Which Fish In Which Tank?

Hi all.

I have two tanks set up and I'm wondering which of my fish would be best in which tank.

My first tank is a 60cm 64 litre one and is currently overstocked with fish that are too large for it. (This is how I bought it). They are 1 x Angelfish, 1 x Gold Gourami, 1 x Opaline Gourami, 1 x Clown Loach, 1 x Bristlenose Plec, 3 x Golden Barbs, 4 x Neons and 1 x Black Neon. The Opaline Gourami often "squares up" to the Gold Gourami, so I should probably separate them. 

My second tank is an old 4ft 160 litre one. This is full of guppies. Around 13 males, 25 females and 8 1cm babies. This tank has been with me for 10 days now. I was waiting for the fish to "settle in" before I starting moving things around.

I do have a third tank which is a 100cm 150 litre one, but this isn't set up yet.

My question is which fish should go in which tank? Every combination seems to have problems. One solution would be to get the third tank up and running  (I think that is probably the answer I am hoping for. lol).

Any thoughts and advice would be gratefully received.   

In my opinion:

Angelfish - needs to be in the bigger tank, and away fron the neons which are their prey in the wild.
Gouramis - both opaline and gold are the same species and if they are 2 males they will fight, but also with 1m 1f, the male will quite likely bully the female. Should both be in the bigger tank, but if they are bickering now would be better separate. Keep the smaller gourami in the smaller tank for now, but as soon as possible either set the third tank up or rehome one of them.
Guppy males and fry, neons and black neon will be fine in the 64 litre.
Gold barbs - might be OK in the 64, though Seriously Fish reckons they need a 90cm long tank. Would be better in one of the bigger tanks as they might bully the smaller fish in the 64 litre.
Female guppies and bristlenose in the larger tank. That will take care of future fry as they'll get eaten. Female guppies will continue having fry for up to six months even if there are no males in the tank. Move any female fry over as well as soon as you can identify them as females.
Clown loach. This is the problem one. They get huge and are social fish so need to be in a group. And because of their size, they need a 180 cm tank, minimum. This fish really does need to be rehomed. Can I suggest you try aquarist-classifieds rather than a shop as it may well end up in a tank similar to your 64 litre if it's bought by someone like the chap you bought the tank from.


I would set up the third tank; give away the clown loach; one gourami in each of the two big tanks; if you put the gold barbs in a big tank, get more; get more neons and black neons (or rehome the single black neon).
That would leave you with a more or less full 64 litre, and 2 partially stocked larger tanks. So have a play with the community creator and see what other fish you like that would fit

I just witnessed one of my guppies giving birth  . Unfortunately my angelfish witnessed it as well and ate the baby within 5 seconds  .

I have since seen him eat two more and he is currently stalking the tank and checking out every bit of gravel "just in case".

Oh well. C'est la vie. (Maybe not for the babies).   

She might give birth during darkness next time 

I was a bit bored on Friday night, so I was thinking to myself. I wonder what that third tank would look like "in situ" so to speak. So I moved my drinks cabinet from the alcove and dragged the tank through from my kitchen and it fitted in perfectly. I then wondered what it would look like if I filled it with water, so I did that. I could then test the spare heaters and filters that I have. Found one of each that work (though the filter is very noisy).

A while later, I was looking in my other big tank and spotted a guppy giving birth and my angelfish hovering waiting for his tasty treats.    In a moment of madness I hoiked her out and put her in the empty tank where she gave birth to around 20 fry. I then put her back in the original tank.  So I now have 20 baby guppies with no danger of getting eaten in a 150 litre tank. Not cycled, but they would have got eaten anyway. Looks like I am starting a guppy farm. 

Changing the subject, I got a 'phone call from my sister yesterday saying that a friend of hers had a small tank with lights, heater etc and 2 goldfish. (no sure why the goldfish would need a heater.) I said no, because I didn't want to get into goldfish. A while later she called again. Did I want just the tank and equipment? The fish could go into friends pond. How could I refuse? So a 4th tank it is? And free again. This is starting to get silly. I already have three tanks in my front room. 

MTS really is contagious.