Aclockworkorange, your 33 gallon tank sounds great!
If you had to choose between loaches and corys, which would you prefer? I do really like loaches, and they have done well for me so far. I haven't had much luck with corys, but maybe that's because in a 10-gallon tank the water wasn't stable enough (for example, maybe the partial water changes I do every week were problematic), or maybe it was the colder temperatures in that tank, although I tried to choose corys that would be okay with those temperatures. Here's how things went with my corys: I started out with three-- planning to add a couple more later after the water had time to restabilize) and all but one died after only a couple of months. The surviving one seemed fine, but after a year or so I'd try adding a new one (or two) because I thought it would appreciate the company . . . and the "old" one would then die. I repeated this depressing cycle at least three times, and finally gave up on the corys. However, I'd be more than happy to have them again if they'd do better in the slightly larger and warmer tank!
I'm still thinking it might be worth trying the rams, or a ram. Industrial, when you advised not getting a pair, did you mean that you would put only one ram into a 28-gallon tank, or did you mean to avoid a male/ female pair (i.e., more than one male might be okay)?
I'm also leaning towards a dwarf gourami-- if I understand correctly, you folks would put only one in a 28-gallon tank?-- or perhaps a pearl gourami.
Truth is, I don't much like the look of angelfish, and it sounds to me from your varying opinions as if putting them into a 28-gallon tank might be questionable. I'm thinking that size is probably also too small for a bichir.
I did like the looks of the pentazona barbs that someone suggested . . . but it sounds as if they need acidic water, too!
Sparkling gouramis also look like a pretty solid choice.
I've also been looking at info about Gertrude's rainbowfish or threadfin raibowfish. Do any of you have comments about those varieties?
