29 gallon stocking options

[Guest]

I have a 29 gallon tank that has been established for some time now. A few weeks ago I had 2 neon tetras, 2 head/tail light tetras, a clown pleco, 3 albino bristlenose plecos, and an albino cory cat. Needless to say due to a disease, the 2 neon tetras died as well as the clown pleco (Was treating the tank by salt/heat method with 30% water changes daily) the (assumed to be ick) eventually over ran my clown pleco by forming large yellowish clumps on it and eventually brought it to its death. The other fish however were not infected. The head/tail lights are around a year old, the corry cat i've had since freshman year in college so its now 3 years old, and the albino bristlenose plecs i've had for about 2 months (waiting on them to grow so hopefully i have a combo of male/females so i can breed them). I was wondering what would be a good combo of fish to stock it with to make it a low maintaince community tank. (low maintaince tank meaning just do partial water changes). I did have plants in there but they are now in my 10 gallon tank untill my 55 watt pc lighting fixutre comes in. So eventually, there will be hortwort and anacharis in the 29 gallon tank. What are my options here? I was thinking maybe a large (10-15) school of neon tetras, as i'm not really looking for any more bottom feeders/catfish. Mainly looking along the lines of mid-top water fish. Not really looking for mollies or platys either, as i had a few of those a few years ago and all they did was make babies. 8O Anyways, what are you guys/girls recommendations as well as how many fish? I've heard that even in 10 gallon tanks a group of 6 neons and 6 corry cats don't make that much of a bio load. So if i keep with what i have now, and just add a bunch of neon's here in a few weeks, the bio load shouldn't increase that much should it? anyways, whats the recommendations? Thanks in advance. Oh, btw, I have access to some slate, so I was thinking about making a stacking tower made of slate, if that helps any.

 

[Rudy_627]

well i would suggest that you get some Silver Hatchefish those are cool and you NEED a school of those for them to be happy alone they are prone to jumping outta your tank!!! they ARE top feeders i really like them cause it looks like they swalloed a quarter

LOL

HTH

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your opinion, but based on research, the hatchetfish are carnivores, plus I don't know what the bioload of those would be. Anyone else have recommendations?

 

[redwhiptailplec]

Well the Neons are certainly a viable option, keeping them in a decent size school is the only way to go, keeping 2 is unfair to them and you will not get to see them at their best.

Adding any of the smaller tetras is a viable option and they are negligable as far as bioload. Maybe you could consider getting two species of tetras? For example 7 Neons and 5 Flame Tetras. The aforementioned is a particularly pleasing combination in my tank at least they school together, and look wonderful.

Oh and everything I have read about hatchetfish says they are an ideal choice if you like the look of them. They will not molest any other fish and inhabit the top of the tank filling what is usually free space, I would recommend the marbled variety as they are smaller and to my mind prettier. They do need a lid on the tank though as they are jumpers, as for them being carnivores that means a few bloodworms etc are appreciated not that they will eat your little fish! That said they will eat flake happily enough and live/frozen foods are only for treats and to encourage breeding.

 

[Guest]

The neon/flame tetra variety is an option that i'll definitely keep open. The flame tetras would be pretty. I'm just wondering if a pure school of neons is what I really want tho. I guess i'll just have to shop around and take a look at tanks and try to picture them in my tank. My girlfriend started a 10 gallon tank with 10 neons, a lonely corry cat and 2 clown plecos. 2 of the neon's have died, but with her purple and red gravel, they do make the tank very pretty. I'm just wondering now, how many would be a good amount to keep in a school in a 29 gallon tank wihtout producing ALOT of poop? :? I can go to my lfs and buy small neons for either 79 or 99 cents a peice, maybe i'll get a discount if i buy alot of them. Would 20 be too many for the tank? Also, based on what I currently have in the tank, what would be the max amount of neons I could have without altering the nitrates that much? I've considered rummy nose tetras or cardinal tetras, but the cardinals prefer a much lower ph than that of other fish. The rummy nose's would be a nice choice for my tank as 4 of my current 6 fish are white (albino).

 

[Blucat]

If your going to have a slate tower, get some dwarf gouramis! If possible don't get two males though. Dwarf Gouramis are beautiful! Nice Red and neon blue colour. Do you have live plants? Maybe you could consider angelfish if your tank is tall enough.

 

[Blucat]

If your going to have a slate tower, get some dwarf gouramis! If possible don't get two males though. Dwarf Gouramis are beautiful! Nice Red and neon blue colour. Do you have live plants? If you don't end up getting any small schooling teras, maybe consider angelfish.

 

[severum mama]

I really like my green fire tetras, if you can find them. They are bright like the neons, but more unusual IMO. They usually swim in the top and middle levels of the tank.

I also keep rummy nose tetras with the green fires, and they are really interesting to watch since they swim in such a tight school. Mine hang out in the middle and bottom levels of the tank, and they swim with the green fires sometimes.

I keep 6 rummies and 7 green fires in a 29 gallon BTW.

 

[Guest]

Ok, I think i've come to a conclusion. I'm going to keep everything I have in my 29 gallon in there for the time being. (3 albino plecs, albino cory cat, and 2 head/tail light tetras).
I think i'm going to shoot for a school of 8 neon tetras and a school of 8 rummy nose tetras. (or somewhere around that number, maybe a school of 6 or maybe a school of 10, just depends on what i feel like buying at the time)
Then, this brings up another question: I'd like to get a shoal of cory cats. Would adding a group of 6 panda cory's be too much for the tank with the few fish i have in there now, plus the tetras i will be adding within a few weeks? And would there be any aggression with the albino one currently in my tank? (its kinda huge for a cory cat lol). Thanks in advance