Making a paradise for rosy loaches?

[Jess]

First of all, I'm sorry for the upside-down pictures.  I don't know what it is about my particular computer/phone combination, but my pictures almost always get imported upside down and I am unable to rotate them.  I tried rotating them in Windows so they look upside-down, then importing - but they still import upside-down.  I tried searching the forum for a solution and came up empty-handed.  After half an hour, I gave up.

On to my actual question!

I have wanted rosy loaches for a long time and I finally found them (haven't bought them yet).  However, I am unsure whether either my two larger tanks would be a suitable home for them.  The one on the left is a 17-gallon tank.  Parameters and tankmates are fine, but there are a looot of plants in here. I read that rosy loaches like a lot of open space to swim.  There is not too much open space in my 17-gallon jungle.  Right now it houses 4 licorice gourami, 4 Hemirhamphodon halfbeaks, 9 dwarf spotted danios, and a Stiphodon goby.

The one on the right is a 45-gallon, and it obviously has a ton more space.  It houses 6 habrosus corys on the bottom, and I want to get them some more friends so that they'll be more comfortable and I can observe more of their natural behavior.  The one issue with this tank is that it is also home to 10 crossband chocolate gouramis and I've recently learned that they like it HOT and have not been doing so well as the ambient temperature drops. 75 degrees F is too chilly for them...I think I need to keep them at 79-80.  And I think 79-80 is too hot for the rosy loaches.  (Might also be too hot for the habrosus corys and the otos too.) 

So yes I have a couple of issues to work out here due to these pesky gouramis needing more heat.  My partner doesn't like the idea of me getting another tank, especially one big enough to house 10 chocolate gouramis...so I need to figure that out. But my main question for the group is: are either of these setups ideal for rosy loaches and, if not, what might you suggest to make one of them ideal?  

Thank you!

 

[Guppysnail]

I’m not being helpful because I know nothing of loaches but I really wanted to tell you the first tank upside down or not is very beautiful 🤩 

[Jess]

On 10/29/2021 at 7:52 PM, Guppysnail said:

I’m not being helpful because I know nothing of loaches but I really wanted to tell you the first tank upside down or not is very beautiful

Haha! Thank you! It just looks like an untamed underwater forest to me. Not at all what I pictured when I set it up nearly a year old. I put in this Cryptocoryne spiralis plant I found at my LFS and it just took off like nothing I’ve ever seen. It thinks it lives on the marshy banks somewhere in Borneo…it’s totally taken over everything!!!   But oh well…nature is unpredictable and that’s part of the fun of it.

Edited October 30, 2021 by Jess

[PedroPete]

I haven't kept rosy loaches yet, but I would like to! I found one at my LFS mixed in with pygmy corys I was scoping out to add to my new set up. I feel like Tank #1 would work for them, but I could be completely wrong.

Also, I would looove to keep both licorice and chocolate gouramis at some point! Both are just gorgeous fish! I had read that about the chocolates and heat, but wasn't sure, so it's nice to read your experience.

[Jess]

On 10/31/2021 at 6:30 AM, PedroPete said:

Both are just gorgeous fish! I had read that about the chocolates and heat, but wasn't sure, so it's nice to read your experience.

Yes, my experience so far tells me chocolates really need at least 78 degrees. My licorice gouramis seem ok at 74, but perhaps happier at 78.  I had a cold spell here a few weeks ago and woke up to all my tanks at 66 degrees (from ambient temp, 78, the day before). Everybody did ok except the chocolates. Two of them died and the rest now have ich.  Wild caught ones FOR SURE need both high temps and low hardness (KH and GH both).  I’m desperate to save them. It’s horrible. 
 

The licorice gouramis I’ve been trying to breed, since they are a disappearing genus of fish. They are super fun, but they like black water conditions. I carved out the middle of Tank #1 for them, under the driftwood. They hang there under and around catappa leaves. 
 

Thanks for weighing in on the rosy loach paradise question!  I’m going to wait to see if my chocolates can pull through the ich, and then I might consider keeping just them and the licorice gourami in Tank #1 at 78-80 degrees, and move everyone else to Tank #2 at 74-76 degrees. So I’ll wait on the rosy loaches cause they like the slightly cooler temps. 

[PedroPete]

Your plan is a solid one.  I really hope they pull through!🤞