SAE to old to go back to (a) school?

[Chalupacabra]

I’ve had an SAE by (pretty sure) herself for 2-3 years now in a 20 gallon long. I recently moved her into a 55 gallon standard which she is quite pleased with!

Now that she’s in a larger tank, I was considering adding some more SAEs, but at this point would being around juveniles stress her out more? Could it trigger aggressive behavior? Here is the current stocking:

• 1 Angelfish (???)
• 4 Pearl Gourami (1M, 3F?)
• 10 Harlequin Rasbora (?M, ?F)
• 3 Kuhli Loach (?M, ?F)
• 1 Siamese Algae Eater (1F?)
• 1 Bristlenose Pleco (???)

I hope to up the schools of Harlequins, ideally to 18, and Kuhlis, preferably to 9-12, but maybe just 6. It’d be nice to add another Pearl, but honestly too stocked already. What I’m not sure about is whether I should be planning to add 3 juvenile SAEs as that will radically impact my plans with the rest of the fish.

To those of you who are more experienced with these fish, would she appreciate new, younger friends, or is she better off being on her own?

 

[Linda1234]

Not sure a 55 is large enough for 4 sae (or even 1 sae). I had an sae in a 120 and it could bounce from one side to the other in a wink. They are not small fishes; also they eat a lot. Having said that I see no issue mixing young sae with your adult.

 

[Noroomforshoe]

The siamese algea eater is ok as a solo. I am big on keeping fish in propper schools Normally I would say, "get a full school of the fish you have before getting anything else" But the sae can be ok alone.
Would it be ok to add young fish with the old fish? There would probably not be aggression, but It may take some time to for the new fish to grow to a larger size that your older fish wants to interact with them. This happened with my yoyo loaches. So you could be adding uncomfortably large fish for a cause that doesn't pan out for another 6 months. And you would need to limit the other new species quite a bit.

I would not add more Sae.
If you want kuhlie loaches, add as many as you can , no less than 6.

 

[86 ssinit]

Add another sae. You’ll be surprised how fast they start chasing each other. That’s what they do. An endless game of tag. I did what you want to do. Added a new one to one that had been by itself for three years. They’ve been playing tag ever since. 2 is the perfect number. For me whenever I’ve done 3 ones always jumped out of the tank.

 

[Noroomforshoe]

That sounds like stress behavior, but im also not an expert.