Hey Can Use A Lil Help

[Hunterprey]

Hey Im thinking of mixing my Java Loaches with my Pictus catfish, SA Bumble catfish N Red tail shark.
Will they all get along just fine? Or my catfish will see them as food?

Another thing can I mix a regular kuhli loach to my Java loaches and they'll get along and swim together?

Thnx in advance

 

[Wills]

Hi what size tank is this? And what is your total stocking in the tank? Will make it a lot easier to judge if it will work. Also how many Pictus do you have?

As for the SA bumblebee cat, they are known to be predatory of small fish. When you say Java loach which one do you mean can you give me a link to a picture as there are 2 with that common name one is also known as a dojo loach which is a big messy fish and the other is a 2 inch fish that I have only seen as Java loach. I see 2 problems with this, one being that the latter is tiny as easy food for your pictus and/or BB cat and the the first is very big (upto 12 inches), poop a lot and need groups. But if its a big enough tank it could work just depends on your total stocking figures, filtration and maintenance schedule.

Wills

 

[Hunterprey]

There in a 20g right now but Im moving them to a 45g long aquarium in 3 weeks
2 pictus catfish (2 1/4 inches), 1 SA Bumblebee (3 inches), redtail shark 2 1/2 inches. 4 female betta (2 inches) 2 balloon mollies (1 1/2) inches BN pleco (2 inches)

I have the black kuhli loaches, not the dojo/weather loach. I have 2 filters running, 1 is meant for 20g and a fluval U3.
weekly 25%water change and gravel cleaning.

 

[Wills]

Ah cool the 45g sounds like a good sized tank for them. I think I would swap out the pictus though as these get quite large and prefer to be in groups. Seems like a bit of a bottom heavy tank so maybe watch out with the red tail for territory problems but should be okay. Wills

 

[Hunterprey]

Thnx Wills I was thinking of swapping the Pictus too since they're pretty nocturnal and they fight over the cave I have for them, so the other one stays ouside the cave under its shade. I also thought of adding 1 more pictus to get them more active during the day and maybe get less territorial but Im not sure if 45G long is good enough tank size for them. Plus the fact that they might eat my bettas when they get bigger.

Redtail is unpredictable too, she sometimes hangs with my female bettas, then sometimes chase them. Maybe the bigger tank would change that hopefully or I might just give her to my friend, don't want to stress the bettas.

just hard to find decent size fish (6 inches, diurnal, middle top dweller) to get along with my smaller fish. Thnx for the help tho bro

 

[Wills]

I think I agree to take out the pictus TBH. As for the 6 inches, diurnal, middle top dweller there are a few I can think of. How about headstanders you could get a group of spotted or marbled but I wouldnt mix them, I would go for the spotted because they are the most peaceful the marbled can be a bit troublesome at times. The spotted get to 4 inches and grow quite quickly mine went from 1 inch to 3+ inches in 7ish months but you can find bigger specimens usually to start with. Also there are maybe a few cichlds that could work but I'm a bit 50/50 with how it would work with female bettas but I'm thinking some kind of laetacara, there are laetacara dorsiger and laetacara curviceps that get to around 4 inches or laetacara thayeri that gets upto 8 inches but like I say I am not sure how it would work with your betta sorority. If it were me I would go for a group of the dorsiger.

Wills

 

[Hunterprey]

Thnx for the help and info you shared

I'll look all those fish up and try to decide

I was looking at some fish at my LFS There's these two types of fish that I did like, cunchi zamora catfish and Leopard syno, I did wanna get them, the guy from the LFS said it should be Ok to mix with my smaller fish, but I'd rather study them first and make sure.

Thnx for the suggestions, more options the better

 

[Wills]

Wow you like your bottom dwellers dont you! There are a few synos that go by the name Leopard syno is there any way you can get the scientific name? But to be honest I think most of them are suitable for your 46g. Same for the crunchy zamora there are a few with that common name if you can find a link to the one you like? I think most stay under 6 inches but there is one or two that get a bit over 7 which I think with all the other bottom dwellers you might get issues with. If you get the Syno's or the woodcats I would avoid any more bottom dwellers as they will start to feel crammed in as they all dwell on the same bit of the tank. Maybe to balance out the look of the tank some hatchet fish for the surface might look cool! Or a trio of golden panchax?

Wills

 

[Hunterprey]

I guess I just like catfish. Between the zamora and leopard syno, I think im going for the leopard, the one in the store is a cross between multipunctatus and something else, but it pretty much just look like a multipunctatus.after the Leopard Syno, no more bottom dwellers.

That golden panchax looks pretty neat, Im gonna read up on them, I didnt see them on LFS though (Big Al's) I'll try to learn more about them, thnx bro.