Newbie wanting advice

[bimbimbi]

Hi, im new to loaches but have kept planted aquaria for years. i have an established 90L aquariam which is octagonal, 1m tall & 50cm across each way. in it i have x6 platy, x7 danios. I hope to get a pair of dwarf gouramis +/- a bristle nose cat. wondering if this tank is big enough for a group of eithrr kuhli or dwarf chain loaches with / without the bn cat? My lfs assures me it but i dont trust them. im in oz so have limited access to smaller loaches. Thanks for any adbice! Laura

[starsplitter7]

WHat is the footprint across the floor?

I think if you wanted to keep loaches in a tall tanks, Kuhlies or Sids would be your best choice. I think either would work, but I think Kuhlies would be better. I think a BN would be fine. The Sids my also shread your plants. The Kuhlies will hide in them.

Do you have another tank, if it turns out the space is too small for the BN? I would aim for one of the smaller species. I have a black one with white spots in which the females max out at 3" and the males at 4".

[Diana]

That is a very tall tank, I would minimize the stocking, and make really sure you have very good water circulation so the water from lower in the tank is exposed to the air a lot. Great bottom-to-top circulation is needed. This is not a great tank for fish that prefer the floor or the surface. There is not a lot of floor or surface. Very limited tank.

A PAIR of Gouramis is not the way to get them. They are aggressive and territorial. Get one. There is not enough surface area for more. They prefer less water movement, though, so might not be a great tank mate for most Loaches.

Yes, that is a good sized tank in volume of water, for a school of any of the smaller Loaches, as long as there is good water movement. I think sids would be really good. They tend to stay up higher in the water than many of the others, though they are still mostly bottom oriented. They would use the height better than any of the other Loaches. Other species of Loaches are even more bottom oriented and I do not see enough bottom space there for most species.

Bristlenose Plecos are good with smaller fish, and very good for algae control. But I would wonder if a few Otocinclus might be better. That is an odd size and shape tank. Without really good water movement the oxygen level could be lower than most fish want.

I have a smaller version, only 2/3 as high, but about the same diameter. It was very difficult to filter properly. I finally found a canister that would do the job.
I kept quite a few species if fish in there at different times. The best set up I had was a mated pair of Angelfish. That was all. No tank mates. When I had any sort of community tank it never worked. The actual swimming space is nowhere near the amount of space there would be if that tank could be set up on its side. Most fish swim back and forth, left to right... not up and down. There is a lot of water there, but not a lot of space in the way that fish use it. You are good to stick to the smallest species, and no many of them.

I have the equivalent of that tank 'on its side': 3' long and 16" x 16" (40 gallon breeder). (Just under 1m x 40 cm x 40 cm) MUCH better tank for fish!

[bimbimbi]

Thankyou both for the feedback & apologies for posting twice!
I use an external canister filter with the inpipe positioned to draw water from the base of the aquariun. I perforn a 1/3 water change every 3 - 4 weeks. I have an aerator running for 2 blocks of 6 hours in every 24 hours (I'd post a pic but I don't know how to!). This combination seems to work well for both fish & plants (with lighting added also).

I had been lead to believe from info on line & the x3 LFS (which haven't been the most reliable) that dwarf gouramis were ok in a community aquarium (as aposed to the larger varieties) so thanks for the guidance on this. RE the bristle nose catfish - could you guide me on how to pick the smaller varieties / what they are called - I've only ever seen them labelled 'bristle nose catfish'. I'd prefer only to get loaches if I was comfortable the space would be adequate & would be happy not to get the bristlenose if this made a difference. Will definately have a back up tank ready in case they need a quick relocation!

Re the otocinclus, are you suggesting to get a group of these instead of or in addition to the loaches?

Many thanks again!
Laura

[starsplitter7]

Hi Laura,

I think Diana meant the Oto cats instead of the BN, but I don't want to speak for her.

To post pictures you upload your pictures to a host like flickr or photobucket. Then you copy and paste the Img link. The entire link from img to img. Then do preview to check if it worked.

Welcome to the forum. Tanja aka starsplitter7

[Diana]

Yes, Otos instead of a Bristlenose Pleco.
Both species are good algae eaters, but the BN gets pretty large compared to the Otos, and 90 liters is not really big enough.

As far as Loaches go, my point is that the tall narrow tanks do not have a lot of floor space, and most Loaches are very bottom oriented. Sids are probably the best because while they like the bottom, they are also willing to swim higher, so use some of the mid-tank space.

Good to hear you have worked out a good water circulation system.

Gouramis:
Most have this sort of life style:
Male claims a territory. Builds bubble nest. Defends the area a couple of feet across. (That is as large as most tanks). They defend the space against males of the same and related species (Other Gouramis, Bettas, Paradise fish) and some Gouramis get quite pushy against other species that swim lower in the tank, too. Most will also chase off females even of their own species unless the female is ready to breed. If she is ready they will breed, then he chases her off. He will get quite aggressive defending the bubble nest with eggs and fry. Some species tend to be more easy going than others.
Most aggressive:
Dwarf Gourami
Betta
Paradise Fish
3 Spot Gourami
Mid-level aggressive:
Moonlight Gourami
Less aggressive:
Honey
Pearl
Snakeskin

In your small tank (meaning small surface area) I would try the Honey Gourami, or, if you wanted a Dwarf Gourami, then just get one. Be prepared to move him, though. Some are so aggressive to other species they need to be kept in a separate tank.

[bimbimbi]

Again many thanks for the info especially re gouramis & the BN. It's infuriating, I went into one of the best Aquaria shops in Adelaide the other day & they told me 1. 3 loaches together would be enough, 2. a Dwarf gourami pair would be an perfect display fish for my tank & 3. that a BN would be fine in combination with my other proposed fish & tank shape / size! I knew what they told me about loaches was rubbish but had been told / read the same info about the other fish in other shops & online so I thought what they told me sounded reasonable.

I understand now that otos would be better than a BN (I had actually been thinking of otos rather than the BN until the LFS talked me out of it). To clarify further, is there space in my set up for a group of otos as well as a group of Sids?
With the otos, is there any particular type that you would recommend for my set up & how many (if I were to have sids as well)?
Is there another type of display fish (other than the less agressive gouramis) you would recommend for my set up?

I'd much prefer to have less types of but happy & healthy fish than to overstock.
Thanks also for the welcome!
Laura

[starsplitter7]

I would definitely get a group of Otos and a group of Sids. At least 4-6 of each. Otos are communal and do better in larger groups. Make sure you acclimate them slowly. Otos live forever if they survive the first 3 weeks of introduction. I usually acclimate them over a period of hours. There are different types of Otos, depending on availability, your tastes and budgets. I find them charming, not matter which type.

I am also a fan of Bristlenoses, and I have them in every tank in my house, except with the puffers. I have fry in smaller tanks, and adults in my larger tanks, and then I sell them as they grow larger.