Catfish Or Loach?

[allgipan]

Hi, I am in the process of setting my tank up and am week 2, just put in 5 zebra danios and would like in the future to put in maybe some flying fox, harlequins and guppies/mollies. I am struggling to find any info on whether a loach or catfish would be best for this set up. Ultimately I want a high colour tank, I love Clown loaches but don't wanna use up too much room by having to buy 3. So which is best at not nipping of fins and living alone or in twos? And a good beginners bottom feeder?

Please help, have seen that many varietes ive gone mad!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

what size is the tank?

 

[The-Wolf]

Hi, I am in the process of setting my tank up and am week 2, just put in 5 zebra danios

have you cycled the tank or are you doing a cycle with fish?

 

[allgipan]

Hi, I am in the process of setting my tank up and am week 2, just put in 5 zebra danios

have you cycled the tank or are you doing a cycle with fish?

Am doing a cycle with fish.

what size is the tank?

Hi, its a 96 litre tank or do you mean measurements

 

[Miss Wiggle]

clown loaches are a no no, they can get to 12" so way too big for your tank.

in that size tank catfish wise your really limited to cories, but they need to be in a group of 6+ so that's a no go for you

there are several smaller species of loach like the khulie loach or dwarf chain loach that would be ok.

otto's are another consideration.

however otto's are a no go for a cycling tank, not to up on my loaches so not sure if they are hardy enough

 

[The-Wolf]

please wait untill you tank has finished cycling before even thinking of adding any more fish.

 

[loachman]

Hi, I am in the process of setting my tank up and am week 2, just put in 5 zebra danios

have you cycled the tank or are you doing a cycle with fish?

Am doing a cycle with fish.

what size is the tank?

Hi, its a 96 litre tank or do you mean measurements

You'll need to be careful, since you'll overstock if you get all the fish on your list in suitable groups. But here are some bottom feeders that are okay in a smallish tank.

Seeing as you have about a 25 gallon tank, clown loaches are way too big. Actually most loaches are too big, especially when you consider they appreciate being kept with their own kind.

You could get away with some kuhli loaches. They have a relatively low bio-load. Agian, they like to be in groups. With 5 or so they'll be much more active and enjoyable. Single loaches will almost never be seen.

Catfish, the pgymy cories are probably your best bet. Again, they should be in groups like all cories.

Ottos are fine in a smallish tank. Again, groups are best but you should be okay with 3 of them.

This is the problem, most of the smallish fish are schooling/shoaling and don't do well as single specimens.

The other option is a small pleco in the 4 inch (or under) range. They tend to be harder to find though and there aren't that many species.

 

[dwarfgourami]

As everybody has said it will be several weeks before you can add your next lot of fish, so we are thinking of the period after that. At 96 ltrs, I am assuming that the tank is 3 foot long, so you are looking at fish not much bigger than 4 inches (possibly slightly longer for a sedentary plec). And roughly 15 inches of fish to play around with, on top of your danios.

I think I would be inclined to add another couple of danios, just to spread any potential aggression.

Then I would go for platies rather than mollies- slightly smaller and less fussy about water parameters. Since you don't have a vast amount of space, either an all male group of 5, or a female group, which can be smaller- you can even do a female pair.

The khuulie loaches are a good suggestion, I'd go with that. Don't expect them to eat algae, that's all, but then no fish eats every kind of algae- you still have to do a fair bit of cleaning with any tank. Or a small group of corydoras, again not algae eaters but scavengers, and full of charm. Instead of these, you could fit a small plec, like the bristlenose or (better) a bulldog plec into this tank, but they are messy fish so the rest of the stocking would have to be adjusted accordingly.