Tank mates for clowns

[leviathan loach]

I'm setting up a new clown loach tank and wanted to get everyone's feed back on good tank mates for clowns. My last set up was pretty boring with just tigers barbs, some algae eaters, two dwarf plecos, and, of course, my beloved clowns. I will probably go with the tiger barbs again just because the interaction between them and the smaller loaches is always worth watching but also because I wanted to make this new tank almost exclusively an Indonesian community tank. Any advice would be very appreciated.

[Marcos Mataratzis]

Harlequim rasboras and a redtail shark are good tankmates for Clown loaches.

Hope you enjoy them!

[Diana]

Forget the Tigers. I would look into some larger fish, a school for the upper level but not something that is so nippy.
If you want to stick with a SE Asian biotope, then here are some SE Asian fish that thrive in warm (upper 70s to 80*F) water that is acidic to neutral, and fairly fast moving and that I have seen in stores in the SF Bay area:

Danio devario Probably the Danio that handles the warmest tank.
Flying Fox, Epazeorhynchos kalopterus- Only get one, they are aggressive to each other and other 'sharks'.
Puntius filamentosus HIGHLY active.
Puntius everetti- Clown Barb
Gouramis: Most are territorial fish, do not get a school, they are not social fish.
...Moonlight, Trichogaster microlepis (My male won't let other Gouramis in his tank)
...Pearl, Trichogaster leeri (most are fairly peaceful, but sometimes...)
...Snakeskin, Trichogaster pectoralis (the more peaceful Gouramis, I have 3 with my Clowns in a 125 gallon, 6' long tank)
... 3 Spot, Blue, Gold, Cosby and others, Trichogaster trichopterus (the most aggressive of these. ONE claimed the whole of my 125 gallon tank a few years ago)
Eels: Bottom fish, not really going to how off in the upper area, but some are from SE Asia.

Fish to avoid:
Smaller Barbs, Rasboras, Minnows: too small, can get eaten. If they will handle the temperature they might be fine in the tank until the Clown Loaches get big enough to eat them. This might happen as soon as 6 months, depending on the sizes of Clowns and the others.
Minnows, Danios, most Barbs: Cooler water fish
Cichids: The SE Asian ones are brackish water fish.
Catfish: There are a few cats that might work. Mostly, though, they are bottom fish that are not going to show off well in the upper areas. Glass cats are Asian, but would probably get eaten. There are some cats that are available that are tankbusters, several feet in length as adults.