30 Gallon Suggestions?

[Noahsfish]

Hey everybody, I don't have my 30 gallon yet, but in the next month or two I'll be receiving one. Im already set on two fish, my dalmation Molly and opaline gourami which will be going from a 20 into the 30. So as far as other fish I was thinking maybe 6 kuhli loaches, 1 bristelnose pleco, and as a center an angelfish? I know angels can get pretty big, but one in a 30g would be fine right? Also I'm worried that the gourami might bully the angel, even though it doesn't seem very agressive yet, it's growing...a lot. I got it when it was less than an inch now it's 2 inches. So yeah any suggestions on the centerpiece fish or the stocking of my bottom feeders would be greatly appreciated.

 

[attibones]

The pleco will outgrow your tank. I know most loaches will outgrow a thirty gallon, but I don't know much about the kuhli loach. I would go for Cory cats instead. Perhaps get a few more mollies, too. I really dislike most gourami, as all the ones I have ever had were so aggressive they had to be the only fish in the tank. If yours isnt aggressive, then it should be okay, though. Angels can be tricky. If you got just one, you would do alright, but I'm not sure how it would do with the gourami.

 

[Noahsfish]

Really a bristle nose would be too big for a 30? I mean they only grow 4-5 inches, and I'd be buying a female. I'm pretty sure but not a 100% that kuhli loaches stay relatively small. Yeah I'm just mainly concerned about the gourami...he seems peaceful for now, but with size I'm afraid he might get more agressive, and also do plecos need pairs or small schools?

I love corycats, I'm actually moving the Molly and gourami out of the 20 so I can buyma few more sterbais, upping it to 5-6.

 

[frapadoodle]

Gourami and angel, bad idea.
Your opaline is a centerpiece for a 30. It will get 5+ inches.

 

[Wills]

Hi - I disagree on a few of the posts here  - your bristlenose is a great fish for a 30g, yes bigger tanks are always better but for me a BN is a great part of a 30g tank if thats what you want in there
 
As for loaches - in a 30 gallon tons of options, zebras, dwarf chains, rosy loaches, khuli loaches, black khulis - and a bunch more of harder to find ones to boot most of the botias and obviously clowns need to be avoided.
 
I do agree with Frapadoodle though Angels and Gourami can be iffy tank mates you often get issues from one or the other as they both take the same area of the tank. Molly should be okay but for me they can be iffy in tanks, males can get boisterous around other fish and can cause issues.
 
For me maybe a tank like
 
1 Opaline Gourami
3 Molly - is yours male or female either way I would try and get either all female or 1 male 2 females
8 Black Ruby Barbs  or  maybe a larger group of Cherry Barbs?
12 Khuli Loaches (bigger numbers make them come out more)
1 Bristlenose
 
Wills

 

[Noahsfish]

Thanks for the response, that's funny, I was actually thinking of cherry barbs but numerous people told me that gouramis and cherry barbs wouldn't get along. This seemed odd because my brother has successfully kept a opaline gourami 4(inches) with cardinal tetras. I like that stocking but one more question, would the khuli loaches and gourami work together? I know loaches don't have scales and I'd be a little apprehensive to put something bigger like a gourami with them..anyways this is sort of what im set on if anybody has any final speculation on this..
X8 cherry barbs
X1 opaline gourami
X3 dalmation Molly
X1 bristle nose pleco
X(?) loache
Thanks for all the advice

 

[Wills]

Gourami are sometimes aggressive but they are not out and out predators - they will fight with other territorial surface dwellers like other gourami, angels etc. but its not a dead cert.
 
They dont have massive mouths either their jaws and mouth are not shaped as a piscovor (spelling sorry) they eat small insects and edible detritus from the waters surface in the wild and will be safe with the other fish in there. Adult Khulis are actually quite big and surprisingly so compared to the little strings you see in the shops. Not big enough to cause an over stocking panic though
 
Did any of the other loaches interest you? I often worry that Khulis wont come out enough and you dont get the true loach character from them all the time - Zebra Loaches are awesome little fish and are really active
 
If you go for Khuli I would get at least 10 because other wise you wont see them - with Zebras stick around 6 but you could manage 8
 
Wills

 

[Noahsfish]

Thanks for the info wills, I've noticed the few times of seen khuli loaches at my lfs they do hide quite a bit..I've seen a couple of other types like clown (obviously) and some other white type...I'll do some research on zebra loaches as anything with zebra=active, at least in my case of owning zebra danios before.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, would the loaches and bristle nose pleco compete for the wafers or whatever I feed them? Should that be something to be concerned about?

 

[leighton_87]

I'd like to throw Dwarf Chain Loaches ( Botia Sidthimunki) into the mix - one of my favourite loaches and one of the smallest - would be perfect for a shoal