Top dwellers in my 29 gallon?

[bud29]

Hello all, I recently stocked my 29 gallon. You can see the stock list in my signature. However, I have noticed that there is absolutely nothing in the top half of my tank. All the fish stay in the middle, except for at feeding time. I would like something for the top. Is there anything I could put in there without overloading my biofilter? I have excellent filtration (310 gph) if that makes any difference. I know platys are colorful top dwellers, but I have heard they have high bio-loads. Any thoughts? I am also looking into silver hatchetfish, but I read that they jump and I have uncovered places on my tank......Any ideas?

 

[hpiguy]

My zebra danios spend a lot of time zipping around the top, chasing each other. They are pretty small fish too.

Marbled hatchets are smaller than silver hatchets. They do jump at times, but unless you have very large openings all over I doubt they'd be lucky to hit an opening just right. They don't really aim, they just jump when skittish in my experience. You can always hot glue window screen to the open sections in the hood.

 

[bud29]

I love Zebra Danios.....I was thinking about them too but I think I would like something more colorful. Do you think a trio of platys would be too much bioload? I will look in to the marble hatchets, but I think finding them will be hard.......

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

I love Zebra Danios.....I was thinking about them too but I think I would like something more colorful. Do you think a trio of platys would be too much bioload? I will look in to the marble hatchets, but I think finding them will be hard.......

Marble Hatchets would be my fish of choice if you wanted a top dwelling fish. But the determined by how much current you have going on in your tank. They strongly dislike current.

IME, Zebra Danios will go to the top, but they also dwell at the mid level a lot, which seems to be your problem.

What fish do you have in your 29g?

 

[bud29]

Well, then scratch the marble hatchets, then, I have quite a bit of current. The stocklist for my 29 gallon is in my signature, but here it is again: 8 Silvertip Tetras, 8 Emperor Tetras, 1 Bolivian Ram, 1 Bristlenose Pleco, 1 Amano Shrimp, 3 Mystery Snails.

 

[hpiguy]

Harlequin Rasboras are small and also tend to like the upper parts of the tank.

Aside from hatchet fish and African butterfly fish, not many smaller tropical fish spend all their time at the top though.

Emperor and silvertips don't get huge, so you could probably get away with some platys in the tank, but they may also pick on the smaller fish as they grow. I've seen them bully stuff when they are a good bit thicker.

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

Well, then scratch the marble hatchets, then, I have quite a bit of current. The stocklist for my 29 gallon is in my signature, but here it is again: 8 Silvertip Tetras, 8 Emperor Tetras, 1 Bolivian Ram, 1 Bristlenose Pleco, 1 Amano Shrimp, 3 Mystery Snails.

Sorry, using the app. It doesn't show signatures. I'm surprised the Silvertips don't occupy a little bit of a higher strata. That could also be from your current. My Rummys in my 29 also don't really swim around, but I reckon thats because of the plants that still need to grow in.

 

[bud29]

OK....would espei rasbora work? I could get some of those.......what are your thoughts on a platy trio?

Oh, and I have heard that the rasbora jump too. Have you had problems with that? At the LFS they have them in an open-top tank, so I don't know.....

 

[bud29]

Sorry, using the app. It doesn't show signatures. I'm surprised the Silvertips don't occupy a little bit of a higher strata. That could also be from your current. My Rummys in my 29 also don't really swim around, but I reckon thats because of the plants that still need to grow in.

Yeah, I think i am going to make a flow buffer for the filters. My fish don't seem to be to fond of it. I think I will do that before I get any top-dwellers. I think I will probably do a small school of rasbora if they won't jump or a platy trio if they don't carry to big of a bio load.

 

[Rivercats]

Threadfin rainbows stay at the top and the males are awesome when displaying. And they don't seem to mind the heavier currents. Where my outflow from the FX5 comes out, the Threadfins go play there alot of times. There are also Spotted Blue eyes that are cool little fish. Both the above have very light bio-loads. And both like the top.
Spotted Blue-eye - Medium Tropical Freshwater Fish for Sale
Threadfin Rainbow - Medium Tropical Freshwater Fish for Sale

 

[bud29]

Threadfin rainbows stay at the top and the males are awesome when displaying. And they don't seem to mind the heavier currents. Where my outflow from the FX5 comes out, the Threadfins go play there alot of times. There are also Spotted Blue eyes that are cool little fish. Both the above have very light bio-loads. And both like the top.
Spotted Blue-eye - Medium Tropical Freshwater Fish for Sale
Threadfin Rainbow - Medium Tropical Freshwater Fish for Sale

Thanks, I will definitely look in to those!

 

[bud29]

Well, I looked in to rainbows and blue eyes, and I don't think I will do either of those. They are beautiful, but both my silvertips and emperors are pretty nippy and I am afraid that their beautiful fins would be shredded .

 

[Rivercats]

Yep wouldn't be good. Question, don't you think you will have that problem then with any top dweller? If your tank isn't too warm White Cloud Mountian Minnows are also top area dwellers. A friend took their tank down and gave me 8 longfinned ones and they are also more colorful than I expected. They are red fins and tails, with yellow on the bottom fins, and they have a silvery blue irridescent stripe that runs from the eye to the tail. Very pretty and fast too.

 

[Rivercats]

These are exactly what mine look like...
Long Fin Red White Cloud - Large Tropical Freshwater Fish for Sale

 

[bud29]

I have looked in to those as well, but in the summer my tank's temperature can reach as high as 82 degrees.

I don't think I will have too big of a problem with fish like platys or rasbora because their fins aren't too long. The tetras aren't super aggressive, but I think the long fins of the rainbows and blue spots would be way too tempting. With the platys or rasbora there isn't nearly as much to nip.

 

[bud29]

so, would you guys agree that a school of 6 espei rasbora would work?

 

[julielover]

You are approaching a full tank, especially as your Congos get large, Congo Tetras need lots of swimming room so 8 is really too many for a 29G. White Mountain Clouds, Danios and Bettas all tend to stay near the surface. Some fish, like Rams, go where ever the food is.

 

[pcdebb]

I had hatchets in a community tank years ago. yes they are jumpers, but only when provoked. they are very skiddish. they arent gonna just jump because they feel like it (that would be hilarious tho lol). when you are working in the tank just be mindful of where they are and do a headcount when you are done

 

[bud29]

You are approaching a full tank, especially as your Congos get large, Congo Tetras need lots of swimming room so 8 is really too many for a 29G. White Mountain Clouds, Danios and Bettas all tend to stay near the surface. Some fish, like Rams, go where ever the food is.

Congos? I don't have Congos.....