Eclipse 6 overstock?

[ciaong]

A few months back, I bought an Eclipse 6 (6 gallons) and have been researching fish to stock it with. I would like to keep 4-5 dwarf loaches (Botia sidthimunki) and a couple shrimp. Would this overstock the tank? If I heavily plant the tank, will some of the shrimp fry live? (And yes, I've considered dwarf puffers, but my apartment-mate objects to frozen worms alongside our food. )

 

[rich311k]

dwarf loaches get 4-5 inches each you could not keep even one. A betta would work

 

[ciaong]

That's odd. I've seen max sizes posted at 2 inches. *scratches head* Thanks for the advice.

 

[ciaong]

EDIT: (posted to late, so had to double-post)

Rich, are you sure about their max size being 6"? The only website I can find that says that is Loaches Online. Fish.mongabay, DrFosterSmith, and most other sites say they max at 2-3"...Does anyone who owns dwarf/chained loaches confirm their max size? (I can get a bigger tank, but 6" fish are way too big for what I had in mind.)

 

[rich311k]

Site I found said 4-6 always differing opinions. 6 gallons is still two small for that many 2" fish, get a 15 or 20 and you would have a great tank I would think. I would trust Dr. Foster and Smith site. Wish I had the link here at work that I found.

Found it http://www.loaches.com/species_pages/botia_sidthimunki.html

 

[WinterWind]

Even if they did get around 2-3 inches, that's still kind of cramped. The loaches would spend much of their time on the bottom of the tank, and with 4 or 5 3 inch fish at the bottom, it would be cramped for the fish.

You can get pgmy cories instead. They are also mainly bottom-dwelling fish, though they swim in the middle more than their larger counterparts.