Clown Loach Tankmates

[gearhead65]

I just picked up 3 small clown loaches yesterday. I'm getting three more next week. I do understand they will need a bigger tank eventually, but my 48"x24"x12" 60 gallon should work for now. My question is, what would make good tank mates? I'm looking for something that will obviously be friendly with my loaches and colorful at the same time. I'd like to get some kuhli loaches, SAEs, Amano shrimp, and some Otocinclus as well. Right now their only tank mate is a female betta that seems very interested in their behavior. LOL! She just watches them be crazy. LOL!! What other tank mates would you recommend?

 

[snake007]

I would recommend more clown loaches as they tend to be shy in small groups and prefer larger groups, as long as you are planning to upgrade to a 5ft+.
Not sure on the betta and clown loach compatibility.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

A good setup for Clown Loaches is very unsuitable for Bettas, you should be looking at a relatively strong current, something in the order of ~15x true water turnover through filtration and powerheads.

Good tankmates that will love these sort of conditions at 24C are things like Giant Danios and Filament Barbs.

You need to look bigger than just a group of six Clown Loaches, like so many fish where this magic number is suggested, higher numbers will allow the fish to behave more naturally and look great. These loaches form a complex hierachy and more you can house repsonsibly, the better. For instance, "VickiandKev" had 30+ in a self-built 8x4 plywood tank ~18 months ago.

 

[blendingshadow]

I would steer clear of other shy fish as the clown loaches will copy n hide too.

I wouldn't get shrimp as they'll get eaten.

Danios are great. I have 13 zebra n they're lively, hardy n big enough but not ridiculous