New Here

[Djoyce]

Hi, I’m a new fish owner and am looking for some advice. I have a small tank 28L (regretting not getting bigger now and can see myself getting a big one in the future). I currently have guppies and neon tetras and have just recently gotten 2 dwarf chain loaches. I hadn’t done any research for the loaches as I went to the aquarium shop and asked them what will help with my pest snails and they recommended the dwarf loaches. They only had 2 in the store and now I’ve done research I’ve found they are happy with more. I want to get them some friends to make them happy and social but they’re pretty rare and can’t find where to get them and I’m also wary of an over crowded tank. Would they be just as happy with another small loach species like a reticular or something?
Sorry I know this is more than an introduction but I couldn’t work out where to post a new question ?

 

[Andy Sager]

Hi, I’m a new fish owner and am looking for some advice. I have a small tank 28L (regretting not getting bigger now and can see myself getting a big one in the future). I currently have guppies and neon tetras and have just recently gotten 2 dwarf chain loaches. I hadn’t done any research for the loaches as I went to the aquarium shop and asked them what will help with my pest snails and they recommended the dwarf loaches. They only had 2 in the store and now I’ve done research I’ve found they are happy with more. I want to get them some friends to make them happy and social but they’re pretty rare and can’t find where to get them and I’m also wary of an over crowded tank. Would they be just as happy with another small loach species like a reticular or something?
Sorry I know this is more than an introduction but I couldn’t work out where to post a new question ?

Hi and welcome to the site.
Regarding your loaches: fish school together for protection so if you can't get more, the best you can do is decorate the tank so that the fish have plenty of hiding spots ( caves and tunnels are excellent for loaches) and make sure you do not put larger fish in the tank that could possibly eat them. Under those conditions, the 2 should be fine by themselves. As for mixing other loaches with them, there are a number of fish that fall into the category of " loach" and they do not all get along together. There are also water parameters and water movement differences between the species so you have to do a lot a research before mixing different species. If they like similar conditions, they will probably mix well but there are no guarantees. In smaller aquariums, it's best to stay with one specie only.

Hope this helps.

 

[Djoyce]

Hi and welcome to the site.
Regarding your loaches: fish school together for protection so if you can't get more, the best you can do is decorate the tank so that the fish have plenty of hiding spots ( caves and tunnels are excellent for loaches) and make sure you do not put larger fish in the tank that could possibly eat them. Under those conditions, the 2 should be fine by themselves. As for mixing other loaches with them, there are a number of fish that fall into the category of " loach" and they do not all get along together. There are also water parameters and water movement differences between the species so you have to do a lot a research before mixing different species. If they like similar conditions, they will probably mix well but there are no guarantees. In smaller aquariums, it's best to stay with one specie only.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Andy! That helps a lot. I didn’t really want to get more with it being such a small tank so I really appreciate the advice ��

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks Andy! That helps a lot. I didn’t really want to get more with it being such a small tank so I really appreciate the advice ��