New Fish/bigger Tank

[Zebra Benio]

Hi this is my first post on the forum (hello to you all)and i would like your advice.

I'v had a small tropical fresh water tank (50 litres) for over a year now and i'm about to upsize to a 240 litre one (about 64 gallons) and i would like to no if the fish i'm putting in it will be ok and happy together.

The fish: A 4 inch bristlenose catfish (from the old tank).
A 4 inch rainbow shark (from the old tank)
2 medium sized angel fish (from the old tank)
and now what i want to add: 3 dwarf gouramis
8 green tiger barbs
2 or 3 clown loach

Please let me no what should or shouldnt be there.
Thanks

 

[stang1]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
That's a great size tank to be upgrading to, I'm sure your fish will love it. As for the stocking:

A 4 inch bristlenose catfish - will be absolutely fine, provide plenty of caves
A 4 inch rainbow shark - will also be fine but provide plenty of caves
2 medium sized angel fish - will also be fine
3 dwarf gouramis - I'd replace these with a trio or small shoal of Honey Gouramies as they are a lot hardier. Dwarf gouramies are prone to bacterial infection.
8 green tiger barbs - Tiger Barbs can be very nippy and quite aggressive. Some people have success keeping them on groups of 12+ but it's always a risk, especially with long finned fish. Maybe look at replacing them with Pentazona Barbs, stunning little fish and completely peaceful.
2 or 3 clown loach - Clown Loach are best kept in groups of 5+ and can potentially reach 12". They will be fine in that size tank for a good while before you'd have to worry about them outgrowing iy. Make sure you have good filtration and don't add them after the tank has matured for a few months as they can be very sensitive.

 

[waterdrop]

Well I'll leave it to some of the others who are better on stocking but one detail to check is the new tank height: Most bigger volume tanks like that should be plenty tall enough but you really do want about 17" of height for angelfish - will you have that?

Its also good that the tank will be big, which helps with shoals of barbs, but it would still make me nervous putting -any- tiger barbs (no matter what the color variation) into a community tank. Have you thought this out?

And,as I said, others will help with the size thing, but I believe clown loaches just keep growing, and growing and growing (saw some huge ones in a Raleigh shop just the other day.)

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Zebra Benio]

The green tigers are the ones that worry me because of the fin nipping but i've read in a couple of places that if you have a big enough shoal they will leave the other fish alone. Is this true?

How many fish could you put in a 240 litre tank? Am i under or over?

And will the clown loach be ok with the rainbow shark?

Sorry, so many questions.

 

[stang1]

It's always difficult to say with Tiger Barbs whether they will be aggressive or not but it's not a risk I'd personally want to take. Generaly, when they are kept in bigger shoals, they bicker with each other and leave other fish alone. Saying that, I've known people who have tried keeping bigger shoals, just to rehome them again because they are nippy. It really is a difficult one to answer because it can depend on temperament but I'd be more inclined to go with something more peaceful.