Love loaches and while at my LFS, I saw they had Pangio cuneovirgatas in stock. Super rare to see in person and so excited they had them in stock. I love Khuli loaches and these super tiny guys are so damn awesome.
I have an ADA 60F which is 60cm long, 30cm wide, 25cm high which comes out to about 11.9 gal. I already have 6 Corydoras habrosus, would adding a small group of Pangio cuneovirgatas be too much for bottom dwellers? The Khulis stay super small but I also don't want to overcrowd the bottom of the tank.
My corys seem like they have a ton of space on the bottom already, but I figured I'd see what you guys would say. There are tons of hiding spots including two caves I made out of rocks, leaf litter, and botanicals, as well as tons of plants including floaters to make the fish seem more secure.
I would not add any more bottom dwelers given you arleady have corydoras. I had 10 pangios in a 60cm x 35cm x 40cm tank with cherry shrimp and it seemed small to them and moved them to one with double the surface area. These fish care more about surface area or footprint than volume, so with a tank that size and corydoras I would advise against it
Ah damn. I had a feeling that the answer would be now but figured I would check because of how tiny the little guys are. Appreciate it! Might add a couple more habrosas to fill out the bottom now but we’ll see!
If I'm mathing correctly, that's approximately a 24" by 12" footprint. I'd say it's big enough for a small pack of C. habrosus plus a horde of Pangio cuneovirgata. This is my caveat though: I'd only attempt it if you have a quarantine tank to medicate, observe, and grow the Pangio on a bit.
In my experience, Pangio cuneovirgata are more likely to come in to the shops small and underfed. Plus all Pangios (and fish in my opinion) should be dewormed, as the vast majority are wild caught. The dwarf species is extra sensitive to being handled and easily outcompeted for food, so it's a perfect storm for bad health and eventual death. I've gotten quite a few batches of them from the local shop, and have figured out a month quarantine for the healthy looking ones makes a huge difference in long term health in the display tank. And even longer in qt for the really tiny and/or thin ones. Out of all the Pangio species I keep, they are the most fragile and challenging to get and keep healthy.
This is not to scare you, just to give you an idea of what you would be getting into. They are a really fun fish to observe but usually shy. Lots of hiding spots (shrimp caves, piles of rounded rock, driftwood, dense plantings, etc.) will help them feel more secure.
Good luck, whatever you choose.
Appreciate the thorough reply. I’m actually deworming the tank for the corys so that wouldn’t be an issue. Although the overall feedback seems to be that my tank is too small for both. Might just get a couple more corys to fill out the bottom a bit more though!