What Fish To Get?

[InxayonFinland]

I have a 29 gallon planted tank and I'm having trouble deciding on what fish to get. So, I've decided to come here and ask. I really like the idea of having either one big school of fish or a couple of different type of schooling fish. What do you think I should do? Which fish should I get? I'm open to all opinions. Thanks!

 

[noncentric]

Assuming that your tank has already cycled, then how about some tetras? Neons, cardinals, glo-lights, or rummynose would be colorful and look nice in a planted tank).

You could get a couple schools of different types of fish. I've grown to like my zebra danios, even though they're not quite as colorful. White cloud mountain minnows have some nice coloration too. Both of these are schooling fish also, and quite hardy (which is nice).

You may want to start with one school of fish, then wait a couple weeks before adding more fish - to make sure your tank's beneficial bacteria can handle the increasd bio-load.

You might want to have some bottom dwellers too - maybe 3 small cories or 10 ghost shrimp. The shrimp are pretty fragile and don't have a long lifespan, but they're cheap and are good at cleaning up detritus (extra food, dead plant leaves) and they don't add much to the tank's bioload - so you don't need to count them in the 1 inch per gallon rule.

How about algae eaters? You could get 2-3 otos to help with brown algaes. They stay pretty small.

Lots of options...have fun...good luck!

 

[justrelax]

i would do a couple schools of tetras. i love mine. most are on the smaller side so you can do a nice big group of them. lots of colors within the species so check them all out and see which you like the best. great personalities, i sit and watch them play for hours!

 

[hashbaz]

I would also suggest that you try to find fish that match your pH.

I like the flame tetras. Corys are cool too.

 

[InxayonFinland]

thanks guys for the input.

noncentric- I've had this tank going for about a month and the cycle is over and right now i have three cory cats from another tank i have in there and 2 otocinclus fish.

Justrelax- I have looked at the tetra's but there so many to chose its hard to decide! lol. Hopefully i'll be able to find some smaller fish like you said so i can have some bigger schools of them.

 

[noncentric]

noncentric- I've had this tank going for about a month and the cycle is over and right now i have three cory cats from another tank i have in there and 2 otocinclus fish.

Cool!

So yeah, it sounds like you've got those two categories (bottom dwellers and algae crew) well covered.

I wanted to add that it might be cool to get a dwarf gourami (max at about 3-4 inches). I've seen some nice looking ones at my LFS (a good LFS) and might add one to my 25g.

Let us know what you choose!!!

 

[InxayonFinland]

Well i'm going to my lfs today to pick up a coral for my saltwater tank and i might get a piece of driftwood and some fish. Not sure though. I'm gonna talk to the people there and see what they would suggest.

 

[plecoperson]

We have a school of pristella tetras and they are lovely-always in a school and very hearty, happy fish.

 

[InxayonFinland]

I went to the lfs today and picked up some fish. They are: 12- rasboras and 10- white clouds. So far they are schooling with each others species pretty well but i'm hoping that eventually they will seperate so that they will school together individually ( species that is ).

Am I maxed out with fish for this tank? I still kind of want to get a school of tetras of some sort.

 

[bman]

Personally, I'm not a fan of tetras. The few that I did have, were not very colorful and died very quickly. I hear they need "pristine" water conditions, and a newly cycled tank is not "pristine" yet.

You could possibly get an angel, they are beautiful fish to watch in my opinion.

I currently have a school of zebra danios that I recently purchased that are very interesting to watch. Very lively fish.

 

[rich311k]

What kind of rasboras?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I like my 2 schools of rummynose tetras and serpae tetras. In my 26G, I now have neons, cardinal tetras, rasboras, glowlite tetras, and cherry barbs. I also just got some rainbowfish, which have really livened things up a bit, lol. Not sure if they are on steroids or what, but it's a blast watching them.

Then for the lower tank, you can get a pleco that stays small, like the bristlenose pleco, and some cory cats, which are also a blast to watch. Just remember, cories prefer groups, so I'd recommend 3 minimum, preferably more.

For a 29G, you are not maxed, but I'd wait a couple weeks before adding more, and monitor your water parameters closely. Rasboras have a very small bioload, so for me, an inch per gallon rule doesn't count for them. I think with what you have, 6 rainbowfish would look stunning.

 

[noncentric]

I went to the lfs today and picked up some fish. They are: 12- rasboras and 10- white clouds. So far they are schooling with each others species pretty well but i'm hoping that eventually they will seperate so that they will school together individually ( species that is ).

Am I maxed out with fish for this tank? I still kind of want to get a school of tetras of some sort.

So - you have 12 rasboras, 10 white clouds AND 3 cory cats AND 2 otos?
If that's the grand total, then you may be pretty close to being maxed out. You may be able to add a solitary fish (dwarf gourami ? ), but another school might be pushing it.

Sounds like an interesting tank. Good luck!

 

[InxayonFinland]

What kind of rasboras?

Harlequin Rasbora


[qoute="Lonewolfblue "]I like my 2 schools of rummynose tetras and serpae tetras. In my 26G, I now have neons, cardinal tetras, rasboras, glowlite tetras, and cherry barbs. I also just got some rainbowfish, which have really livened things up a bit, lol. Not sure if they are on steroids or what, but it's a blast watching them.

Then for the lower tank, you can get a pleco that stays small, like the bristlenose pleco, and some cory cats, which are also a blast to watch. Just remember, cories prefer groups, so I'd recommend 3 minimum, preferably more.

For a 29G, you are not maxed, but I'd wait a couple weeks before adding more, and monitor your water parameters closely. Rasboras have a very small bioload, so for me, an inch per gallon rule doesn't count for them. I think with what you have, 6 rainbowfish would look stunning.[/quote]

I have three corys in there already, but thanks for thinking. As for a question for you, how many of the neons, cardinal tetras, rasboras, glowlite tetras, and cherry barbs do you have?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

My 26G tank:
3 Neons, 5 Hengeli Rasboras, 2 CAE's, 4 Julii Cory Cats, 6 Cherry Barbs, 6 Glowlite Tetras, 6 Cardinal Tetras, 1 Turquoise Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia lacustris), 1 Red Rainbowfish (Glossolepis incisus), 1 Boesemani Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia boesemani).