Ideas For 29 Gallon Community tank

[freddiefish14]

Hey there guys! I had a very small ten gallon tank with just a few mollies in it, but got very tired of trying to keep that little tank clean! So, today I replaced it with a 29 gallon tank. After i cycle it, i was wondering if anyone had some ideas on different fish to put in it. I'm not a huge cichlid fan, I tend to like schools of smaller fish. I was thinking maybe some tiger barbs, but have heard they are sometimes agressive. Any type of small schooling fish would be cool, plus I'd like some advice on the amount you guys recommend. I'd like at least 2 different kinds of fish, preferably schools, but am open to all suggestions and ideas. Also, how are dwarf gouramis? I love their colors, so i'm curious. Thanks!

P.S., just in case I change my mind...what do you guys think about two black moor goldfish alone in the tank. For some reason I love the way they look, but don't want them to overgrow the tank. Once again, thanks!

 

[FreshwaterTropical]

You should put other community fish like tetras platys and danios with the mollies.

 

[freddiefish14]

I don't have the mollies anymore, I'm starting fresh. I was thinking about some black phantom tetras.

 

[FreshwaterTropical]

Oh ok yeah that would be nice. Angel fish and German blue rams look cool too. How about live plants.

 

[freddiefish14]

I've never had any. What's it like taking care for the plants?

 

[FreshwaterTropical]

Some plants are easy and some are really hard to keep. The fish really love plants and would appreciate you for them.

 

[Galligak]

I've never had any. What's it like taking care for the plants?

I have some very easy plants to take care of. Mostly mosses and ferns but there's also Anubis and crypts and more low light plants that take no effort at all to take care of. I just take the dead leaves off and let them grow

 

[freddiefish14]

I will definately look into some plants. So what exactly do you do to "plant" them?

 

[FreshwaterTropical]

U just put them in thick substrate and let them grow from the waste of your other fish. I use very small gravel for my substrate.

 

[freddiefish14]

Oh okay thanks!

 

[agwats]

I wouldn't get tiger barbs unless that's all you are planning on putting in the tank.

If you like schooling fish you could do a couple schools of danios tetras or rasboras to fill the middle and top of the tank and a school of cory cats at the bottom with a dwarf gourami as a centerpiece fish. An example would be;
1 dwarf gourami
2 schools of tetras
4-6 corys

Remember to over filter and low light live plants are easy to care for and add a beautiful natural element to the tank. If you decide to use live plants you'll want a small grain substrate live PFS or pea gravel

 

[ashleynicole]

I just started up a 29 gallon as well! I used to have a 55 gallon, so it is hard for me going smaller, but I used sand substrate and live including java fern, anubis, crypts, and dwarf sag in the foreground. I have done live plants in the past as well and it definitely makes for a healthier tank. I've attached a picture. I bought a few plants from petsmart, but I ordered the rest from aquariumplants.com

 

[FreshwaterTropical]

Just curious. Are Petsmart plants healthy? How much do they cost. I never bought plants there before.

 

[ashleynicole]

Just curious. Are Petsmart plants healthy? How much do they cost. I never bought plants there before.

You have to be careful and know what you are buying. Petsmart/petco will sell plants that aren't really aquarium plants as well. Their javafern seems to be doing ok. I also bought a container of amazon swords, but those aren't doing to well at all, although I may not have enough light in my tank for amazon swords since they require a little higher light.

If you can find, Java fern, anubis, crypts, then these will probably be ok. Just make sure you clean them really well before you put them in your tank.

 

[FreshwaterTropical]

How do you clean the plants?

 

[ashleynicole]

How do you clean the plants?

I just rinse them really really well in tapwater, and then I rinse them in old tank water.

 

[FreshwaterTropical]

Ok do you use any type of fertilizer or plant food.

 

[ashleynicole]

I haven't done this for a few years, so maybe someone else can chime in too. I used seachem flourish in the past and that is what I am using now. I hope I will be as successful this time around.

 

[agwats]

That really depends on the plants you get. I've always just had low maintenance plants like java ferns, anubias, and mosses which don't need fertilizer. I know the type of fertilizer you use depends on how the plant gets its nutrients for example crypts get most of there nutrients from the substrate so you should use root tabs for them.

 

[agwats]

The type of fish you want will also affect what kind of plants you should get. You want to make sure that your fish wont eat the plants you want and you want to make sure the plants and fish can thrive in the same water conditions. Any thoughts on the fish you may want?