I Have My Fish Picked Out!

[nukeonekitty]

Okay I have a well filtered 55 gallon tank. My pH is a little high like 8.0 or so and my water is hard. I am planning on getting (2) Clown loaches, (1) Dwarf Gourami, (5) Fancy Guppies (don't know what kind) and (5) Boesemani Rainbow (if I can get a deal on them!!) tell me what you think!

 

[Gankutsuou]

the clown loaches belong in groups of 5+, and will eventually need a 100+gallon tank, as they grow quite large.

and wont the guppies kinda be shredded? dunno....

 

[fishdawg]

yea the guppies would be dead in 2 days.

 

[dizzied]

I believe gouramis and rainbowfish come from acidic waters, I'm not sure how they'd do in a hardwater tank, but they'd at least need to be acclimated.

 

[2polypterus]

Well the boesemani rainbows sound like they would work. The gouramis and guppies would be picked on by them though, I don't think they would even last the two days. Also, your water parameters are not ideal for keeping gouramis or loaches. I never had luck keeping clowns at any pH over 7.8. And do remember that they can grow to 12". I would so go for the boesemani, get at least one male and 2 females. That is a good ratio to keep them at. The males are always more colorful but they won't be colorful at all if kept without any females. I found that they are adaptable and do well if acclimated properly. Good tank mates would be med sized barbs like roseys or larger, active tetras like beunos aires tetras (yes they come from more acidic water but are very adaptable.) What about one of the smaller synodontis instead of the clown loaches? Just some thoughts to consider...

 

[nukeonekitty]

Thanks, I like your opinion. Would 3 rainbows be enough for them or should I get 6 so they can school more? In saying "more adaptable" are you saying they would ajust heathly or would it cause harm?

 

[2polypterus]

I would try to get six rainbows if possible but I think three would do just fine if you had two F and one M. They do tend to be expensive. Although most tetras are from acidic waters, some, like the BA, can easily adapt to higher pH and hardness without any harm to the fish. I would never suggest keeping fish in a way that would cause them harm! Boesemani rainbows are beautiful and fun fish to keep, but very active and do better with other more active, sturdy types of fish. They will nip at any slow moving, long finned tankmates.