29 Gallon Stocking Tips

[addisonnolann]

Hi all,

I recently came into custody of a 29 gallon tank. Currently have one beta fish in said tank, and I’m looking for stocking advice. I was considering celestial pearl danios and corydoras, but a friend brought up Kuhli loaches and now I’m conflicted.

I am aware of the struggles of creating a community tank with a beta fish, as I have done it before. I am mostly asking if kuhli loaches, Corys, celestial pearl danios, and a beta are a decent stock for a tank. Thank you!!

[AbuFuss]

Bump, looking for the same thing

[Colin_T]

It's generally best to keep loaches and Corydoras in separate tanks. However, Khuli loaches should be ok with Corydoras but aren't recommended because they struggle to get food from the Cories. The main drawback to Khuli loaches is they hide during the day and you never see them so aren't worth the trouble.

Celestial danios are probably a bit active for a Betta. Bettas prefer peace and quiet and having a group of active fish moving around could stress the Betta.

[addisonnolann]

Originally Posted by Colin_T

It's generally best to keep loaches and Corydoras in separate tanks. However, Khuli loaches should be ok with Corydoras but aren't recommended because they struggle to get food from the Cories. The main drawback to Khuli loaches is they hide during the day and you never see them so aren't worth the trouble.

Celestial danios are probably a bit active for a Betta. Bettas prefer peace and quiet and having a group of active fish moving around could stress the Betta.

Thank you for the insight! I’ve kept Cories many times and was looking to branch out, but I love how active cories are so I might just stick to them. About how many would you stock in a 29 gallon?

As for the danios, how would you compare them to the activity levels of guppies or white cloud mountain minnows? I’ve kept those with bettas in the past with success.

[Aiken Drum]

Ive kept a betta and CPDs together. They got among just fine and are commonly kept together. It would all be down to the temperament of indivual fish and in a 29g tank there is plenty of room for them to find their own space.

The reason i wouldn't do it again would be their temperature ranges dont overlap too well. 24c would be a compromise for both, but its a little too warm for CPDs. They will be ok at that warmer temperature, but ideally they should be in cooler water.

As for WCMMs and guppies. I would say WCMMs prefer cooler water more so than CPDs. And guppies generally considered poor choices to mix with bettas because the betta see anything with flowing, colourful fins as a threat and they arent called siamese fighting fish for no reason. Would all be down to the temperament of the betta, but its a significant risk.

[Fishymishy]

The amount of corys depends on the species. You could have 12-16 pigmy Cory’s but only 6 of bigger varieties in a community set up. Be sure to have lots and lots of plants to fish can hide, be stimulated and find peace.