Stocking suggestions please

[Ilyena]

I might be getting an 80 gal tank soon, so any ideas to what I should keep in it?
I'm looking for some relatively peaceful small to medium sized fish, with the only requirement that they will get along with clown loaches as they are the reason I want to upgrade. My water is moderately soft and pH is about 6.5.

So far I've been thinking of Congo tetras, Emperor tetras and some kind of gourami (pearl gourami, perhaps?). A pair of Blue Rams would have been pretty but they wouldn't get along with the loaches, would they? Can't think of anything else at the moment, so please, suggest something

[Lydia]

IMO some angelfish, a school of zebra danios, a school of cories and some shrimp for a clean-up crew would look neat....i dont know if those fish are compatible with clown loaches though, so you would have to get someone else to tell you that

[Scuba Kid]

i dont think the shrimp would be.

[fishfreaks]

you could keep keyhole cichlids, theyre peaceful and stay about 4-5 inches

[Ilyena]

I should probably have mentioned fish suggestions only, I've never liked shrimp or snails.
Keyhole cichlids look interesting, but I don't know if they have them around here so I'll have to check that up. Can't believe I forgot about angelfish, might get a few of these if they get along with the others.

Cories.. gotta admit I don't know much about these other than they are schooling fish. Would they get along with bristlenose plecos? Cause I have two of those and was thinking of letting them move into this tank if I buy it.

I already have a few zebra danios in one of my other tanks, so preferably not the same species twice, and I'd also like something more colorful.

Thanks for these suggestions. Got any more?

[MyraVan]

I was just thinking that if I got a really big tank, on the order of 75 gallons or so, I'd have clown loaches and some kind of rainbowfish. One of the local shops stocks a good selection of rainbowfish, and evidently when they get full grown their colors are amazing! However, I haven't pursued this idea much beyond the "that would be cool" phase so I'm not 100% sure that rainbowfish would be compatible with the clown loaches.

My dream tank also has some small colorful fish, but I hadn't decided which. Maybe glowlight tertas? Serpae tetras are also very pretty. For lots of color there's also the traditional favorites, neon or cardinal tetras. Or you could try a different sort of danio. Gold danios are just albino versions fo the zebra ones and are just as quick and playful, and there are pearl ones, which are kind of pearly colored. You can also get glowlight danios too, but they're a bit hard to find. They are a bit smaller than the average danio, so you could get LOTS of them.

I have heard that male bristlenose are territorial and so you shouldn't have more than onein the tank, but maybe you don't have two males, and also maybe with a tank that big even two males would get along as they'd both be able to stake out thier own territories. Not sure about that.

[Lydia]

cories help eat the uneaten food and stuff like that off the substrate....like you said they are schooling fish though....probably for your tank a school of six or more would be great

im not sure if it is compatible with a bn pleco

[Pareeeee]

Angelfish!!! even better....Black Veil Angelfish! lol

ok... if you want schooling fish, i recommend tetras try some congos. they are beautiful.
if you want big colourful fish, i recommend african cichlids of some kind.
if you want easier fish, i recommend things like danios, schools of bloodfin tetras, rainbowfish...

(but my set up in an 80 gal would include angelfish, congo tetras, rainbowfish, a huge school of Cardinal tetras, and a pair of Blue Ram Cichlids...man would i love to have a tank that big...)

[Scuba Kid]

lol. looks like you got charicin gal into a day dream.

[Ilyena]

lol, looks like it. But in a way I'm daydreaming about it too, nothing is certain yet. I don't know if I'll get my paycheck in time so I can buy the tank, and even so I still haven't told my parents about this idea. They are so not going to be thrilled about me buying my 3rd tank in the less than 10 months I've been fishkeeping... lol

Rainbowfish is a great idea! I actually found some neon rainbowfish at the lfs today, but the people working there barely knew what it was, even less what it would be suitable with. But it does seem like they would work out nicely. I know there are many different kinds of rainbowfish, however where I live you pretty much have to take what they have to offer. I've for example never seen any other kind of danio here besides the zebra.. I have seen pictures of these gold and pearl danios, and if I could find them here, I might very well get some but the chances of finding them is pretty small.

Glowlight tetras also sound like a good idea, they usually show up every now and then here. But don't serpae tetras have a reputation to be nippy? If they are, I'm not sure if they would work with angelfish.

As for the bristlenoses, I have no idea if the ones I have are male or female. They were both living together in the 26 gal that I bought as my first tank and seemed to get along fine. I've since moved the smaller of them into a 16 gal. But if it turns out they are too aggressive in the 80 gal, I can move the smaller into the 26 gal.

Thanks again for the suggestions. If you got any more, feel free to share. I'll listen and consider them all.

[fishfreaks]

your bushynose pleco, does it actually have a bushy nose? if not then its a female

[Lexus]

If it were my 80G
I would put a 4 Angelfish
12-20 Corys of all different species. And 2 different BIG schools of fish, such as docile barbs or tetras. Then the two bristle noses and your clown loaches.

[Ilyena]

Originally Posted by fishfreaks

your bushynose pleco, does it actually have a bushy nose? if not then its a female

I know the bigger one has a bushy nose, quite sure the smaller has it too, just not as bushy as the big, but he's so shy that it's hard to get a closer look.

[Lexus]

You probably have male and female then, the female has little prickles of them

[Ilyena]

Yes, you're probably right Lexus. Looks just like that. Thanks for clearing that up.

So far it looks like this:
4 Angelfish
2 Pearl gouramis
A school of Neon Rainbowfish (around 15)
A school of Congo tetras (15-20)
2 Bristlenoses
2 Clown loaches (might add one or two more to make them happier, atm one of them is trying to school with my two platies cause the other is too afraid to come out and play...)

Is that too many or can I have another school of a different kind of rainbowfish and/or a smaller school (5-6) of cories as well? And can I add a pair of Dwarf gouramis?

[Baby_Baby]

just remeber that clown loaches need to be in groups of 3 or more. careful about the gouramis, because mine were agressive to smaller fish. (guppies and tetras are what i had that they bossed around)

[Ilyena]

Originally Posted by Baby_Baby

just remeber that clown loaches need to be in groups of 3 or more. careful about the gouramis, because mine were agressive to smaller fish. (guppies and tetras are what i had that they bossed around)

That is why I'd like to get a couple more loaches. That'd make it 4, which should be a big enough group.

I've heard of the gouramis being a little aggressive, but shouldn't the tank be big enough for it to not be a problem? But thanks for the tip, I'll be careful. I'll likely add just one at a time to see how it works.

[Baby_Baby]

Ya. good idea. add one at a time. see how it goes for a while. they can be nice at first, then be total jerks in a week or two. good luck! hope all goes well

[ALFA WOLF]

i would think just to have hiding spaces and maybe few more guramis. If they do fight then the more dominant gurami would be distracted by all the others and fighting might be decreased