The catfish answer to kuhli loaches!

[Friller2009]

Listen.. You cannot use a 1 minute video of clown loaches sitting on the bottom of the tank as evidence that you are correct. At least use a longer one.

Archerfish get thick. While Small scale Archers don't get as thick as the native Seven Spot, they still get thick.
You say that you are pushing for natural keeping which is great, however you can't just say "Mine won't do that they will be fine". Otherwise then it's okay to say "RTC is fine in a 120 gallon, it won't use extra space".

Your equation for tank size is great in theory, however when you add multiple fish in, it gets cramped, especially when you have deep bodied fish inhabiting the water column right above them.
But go ahead and do it, but I fear you might end up in the same situation as you did with your Pictus Cats. You do want your fish to be satisfied?

 

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

First of all, it is consistent with what redshark1 said in being very horizontally biased and not going above the mid-level much. Despite the short length I believe it works because of that consistency.

Second, I didn't say my fish won't do a thing. I said my guess was that they won't do a thing, based on their present observable swimming habits.
The red tail catfish analogy doesn't really work, because a 454 liter is not an adequate footprint for one. Point with the red tail catfish is that even though they live in deep water, the extra swimming space provided by the depth doesn't seem to be what they need from the depth.
Perhaps it is more prey in deeper waters or protection from large caimans, neither of which are an issue in tanks.

If there is something I'm missing about a wide footprint and light stocking of deep bodied fish, please do point it out. The 36cm tall tank was planned wholely on the basis of that, in case the top fish ever needed room to get out of the way of the bottom fish, since after all I do want my fish to be satisfied.
My wanting them to be satisfied is, again, also the reason I can go 45cm tall if needed. This is still in the planning stage.

 

[Rtc/tsn]

Your input is much appreciated Rtc/tsn. I'm glad you were able to give some as you're probably the only the only person still active on here who has kept one.

I’m the only person I’ve ever heard of that has one currently. Such a cool fish and if you’re able to and want one then i highly suggest you buy one, they’re such cool fish to watch swim and eat.