Would these fish work together?

[Diablos]

Jd's

Pleco or 2

Blue lobsters

Possibly pair of clown loaches

In a 70 gallon tank?

 

[theotheragentm]

Blue Lobsters will eat anything they can get their claws on, so they don't make great tankmates unless the fish are considerably larger. They get pretty large too.

 

[Diablos]

hmmmm well the jack dempsy's are pretty fiesty and the plecos too. Would the lobsters if small still get um?

 

[theotheragentm]

If you have plans to separate them later when the lobsters get larger and you start with small ones, it might be okay, but it really is trial and error. If the lobster is too small, he might get picked on by the fish.

 

[Diablos]

Maybe I'll get on see how it works out, and move from there.

 

[hsherman1986]

i would recommend a blue wood shrimp instead, but they risk bein eaten by their tank mates in the stocking that you are talking about.

I would not get the lobster unless you plan on making it a species tank for him, and using the other fish for feeders for him

 

[Burks]

What type of pleco do you want?

Remember they range from 4" to 3 feet plus.

 

[tropicfishman]

I wouldn't do the lobster, since the clownloachs stay near the bottom he would eventully kill them and eat them

 

[jbarr]

I would advise only getting one pleco, unless you buy them while they are very small, and have a home/LFS lined up for the future. As Burks said, they get pretty big. But, like the thousands of undereducated fishkeepers, that won't stop you from getting one. And that's not a problem as long as you trade it in and don't dump them when they get too big. They cause bigger problems then you think in a natural eco-system.

If you get clown loaches get at least 3.

I'm sure you could get a blue lobster, provided you have a lot of hiding places, and no fish you are too attached to. They are snippy. I might catch a lot of crap for telling you that, but I mean, youre entirely able to keep all these animals together, it's just the possible resulting factors are questionable/no good. I would advise against a lobster.

 

[hsherman1986]

one other thing to keep in mind is that the clown loaches are schooling fish. They require at least three, but the more you have, the more you will see them. However, they get to be a foot long each, therefore, require a very large tank (at least 150g). If you have plans of upgrading for them in the near future, you could have them, otherwise, I would pick a smaller loach, like yoyos or striatas, something along that line.

jbarr, you said it better than any of us. You are absolutly right. You sure can have all of those fish together, so long as you are prepared for the circumstances. The blue lobster WILL at least TRY to snip your fish in half. That could be very devastating to wake up one morning to your dear JD cut right in half, and halfway eaten because of this blue lobster. And the clown loaches, and possibly the pleco (depending on the species you wish to keep) will eventually outgrow that tank.

If you want a stocking list along that line, might I suggest 1 JD, a school (6-8) of yoyo or straiata loaches, 1 BN pleco (they stay around 6-7"), and possibly some tiger barbs for dither fish (i would say 6-8) (someone correct me if I am wrong about the tigers being good dithers)