# A plan for re-stocking 60g tank



## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

Due to inaccurate information from the fish department at Petsmart, I am sitting with a tank full of inappropriate fish. I have 2 Leporinus in a 60 gallon planted tank. Anyone that knows these fish like I NOW do, knows that they are plant eating fish that can become quite aggressive and also grow to over a foot long. :shock: :shock: :shock:

I also have a Rainbow shark which limits my bottom fish choices. I had hoped to add Loaches or Cory's but don't know that I can with Mr. Rainbow Shark. :-?


Once the Leporinus are too big for this tank, I will be re-homing them. I am working on finding a place for them now. Looking to a live fish store here in hopes of getting a store credit for them and maybe the rainbow shark. They won't tank the Barbs, they were firm on that.

Anyway, I am hoping to start coming up with a plan for new fish. I am looking for suggestions. At this point, any fish I get MUST get along with 1 blue Gourami and 8 Tiger Barbs. I also have 2 Oto's in the tank. Also.... NO PLANT EATERS. 

I wasn't sure if Cory's would work since I have Eco-complete for substrate and I am not sure if that is too rough of a surface for them? Anyone know?

At this point I am just hoping for some good options. The tank is 4 feet long and relatively heavily planted. Getting heavier by the day.


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

whoops! That was supposed to be a thread of it's own. Don't ask me what happened there. Can the mods move this last post, please??? I don't know how to do it.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Inga said:


> whoops! That was supposed to be a thread of it's own. Don't ask me what happened there. Can the mods move this last post, please??? I don't know how to do it.


Done, no problem Inga. Byron.


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

Thanks so much. Hopefully that was a one time occurrence, it is sort of embarrassing to realize you just started a thread IN someone else's thread. lol


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

I can't remember, do you have sand substrate? Assuming you rehome your Leporinus and the Rainbow shark, a group of loaches may work.Yo-Yo's can get kind of big (around 5-6") so maybe something a bit smaller like Botia Striata (Zebra Loach) which stay around 4". Chain loaches are really nice also but they may be hard to find and can be pricey.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Yes, jeaninel is bang on with loaches, one the Rainbow is elsewhere. There are several species suitable, trouble is finding some of them. Check the Botia species in our profiles, I added most of the "sometimes" seen loaches. I have five B. kubotai in my 70g, they are incredibly playful; Aunt kymmie has them too, and Lisa. Some loaches can be a bit rough, others are fine with other species, just follow the profiles. I would love to get some B. striata, but I have not seen them locally for years.

For top fish as companions to the Tigers, some of the other medium-sized barbs or larger rasbora (not Trigonostigma species, too "quiet").


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

No, I do not have sand substrate. I have Eco-complete for substrate which I think has sort of a lava rock feel to it. I will check out the loaches in the profiles. My concern with "very playful" fish is that I think the plants will suffer because of it. I think my Tiger Barbs are a little hard on plants with all of their dashing about and rough housing in the tank. It seems some of the plants are suffering from their behavior. Mind you, fish are first before plants in my eyes but after all the work trying to get the tank looking nice planted, I would like to keep it looking nice.

I currently have the odd couple of fish that IS working well. My Blue Gourami seems to get along wonderfully with my Tiger Barbs. It is sort of cute to watch as the Tiger Barbs have their wrestling matches Blue intently watches as though refereeing the match. I have never noticed the Tiger Barbs chasing or bothering the Gourami and I have noticed them all sleeping in the same area of the tank. I hope that lasts as I really really like my Blue Gourami. I wish I could have more Gourami but I will not risk that again.

Anyone have experience with Corydora's and eco-complete substrate? Any issues? Any of you have both loaches and cory's? Which do you prefer and why?


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## LisaC144 (Oct 22, 2009)

Hi Inga. I also have Eco-Complete in my 120g long tank. Cory's are fine on this substrate and so are loaches. Albino corys look great on the black. I LOVE my Zebra Loaches. I also have 8 Botia Histrionica loaches that offer a very nice contrast on the Eco-Complete. They are my favorite for this gravel. Their light and dark color patterns make them easy to spot on the gravel. I actually got my Botia Histrionica at PetSmart, as this is the only place I could find them. They had them mixed with another species of Botia. If you like them and your local PetSmart carries them, DO NOT let them tell you that their patterns change and that they are actually the same loach. They had B. Histrionica and B. Angelicus mixed together and tried telling me it was the same loach, but their patterns change as they get bigger and that is why one is striped and one is polka dotted. Clearly I knew otherwise, and just told them to give me the loaches with the stripese and not the dots. They would make a nice, fun addition to your 60g, but it sounds like in order to do this, you'll have to rehome the Rainbow Shark. Hope this helps some.

EDIT: The loaches and corys will not harm your plants ;-)


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

I just read that loaches shouldn't be with slower swimmers or fish with longer fins. Does this include a Gourami? I don't want anyone hurting Blue. I really like my Rainbow Shark too but It might be best to re-home him, if I can. I would like to actually find him a home, not just send him to a LFSS.


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## LisaC144 (Oct 22, 2009)

I was concerned about the same thing actually. I have two breeding Angelfish. However, they haven't bothered my Angels one bit and I have 17 in my 120g tank. The Angels must not mind them either. They laid eggs again the other night :-D
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

I'm going to have to research that point a bit further, about loaches and long-fin fish. It was raised in some authoritative sites I used when compiling the profiles, but my experience is the same as Lisa's, at least with Botia kubotai.

This is one of the difficulties in writing fish profiles. You want to be accurate, and sometimes fish of a certain species _may_ exhibit traits that are abnormal. Do you mention the abnormality and risk scaring everyone away from what is probably a perfect fish for that environment? Or not mention it, and then someone posts a problem with this or that fish nipping fins when the profile doesn't say it will. Can't win.:-?


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

I think I am just a little paranoid after having fish that didn't get along and ending in 2 dead fish because of it. I definitely do not want to go down that path again. I like the idea of the loaches because I would like to see a bit more activity at the bottom of the tank. I do not want that if it means risking my Blue Gourami. 

Tiger Barbs as I later learned are not supposed to be so great with Gourami either and mine have not been a problem. In fact, my Gourami swims around in their little pack and monitors their ill behavior. It sort of seems like an older more mature sister or something. ha ha

I wish my Rainbow shark could get along with someone else because it is such a cool fish. Not to mention, lovely.


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