Any ideas for a 29g restart?

[djtypykuhl]

Let's start the story off by saying that i am sick of breeding livebearers.Nobody wants to buy them locally, not even my LFS.I am calling my local Wal-Mart tonight to see if they would be willing to buy from me, but I'm not getting my hopes up. So, when the Wal-Mart idea fails, i will be trying to rehome my fish, and restart with something that will not overstock itself within 3 months.

You must know that i am committed to keeping the following:

My sister's beta (1)
My girlfriend's molly (1)
My corydora catfish (2)
one of them is a corydoras aeneus (bronze cory) and one is a corydoras ambiacus (spotted cory).

And my black snails (2) (one's albino, can i call it a white snail?)

There is a common pleco in this tank, and i was wondering wether or not it is a good idea to keep it.

If i go through with this, i will be increasing my corydora population to 5. I also would like a school of neons, but they aren't neccisary. (really, any tetra will do for me.)

My biggest questions include:

What is available in terms of small algae eaters?
What fish would go best with this tank?
What live plants should i be looking for? (20watt florecent hood light)
Could i put dwarf gouramis in this tank? (i love them!)

Any additional advice/stories/recommendations/etc. would be greatly appreciated!

 

[a.tetreault]

ok first off has your betta been in the tank already? if not you will want to get a backup tank so that if the betta doesnt like a community it will have a place to live.

Assuming that your betta is included in your stocking list, i wouldn't recommend dwarf gouramis, they are near the same family as bettas and will in most cases fight, if you were to not include the betta i think you could have 1 dwarf gourami (more then one will most often fight in this small of a tank)

What types of snails do you have? apple snail? nerite? these are both fairly good algae eaters and should keep your tank clean.

What type of cories do you have? this will determine how much of a bioload your tank already has and will give us a better idea as to how much more you can add

A common pleco doesnt belong in a tank of that size or anything smaller then 75 gallon.

 

[djtypykuhl]

a.tatreault, thanks for the advice concerning the gouramis/pleco.
the beta is already in the tank and is doing quite well with the community of livebearers that it is currently in.
i'm not positive on the breeds of the snails or corydoras because the pet store i go to only listed them as "black snail" and "corydora cat".
both of the corydoras have not grown past 2 - 2.5 inches, and i've had them for about 3months now, so i'm pretty sure they're done growing.
i hope that helps with the breed identification.
I will try my best to get pictures of the fish/snails, but there are no promises on that

 

[LyndaB]

Google "corydoras species". It's important for you to know what species you have in any given tank.

 

[djtypykuhl]

I'll go do that now and put a reply post up, as well as update the original post when I find out.

 

[djtypykuhl]

Turns out that one of them is a corydoras aeneus (bronze cory) and one is a corydoras ambiacus (spotted cory).
Please tell me that I did not screw up by having them together...

 

[LyndaB]

There's no problem with having them together, but did your research show how many of each should be in each species' school?

This why it's important to do so much research on the species you have. Corys need to be kept in groups. You're limited in your 29 gallon tank as to how many you can have.

 

[djtypykuhl]

Bronze cory says groups of six or more so that pairs can be made for breeding.
The site didn't say anything about the spotted cory's schools, but i would imagine that the first number would be a good one to go by.
The two of them swim together all the time, so is it possible that they will fuse schools? Would I really need 6 of each, or just 6 total?

 

[ErinMcG]

Turns out that one of them is a corydoras aeneus (bronze cory) and one is a corydoras ambiacus (spotted cory).
Please tell me that I did not screw up by having them together...

Don't quote me on this, as I am still very much learning.... I wouldn't say that it is the end of the world, but usually both would be happier with their own kind. So, a wee group of bronze or a wee group of spotted, but perhaps not both at once. That said... Do they hang out together? Or mostly ignore each other? Cories are pretty social and really like to be in a group. Apparently, it's better for their long-term health.

The other thing to look at with each of those species is the best tank size, in terms of swimming space, and their typical growth, so you can see how many will work in your tank with the other things you have/want. I once saw a 4 inch pepper cory!

I have a 29 gallon that I am just starting to plan stocking for and I am thinking maybe panda cories specifically because I also want a good sized school of something like tetras or rainbows. Pandas stay small.

Essentially, what I am suggesting is that you look at the species specs and do some math, and see whether or not you think you can accommodate both types of cories, whether you want to try having a school of one and see if the other hangs out with them (might, but might not), or whether you want to re-home one to allow you to have both cories and tetras.

Good luck!

 

[djtypykuhl]

ErinMcG, please read read post #8.

 

[LyndaB]

excellent post, erin

 

[ErinMcG]

ErinMcG, please read read post #8.

Yup, saw that when my message posted. We must have been writing at exactly the same time. My guess is that you may have to play it by ear a bit with the cories if you only want one group of them. Pick one species and get more. Then see what happens to the other one. If they let him hang out, things may be ok. If he gets excluded, either get him some buddies of his own or find him a new home. Or... Start another tank! I keep trying to convince my husband that we need more. No luck yet.

Good luck with this! I look forward to following along with it to see how things work out.

 

[Coursair]

Turns out that one of them is a corydoras aeneus (bronze cory) and one is a corydoras ambiacus (spotted cory).
Please tell me that I did not screw up by having them together...

I've never seen Ambiacus around here.
We get mostly C trilineatus and paleatus.

There are a bunch of spotted Corys that look almost exactly alike btw. If you check Planet Catfish it often lists look alikes to check out.

No worries having them together. As was said, evaluate the space and prioritize and decide what you can add.

 

[djtypykuhl]

turns out that the ambiacus is actually a geryi (there are way too many breeds of this little catfish) and the aeneus is actually a carlae. thank you for recommending planet catfish to me, Coursair. Never would have guessed that there were so many corydoras species...

 

[djtypykuhl]

Still no luck with selling the livebearers... Wal-Mart is freaking confusing... I'm going to try to sell to my local LFS once more, and if the owner tells me yet again that she refuses to buy livebearers, I'm going to go insane. I have some friends that are interested in setting up a tank, and I've told them that livebearers are good starter fish and that I wouldn't charge them much. The catch is, one friend is currently building a house, and won't be able to set up a tank for a few months. Another has a 55g that he would like to set up, but he has five kids, and understandably has his doubts about setting it up. A classmate of mine and her father would like to set up their tank, but she told me that her father has yet to even clean it. My math teacher wants to set up a classroom tank, and is currently asking administration if this is a possibility.

Understandably, I am stressed out with my current situation, and I am ready to give up. I'd rather continue with breeding, but if I don't get anybody to buy them from me, I'd rather not croud the tanks and kill them myself.

 

[Coursair]

turns out that the ambiacus is actually a geryi (there are way too many breeds of this little catfish) and the aeneus is actually a carlae. thank you for recommending planet catfish to me, Coursair. Never would have guessed that there were so many corydoras species...

You're welcome.

 

[a.tetreault]

Why dont you try posting some adds somewhere for them? If you were to sell them for a lower price then the fish stores or if you were to give them away for free I'm sure someone will come along wanting them

 

[Pton46]

Craigslist..is a good start and free to post