc., so all loaches have space and the yo-yo's don't take over all of them. Lastly I'd get more kuhli's by far than yo-yo's as they will be much more confident in larger numbers.

 

[Karatepig]

You could do yo-yo's and kuhli's since the foot print is large enough just make sure to have enough hidey holes and watch carefully during feeding to be sure all loaches are getting enough food. I'd be more worried about the kuhli's being outcompeted. I've kept yo-yo's for years and they are right up there with angelfish for being ultra food hounds. Also be sure you have enough DW, cave, etc., so all loaches have space and the yo-yo's don't take over all of them. Lastly I'd get more kuhli's by far than yo-yo's as they will be much more confident in larger numbers.

Would we be talking like a 2 kuhli : 1 yoyo ratio? (Ex. 10kuhli:5yoyo) Also, I was made aware of kubotais recently.

I was thinking maybe getting kuhlis, yoyos, and kubotais with cardinal tetras or congo tetras as dither fish.

Suggestions on numbers? Thanks.

 

[Rivercats]

I keep 6 Angelicus in my 220 and keeping all 3 species is too much IMO. They all use the same space and I think you'll have problems. Loaches can get aggressive and if you crowd them you could have problems. I have 2- 55g tanks so know the size and space available. Choose either the yo-yo's or the Angelicus.

 

[Karatepig]

I keep 6 Angelicus in my 220 and keeping all 3 species is too much IMO. They all use the same space and I think you'll have problems. Loaches can get aggressive and if you crowd them you could have problems. I have 2- 55g tanks so know the size and space available. Choose either the yo-yo's or the Angelicus.

I guess I'll stick with my kubotais and black kuhlis. I'm thinking around 6 kuhlis and 5 kubotais. Along with a school of 6-7 cardinals and 5-6 congos. I'll make sure I have superb everything, seeing as that is probably overstocked.

Thanks for the help, cheers!

 

[mistersprinkles]

A trick I figured out for target feeding bottom feeding fish when the top feeders are really aggressive eaters is:

Take a hollow plastic tube longer than the depth of your aquarium (thick, wide bodied rigid airline tubing works. You can get it at decent LFS). Put the tube vertically in the aquarium with one end coming out of the water. Put the food down the tube. The loaches will learn that when you put the tube in the water and tap on the tube, that means food is coming, and within weeks they'll be coming to the sound of you tapping on the tube. My loaches used to swim up to the tube and start sucking on it before I even put food in.

For fish that prefer to stay in their caves and hidey holes and won't come out for feeding, just aim the tube into their hidey hole and pour some food in.

 

[Karatepig]

A trick I figured out for target feeding bottom feeding fish when the top feeders are really aggressive eaters is:

Take a hollow plastic tube longer than the depth of your aquarium (thick, wide bodied rigid airline tubing works. You can get it at decent LFS). Put the tube vertically in the aquarium with one end coming out of the water. Put the food down the tube. The loaches will learn that when you put the tube in the water and tap on the tube, that means food is coming, and within weeks they'll be coming to the sound of you tapping on the tube. My loaches used to swim up to the tube and start sucking on it before I even put food in.

For fish that prefer to stay in their caves and hidey holes and won't come out for feeding, just aim the tube into their hidey hole and pour some food in.

Pretty smart idea. I thank you for your input from earlier as well, being on mobile it's hard to reply to everyone. Just so you know I have no interest in barbs . Anyway, that sounds like an ingenious plan, I'll most certainly take that into consideration.