ADVICE PLEASE! Should I add another loach to my tank?

[lovehlah]

So, I recently started keeping fish. I purchased a kuhli loach impulsively (this was a mistake I know this). I'm doing what I can to provide him the best care possible. I only have the resources for a 10 gallon tank. I'm getting mixed advice, but I've heard kuhli loaches can do alright in a 10g. The tank also has 3 molly fish (1 male, 2 females) and a mystery snail. This is also not by own desire but the mollies had nowhere else to go so I took them in. The tank also has a moss ball and aquatic plants I just added. Substrate is a mix of fine sand and gravel. The thing is I understand loaches don't do to great by their lonesome and do better with at least one other of the same species. I plan to upgrade the tank drastically once I'm able to which will be a year at the most. I'm wondering will 2 kuhli loaches be able to thrive under these conditions or should I just hope the one I have does alright by himself until I can upgrade (to hopefully a 40-60 gallon). The last thing I want is to overpopulate. I've added pictures to get a better look at the tank. I know I'm also probably making tons of mistakes so any advice would be amazing, I'm open to criticism so I can do better just please be kind. Thank you in advance!

 

[JuiceBox52]

Welcome to the forum! It’s a wonderful learning resource!
I would rehome the one you have, they should really be in groups of at least 6 to thrive.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

How long has the tank been set up for?
What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

Has the filter been cycled (developed the beneficial filter bacteria needed to keep ammonia and nitrite levels at 0ppm)?
What type or media/ materials in the filter?
Did the shop tell you how to clean the filter?

How often do you do water changes and how much do you change?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

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What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, discus, most tetras, most barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

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The sand and gravel will probably mix unless you can put something between them. A plastic ruler might work as a divider.

You need a picture on the back of the tank. you can buy them from pet shops, online, or make one from a plastic bin liner, piece of card or even a newspaper. Just tape it to the outside on the back so the fish feel a little more secure.

You need some more plants. Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) is a nice floating plant that can also be grown in the substrate. It will reduce the light reflecting off the substrate and make the fish feel less stressed. It will also give the baby mollies somewhere to hide in a month or so when the female/s (black one and the gold lyretail one) give birth. The black one is definitely looking chubby with da bubby.