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I'm trying to figure out what to do with my practically empty 55 gallon tank and have a lot of questions. Will loaches be alright in a heavily planted tank? There isn't much open space right down near the gravel, although most of the plants in the front of the tank are fairly short. I have one in another of my tanks and would like to move him to the 55 and get him some friends. Also, I have one angelfish in another tank with a body size between 2 and 3 inches across. Would it be possible to get several other angels of a similar size (adding them to the 55 all at once), and if they are this big, will they be likely to eat my harlequin rasboras? I can always move the harlequin rasboras to another tank. This is what I'm thinking of stocking the tank with:

4 Angels (if they will get along with my current angel)
6 Loaches (if they will be fine with all the plants)
6 Harlequin Rasboras (already have but could move to another tank)
2 Praecox Rainbows (already have)
2 BN plecos (already have)

Would there be room for another school, maybe of tetras? I would rather not have more rainbows because I have tried larger schools on several ocassions and always seem to end up with a single pair. What about amano shrimp, would they be eaten by the loaches? Sorry for all the questions and thanks for your help!

What kind of loach do you have already? I think that will help to know if they will have enough room or not.
I think 5 angels is too much for a 55g. I want angels for my 55 and people only suggested 3 at the most. They get pretty big and that doesn't leave much space for all of them, even if you don't have many top-middle fish.
Adding any more angels (maybe 1 or 2 more) is risky. I have heard of people who added another angel and the weaker one was picked on. Maybe if it is the same size and you add 2 it would be ok. Someone else will have to say more.
If you only added 1 or 2 more angels, you could have a school of big bodied tetras and the harlequins. But if the harlequins are still small, they may get eaten.

*Kristin*

Hi chipz,

I know nothing about Angels and Loaches, so no comment there.

Otherwise, just by looking at selection and numbers (not as a group overall with regards to overstocking):

6 Harlequin Rasboras – That is the minimum size of a school, if you can then beef it up to at least 8 (the more the merrier, just look at my 125G log in the Planted forum for an example of a large school of Harlequin Rasbora Espei, I guess on page 27).

2 Praecox Rainbows – If I am not mistaken then they are shoalers, so 2 would make them rather lonely. How about at least 4?

2 BN plecos – They might start to disturb your plants, but that depends on a) how densely you are planted and b) the kind of plants you have. But this might not apply to you as you have them already .

So if you would go for my suggestions on the Harlies and Rainbows then you would not have to worry about adding new Angels, the tank would be full enough .

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I would go with these fish in a 55 gal. planted tank:-

4 Angels.
4 Loaches. (if they are Yoyo's or other small bodied Loaches)
6 Harlequin Rasboras.
4 Praecox Rainbows.
2 BN Plecos.


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Last edited by jasonpisani at 07-Dec-2005 14:14

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Thanks for the suggestions. I was only planning on having a TOTAL of 4 angels, I agree that 5 would be much too crowded. The loaches would be zebra loaches, and I have had the harlequins for a number of years, so they are very big. If there are any problems with them, I will move them to one of my other tanks. If I can find female Praecox I might try to fill out the school. Thanks again.