29 gallon tank shrimp/community tank setup?

[Orlon11]

Hello! I'm receiving a 29 gallon aquarium on Saturday and trying to decide how to set it up. I will be able to get a small sponge that has been filtering the water in a salamander tank to hopefully speed the cycle along.

I'd like to put cherry shrimp, kuhli loaches (my favourite fish!) and a school of wild guppies/endlers in the tank. Maybe eventually a couple of dario dario. I'll probably add some java ferns, mosses and stem plants (depending on what I can find available locally).

Does that sound like it could work?

Also, from the research I've done it looks like I should add the shrimp first so I can let them establish their population before I put any fish in there. But I hear they are very sensitive to water quality? Would it be better to cycle the tank, add a few male guppies, then put in the shrimp?

Thanks for any advice!

[siva]

Sounds like a nice set up. Your dario dario will prefer live food so the shrimp and livebearer young will be a delight for them. I would go with the endlers, since they are smaller, because the dario dario are so small and shy.

It shoudn't matter which order you add the shrimp and livebearers. Just don't add too large of a group of fish at once so you don't throw the tank into a mini cycle and of course be testing your parameters regularly along the way.