Loaches Online Forum

Ok, so I originally bought my 55gallon to house loaches. Theyre the most playful fish... But, I discovered Plecos when investigating catfish species.

So now my 55 gallon has 12 danios in it. I plan to add 2 small pleco's (6?8? inchers) I may down the road swap to a sand substrate.

I tried the index, and am just having a ton of trouble qualifying the type of loach that would work.

My question is, is there a small, friendly, tropical loach that would get along with the 2 plec's, while not being intimidated by or intimidating towards them? Or is this just not the tank for loaches (if not, no big deal, ill get something else )


Thanks!
LeeAnna

ps, i would not be getting them till probably spring-ish anyways, I'm just trying to research my options so I don't get something and ruin other possibilities. etc.

Basically, any small botia species would work. I have clown and yoyo loaches with my candystripe pleco and they get along great. They even share the same hiding spots sometimes.

Since your tank is a 55 gallon, it might be better to get the smaller species of Loach as well as plecos.

In my tank, I have an albino bristlenose pleco with my clowns. Albino or even the regular versions of these plecos don't get overly huge. 6" at max and makes a great companion for my loachies.

As for the loaches, you might want to scour the index for some of the ones that are around 8" or below like Zebras, Yoyos, or Kubotai.

I could be wrong so I'll wait for a more experienced member to correct me

Rocco wrote:Albino or even the regular versions of these plecos don't get overly huge.

A lot of plecos may get albino strains. The plec you should really avoid are the ever common plecs which are quite too large for most home aquaria requiring 75-100 gallons as the possible minimum with massive filtration.

I don't see a problem with keeping ancistrus plecs however if they may be aggressive (possibly not though I have one with such attitude), the loaches may not appreciate being bullied or lashed at from time to time.

As for the loaches, you might want to scour the index for some of the ones that are around 8" or below like Zebras, Yoyos, or Kubotai.

Ditto. I would however research further before buying certain species. Some are mean devils and may wreak havoc in the community which is quite common among skunks, Yasuhikotakia modesta and more often the loaches of Syncrossus genus as they are often known to be.

I have a wide assortment of Loricariads and Loaches combined in many tanks. Mostly just one of a pleco type (some are territorial, and do not like the company of others of the same species), and several Loaches. In general I have mostly the more social sorts of Loaches. A few combos:

Clowns and Yoyos with Farlowella and Sturisoma

Schisturas of several sorts (one species per tank) with Bulldog plecs (these are 1-1/2" babies), rubberlip plecs, and Candy stripes.

Another Loach that I think is a red tail, but is striped like the Schisturas with a Bristlenose and another unidentified Loricariad.

Kubotai with Bristlenose

Lecontai (?) with L-2 (or similar)

Dojos and a Common Pleco that does not look exactly like a common.

All the tanks have an good assortment of live plants, rocks and driftwood for the fish to find hiding places. Most tanks have an abundance of filtration and powerheads to create extra water movement.

I have kubotais and clowns with Ancistrus triradiatus (one of the commonly imported bushynoses). They get along fine. My biggest clown (about 5 inches) and the plecos will wrestle over algae disks, but I have never seen any aggressive behaviour. It's more like trying to move the other guy out of the way.

Well, the plec's i want are pretty laid back and like 'schools of small fast moving fish' for company- thus the danios. The plecs get 6-10 inches long, depending who you ask. I'm hoping for six inches (although I am more than happy to up grade once I get my own place in a couple years)

I'll look into the species y'all mentioned, and do some more reading on the index. thanks!

LeeAnna