What fish can I add to my aquarium?

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MarkA123

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Aug 5, 2010
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381
Location
Missouri
I have a 29g bowfront glass aquarium with 150w stealth pro heater, coralife digital LCD thermometer registering a constant 79, sand, driftwood, 4 silk plants, penguin 150 power filter, 6 albino Cory catfish, 1 female veiltale betta, and perfecto canopy with 17w fluorescent light, which I keep dimmed for the cories, they seem to dislike the light. I was wondering what my options are to add next. Or am I already fully stocked? I was thinking Mickey mouse platies, but read that they like densely planted aquariums, which mine is lightly silk planted. I could add more silk plants, but live plants are not an option, except for Marimo which I plan to get. Sp do they really need live plants to thrive? If not how many should I get do they prefer groups? Also how many female and how many males? Thanks
 
not fully stocked. i would go to the lfs to see what you like write it down and come back to check to see if it works. platy dont need planted aquariums though if you care it tends to work out better for their fry. why is a live plants out of the question? 2-3 females per male but have to figure out what you want to do with the fry.
 
Well they aren't Out of the question completely I just can't find any for my tank because it has such a shallow sand bed and subdue lighting. I'd like to have live plants if you know of any that will thrive in low light to no light shallow sand bed conditions be tell me I'd love live instead of silk they keep leaning over and just don't work out the best. The fish Im instructed in that I saw were honey gourmias, Mickey mouse platys, and some others I don't remember the name, they went my first choice. I'm going to Petco tomorrow to test my water and if possible buy my last albino Cory catfish, for a total of 6.
not fully stocked. i would go to the lfs to see what you like write it down and come back to check to see if it works. platy dont need planted aquariums though if you care it tends to work out better for their fry. why is a live plants out of the question? 2-3 females per male but have to figure out what you want to do with the fry.
 
How long has the tank been setup? When was the last fish add? I agree that you can add fish, I just wouldn't want to see you do it too soon.
 
Aug 27th, added female veiltale betta
Augest 28th, added 3 albino Cory catfish
September 10th 1 albino Cory catfish added
September 17th 1 albino Cory catfish added.
I don't remember when I added the mystery and apple snails. These aren't the exact dates those are estimated dates. If I have nitrates, does that mean my tank is cycled? I don't have a test kit I've been bringing it to Petco weekly for tests. Last week they said it had reached it's ammonia peak and was going to start producing nitrites. So if nitrites and ammonia is 0 and I have nitrates, is it cycled. I don't know if what they've told me is true or the exact numbers, they don't give them out, I don't know why.
How long has the tank been setup? When was the last fish add? I agree that you can add fish, I just wouldn't want to see you do it too soon.
 
Thanks, hopefully the aquatic guy that I trust will be there, the others aren't very "educated" on fish lol. I usually don't buy any fish unless he's there because he'll always tell me if they received a bad shipment, or they have had any ich or dieseases in the tank. I plan to buy a API test kit tomorrow but it says the earliest it will get here is October 14th, that's with express shipping! So if I don't get any fish, what plants could I get?
I would not add any fish without a test kit. My opinion.
 
Aug 27th, added female veiltale betta
Augest 28th, added 3 albino Cory catfish
September 10th 1 albino Cory catfish added
September 17th 1 albino Cory catfish added.
I don't remember when I added the mystery and apple snails. These aren't the exact dates those are estimated dates. If I have nitrates, does that mean my tank is cycled? I don't have a test kit I've been bringing it to Petco weekly for tests. Last week they said it had reached it's ammonia peak and was going to start producing nitrites. So if nitrites and ammonia is 0 and I have nitrates, is it cycled. I don't know if what they've told me is true or the exact numbers, they don't give them out, I don't know why.

You can have nitrates without being fully cycled. If the values of zero ammonia; zero nitrite; and increasing nitrate are accurate, your tank is cycled. But, you are right in taking the info with a grain of salt. Their reluctance to give you values and instead give you vagueiries (new word, I claim it) would be an alarm bell to me.

Thanks, hopefully the aquatic guy that I trust will be there, the others aren't very "educated" on fish lol. I usually don't buy any fish unless he's there because he'll always tell me if they received a bad shipment, or they have had any ich or dieseases in the tank. I plan to buy a API test kit tomorrow but it says the earliest it will get here is October 14th, that's with express shipping! So if I don't get any fish, what plants could I get?

That is crazy! Where did you order from? Express is overnight and usually $26-30. Most reputable online retailers will deliver much quicker and cheaper than that.
 
Well it's walmart site to store express, they say they ship it when they ship the new inventory to them, which is usually monthly. I think I'll go with site to home for 3 dollars, but thats only 3 days earlier.
You can have nitrates without being fully cycled. If the values of zero ammonia; zero nitrite; and increasing nitrate are accurate, your tank is cycled. But, you are right in taking the info with a grain of salt. Their reluctance to give you values and instead give you vagueiries (new word, I claim it) would be an alarm bell to me.



That is crazy! Where did you order from? Express is overnight and usually $26-30. Most reputable online retailers will deliver much quicker and cheaper than that.
 
1. how many albino Cory catfish total could my aquarium support, along with a female veiltail betta and 1 apple 1 mystery snail? If I breed them I'd like to know how many total corys I can keep, or how many more I can get.
2. if I don't breed my albino Cory catfish and keep only 6, and 1 veiltail female betta, and 1 apple 1 mystery snail how many Micky mouse platys could my aquarium support, If they breed or I get more?
3. I can't seem to find anywhere wether or not Mickey mouse platys prefer trios, large groups, small groups, etc. And how many females to a male?
 
4. I was reading about platys and bettas and everybody on yahoo answers and forums say they've always kept bettas and platys together, no problem. It's even one of the suggested tankmates they said. Then I read an ultimate betta article and it stated, under unacceptable tankmates, Platys: Platys, like mollies, prefer a higher pH, hardness, and salinity than is appropriate for betta health. While bettas are hardy enough to adapt to these conditions to some extent, their fins will suffer. What's more, male platys can be very aggressive and will chase and bite bettas. Their coloration may illicit aggression as well, creating danger to both species.
And under comments everyone was saying the platys ate the fins of bettas. And under a bunch of compatiblity charts they say platys and bettas are almost always compatible.
 
I have RED WAGs Fun little guys and strong... I have them in groups of 6-7 in both my tanks.... I want Albinos also i will be adding about 6 of thoes guys too.. I have little caves for them to hide because of the light.....Back to the Platys they work in alot of diffrent types of waters and are very curious about new things entering their enviroment they are live breeders dont be surprzed when u have 10-15 fry running around every 2-3weeks. I let nature take its course and if they have survivors i keep em.
 
Thanks, I've decided only to add 1 albino cory catfish and perhaps more mystery snails. So with 1 apple and 1 mystery snail, along with 1 female veiltail betta, how many albino Cory catfish is my aquarium, which is 28g, with a pengui 150, and I plan to either add or replace the penguin 150 with an emporer 280, capable of supporting without overstocking the tank. I will also be adding live plants, java ferns and java moss, and some Marimo balls. Thanks I plan to breed them so I want to know how many my aquarium can support with the other inverts/fish and with a penguin 150 an or emporer 280. I really don't want to overstock at all.
 
Cycle your tank first and get a test kit. Then concern yourself with additional stock.

I suspect you haven't lost fish yet because you have such a large tank in relation to your bioload. Keep adding, and you will start losing fish; you MUST cycle first!

Also, keep in mind people aren't on here 24/7, so if you don't get a response in a few hours, patience is suggested...

For what it's worth, I suspect Ms. Betta will make a quick snack out of fry.
 
Thanks, I'm just trying to research my options that way hen it does come time to add fish I will have a good general idea of how
Much my tank is capable if supporting, and some fsi hi can add. The betta probably would make a midnight snack out of the cories, I might put in a little cave for them to go in, that the betta can't fit in, but the babies can, I don't know about that yet. I have an API master liquid fw kit coming, but it's estimated delivery isn't until like october 10th. I don't plan to get any other fish until I know my cycle is done, then I plan to add one albino Cory and java fern and java moss, then replacing or adding a emporer 280, but that won't be for a while. How many albino corys total is my tank capable of keeping, without overstocking? Thanks sorry if I seem a bit impatient :(
Cycle your tank first and get a test kit. Then concern yourself with additional stock.

I suspect you haven't lost fish yet because you have such a large tank in relation to your bioload. Keep adding, and you will start losing fish; you MUST cycle first!

Also, keep in mind people aren't on here 24/7, so if you don't get a response in a few hours, patience is suggested...

For what it's worth, I suspect Ms. Betta will make a quick snack out of fry.
 
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