Hello from Florida USA

[draidt]

I am just getting back into the hobby after a hiatus of 50 years, I have spent the last 2 months gathering knowledge and information as well as purchasing what I will be setting up, It will be a 29 Gallon tank that will be aquascaped and I have not decided what species of fish I will have. Still am marveling at the number of changes there have been in the hobby. Thank You for letting me join.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by draidt

I am just getting back into the hobby after a hiatus of 50 years, I have spent the last 2 months gathering knowledge and information as well as purchasing what I will be setting up, It will be a 29 Gallon tank that will be aquascaped and I have not decided what species of fish I will have. Still am marveling at the number of changes there have been in the hobby. Thank You for letting me join.

Welcome to a fellow Floridian and " old timer." Yes, things have changed a lot since the old days. 2 things to watch out for: most fish today are farmed in the Far East where there have been introductions of new diseases and viruses so you will want to quarantine any new fish you get before introducing into an established community. Fish farmed here in Florida are a better choice but sources won't always know which farm, local or Far East, they came from. Wild fish are still available and most follow the old " rules" but will not do well when mixed with the farmed fish. Too many pathogens in the farmed fish that the wilds do not have immunity to.
There has been a drastic change in what water companies put in the water. Most systems now use Chloramine instead of chlorine. Just leaving water out to " season" won't work anymore. Unless you are on a well, you will need something that breaks the ammonia/chlorine bond before using it with fish.

Feel free to ask any questions to help you catch up to the time.

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

You should contact your water supply company via their website and look for a water analysis report. Post a copy here or just go through it yourself and see what sort of nasty stuff is in it. You can also check the pH, GH (general Hardness) and KH (carbonate hardness) of your water on that report. Depending on what the pH, GH & KH are will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, discus, most tetras, most barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0. Angelfish and discus get too big for your tank, but most of the other fishes have small varieties that should be fine in a 29G tank.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

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A word of caution on dwarf gouramis (Colisa lalius) and all their colour varieties. They are regularly infected with the Gourami Iridovirus and or Fish Tuberculosis (Fish TB). There is no cure for either disease and once they are in your tank, they will be there until you scrap the tank and disinfect everything. People should avoid the dwarf gourami (Colisa lalius) until the Asian fish farmers clean up their mess. There are a number of other smaller species of gourami that are less likely to have these diseases and they are much better choices.