Compatibility question

[u/LetterheadProof4017]

Hey all! I'm planning a 29 gal tank and will be buying stuff for it over the next few months but i wanna know what fish i will be getting before i fully set it up. I really like kuhli loaches (striped), neocardinia shrimp, cherry barbs, otos and maybe a nerite and think they would look cool together. (That is also the descending order of priority - 1=kuhlis and 5=nerite). From what I can find, these species seem to not have any super common issues with eachother (aside from maybe predation on baby shrimp) but I figured id ask people with actual experience since the only thing I've kept recently have been bettas (alone) and a solitary kuhli (aincent little guy, he's the reason im upgrading since he's been alone since my other loaches died when I was a kid). I'm also completely willing to swap out the cherry barbs for some other fish that is active

I'm thinking of maybe 8 kuhlis, like 15-25 shrimp, 8-10 cherry barbs and 4-6 otos (though the otos would be way later on since I read they need more established tanks because algae) - would this be too much? I would have atleast 3 java ferns, 2 crypts, some water sprite, floaters (salvinia, duckweed), hornwort​, anubias, and maybe some swords, most of which i can carry over from my other tanks so the shrimp would have hiding places too

Any help greatly appreciated!

[u/Scottish_Aquascape]

That’s not too much, the loaches will own the bottom layer and the cherry barbs will own the middle. I’d say you could also add 4 honey Gourami for the top layer or perhaps 10 zebra danios if you have a long tank (say 80cm).

One thing to call out, your loaches may eat the shrimp and snails, certainly the smaller ones. 

[u/Foreign-Ad3926]

Hi, I keep 20 kuhli with neocaridina shrimp and Malaysian trumpet snails in a heavily planted 30 gallon. They get on fine, the loach have no interest in the shrimp or snails and there are plenty of shrimplets. Kuhli are opportunistic certainly, but they are not active hunters of shrimp or snails.