29 gallon stocking sanity check

[pugmom]

My 7 year old and I are filling time waiting for our tank to cycle so we keep tweaking our wish list.....

we have a 29 gallon with an aquaclear 50 on it.

We were thinking:

it looks a little overstocked according aqadvisor - but I didn't know if it was close or way over (I know the calculator isn't the most accurate thing....)

Also - we are cycling to 4ppm ammonia. After cycling - we were going to add the zebra danios and the neons first - does that make sense??

Comments and criticism welcome! thank you!!!

 

[calfishguy]

I think that is okay for a 29. Make sure you only add a few fish each week and keep up with pwcs.

Good luck.

Edit I'd add the zebra danios and the glow fish first.

 

[BlaseMrNiceguy]

If your dosing to 4ppm you should be able to add your entire stock in once cycled.

 

[FreshObsessed]

Honestly, I wouldn't add the Zebras and GloFish.

With 6 Zebra Fish, 6 Neons, and 6 Glowlites you will have 18 fish + bottom dwellers and the live bearers.

Lightly stocking may not seem fun but it makes the Aquarist's life SOO much easier. I'd suggest planting it, as well.

 

[pugmom]

If your dosing to 4ppm you should be able to add your entire stock in once cycled.

thanks - the thought of adding everything at once scares the crud out of me even though I understand the reasoning behind it!

 

[calfishguy]

If your dosing to 4ppm you should be able to add your entire stock in once cycled.

Don't do it even if it's cycled most newly cycled tanks take a while to balance out. If you add all your fish at once you have a large chance of having nitrite and ammo spikes

 

[pugmom]

Honestly, I wouldn't add the Zebras and GloFish.

With 6 Zebra Fish, 6 Neons, and 6 Glowlites you will have 18 fish + bottom dwellers and the live bearers.

Lightly stocking may not seem fun but it makes the Aquarist's life SOO much easier. I'd suggest planting it, as well.

thanks for the input - if we skip a school, I am guessing it would be the glow lights or the neons since they are in the mid/low range and the zebras are at the top?

It is just hard deciding which ones to keep on the list!

 

[FreshObsessed]

thanks for the input - if we skip a school, I am guessing it would be the glow lights or the neons since they are in the mid/low range and the zebras are at the top?

It is just hard deciding which ones to keep on the list!

I said to eliminate zebras and GLofish because I have found they are very nippy. Although, Tetras can be nippy Zebras are very over active, nippy fish that I really don't like. That may have just been my experience with them but you can try.
I like Neons and Glowlites.

 

[pugmom]

gotcha - I understand. Unfortunately I will probably have to risk the nippiness and they are my son's number one choice

Thanks again - I will keep an eye on things!

 

[FreshObsessed]

gotcha - I understand. Unfortunately I will probably have to risk the nippiness and they are my son's number one choice

Thanks again - I will keep an eye on things!

One more thing..instead of getting another school of a type of Tetra maybe you should just get a larger school of Zebras: 8+. That might reduce any possible chance of nippiness.

 

[pugmom]

One more thing..instead of getting another school of a type of Tetra maybe you should just get a larger school of Zebras: 8+. That might reduce any possible chance of nippiness.

thanks again - that is a great idea. At the very least I can hold off on the second tetra school until I see how the 6 zebras are in the tank and then go from there.

 

[calfishguy]

None of the fish you have have long find so there most likely won't be any nipping anyway.

 

[FreshObsessed]

None of the fish you have have long find so there most likely won't be any nipping anyway.

Long fins aren't the only kind of fins that get nipped...Platies, Neons, Rams..none have long fins and then have gotten nipped in my tank,

 

[calfishguy]

Yes but it's rarer that they get nipped and when they do get nipped it heals within 2 days if your water is clean.

 

[BlaseMrNiceguy]

Food for thought, the glofish are actually tattooed to be this bright neon colors, this could potentially take time off the life of the fish due to the stress endured in the process. IMO I wouldn't buy them I would just go with the regular danios if that's the route you wanna go. There are so many naturally brightly colored fish out there I just don't see the necessity to tattoo a fish.

 

[pugmom]

thanks for the responses everyone - I will keep an eye on the nippiness, worst case it will give me an excuse to set up another tank muhahahaha....

Food for thought, the glofish are actually tattooed to be this bright neon colors, this could potentially take time off the life of the fish due to the stress endured in the process. IMO I wouldn't buy them I would just go with the regular danios if that's the route you wanna go. There are so many naturally brightly colored fish out there I just don't see the necessity to tattoo a fish.

Someone correct me if I am wrong - but I think they are genetically modified not tattooed. new fish born currently have the glow gene....

 

[Silverton]

thanks for the responses everyone - I will keep an eye on the nippiness, worst case it will give me an excuse to set up another tank muhahahaha....

Someone correct me if I am wrong - but I think they are genetically modified not tattooed. new fish born currently have the glow gene....

The research I've done on glofish says that they're just genetically modified. They are supposed to be just as healthy and have the same lifespan as the rest of the species. Of course, I'm no expert so if anyone knows differently...

 

[Talvari]

Food for thought, the glofish are actually tattooed to be this bright neon colors, this could potentially take time off the life of the fish due to the stress endured in the process. IMO I wouldn't buy them I would just go with the regular danios if that's the route you wanna go. There are so many naturally brightly colored fish out there I just don't see the necessity to tattoo a fish.

Actually, no, glofish are not tattooed. They are genetically altered. At one point, the eggs of your standard zebra danio were injected with a portion of jellyfish DNA that causes them to fluoresce when put under a blue or black light. They are supposed to breed true to their color.

 

[pugmom]

thanks everyone - I don't want to support the tattooing of fish for sure....

fin nipping/tattooing aside, does everything else look ok? Too many fish?

Can I do one platy instead of 3 or do they prefer friends?