Compatable With Clown Loaches?

[kingfisher]

I have 4 clown loaches which are 4" . I have had them for 7 months now on there own in a 75 gallon tank. As these were my first ever fish when starting out in the tropical fish hobby, I just sticked to them for a while as I didnt want to jump in and just put alsorts of fish in. So 7 months on I still have the 4 and havent had a problem with them. I think 7 months has been long enough and I would like to now start thinking about what other types of fish I can add in with them. Please could anyone suggest what fish I could add and how many.

 

[n3ont3tra]

Welcome to the forum!

To be honest, you're gonna need a bigger tank for them eventually. Clown loaches get up to 12". However, they are slow groweres. So you have a while. But I just thought I'd tell you.

As for other fish... well... what kind of fish do you like?
There's angelfish, tetras, corydoras, rainbowfish, barbs, loaches, gouramis, livebearers, hatchetfish, sharks (they aren't really sharks, it's just the group is called sharks), and many others. For ideas, I would suggest liveaquaria.com. Once you get a few fish you like, we'll tell you if they're compatible and such.
One thing to remember about liveaquaria.com though, it's not always accurate in the information. That's why we're here.

Good luck!

 

[kingfisher]

A bigger tank!! I wasnt expecting that. How big a tank would they need then? Thanks for the warning. I would like some Tiger barbs as they seem to catch my eye, so I suppose working around those?

 

[n3ont3tra]

Hmm... bigger tank size... I'd say about 125 for a group of 6. All that really matters is the footprint (length and width), because they are bottom feeders. I'm not totally sure though... you'll be fine with a 75g for a while though, at least a year.
Tiger barbs get up to 3 inches, and can be aggressive towards other fish unless you have a group of at least 8, and then you'll have no problems. I would get about 15, I personally love tiger barbs. They are fin nippers though, so that eliminates fish with long fins like angelfish and gouramis. I'm not too sure you should put cories with clown loaches either, so maybe some kind of sharks. Bala sharks will be fine if you get a larger tank (125g), if not then a red tailed shark will probably be good. You could probably have rainbowfish, too.

Are you planning on having a planted tank?

EDIT: I just did some research, I would get 2 more clowns. They'll be a lot happier, and you have a few years until they get too big for the tank. I kind of forgot that a 75g is 48 x 18 (yours is 48" x 18", right?)

 

[loachman]

For the most part, you can add any tropical fish that is non-aggressive and non-fin nippers. Tetras and rainbowfish are good. Danios, rasboras, and other loaches come from the same region. Livebearers are fine (except mollies).

Avoid african cichlids and the aggressive south american ones.

 

[Aizy]

IME clowns get along with just about all of the community fish. And at least my 4 clowns are sharing an 80 gal with 12 cories and never had a problem with it so I don't see a reason why they shouldn't be kept together. Just make sure all the fish have enough hiding places and it should be fine.

I'm aiming for a 250 gal tank for when my clowns grow up btw. You can probably get away with smaller though, I'm just going for something big cause I'm hoping to be able to add about 8 more clowns.

 

[n3ont3tra]

Yeah, clowns get along with almost everything, but large ones will probably outcompete other bottom feeders for food.

 

[poopsydrew]

I am not sure about wether or not the clown loach will out compete for food, you are probably right. All i can say is that corys are GREAT fish for a community tank, and they are also a great beginner fish. Just make sure you research the species before you buy as some specie i.e. panda corys can be very sensitive to water parameters. im sure there are others that will tell you corys are a great fun fish!