Fish for my tank.

[martiniduck]

Hi I am a semi-newbie. Last time I had an aquarium was 20 years ago and I did know all that I have read about now. I am at the end of my cycling my 29 gallon tank and have added my first two fish. A male swordtail and a black mollie. I am thinking of going with 2 more female swordtails and 2 more mollies. I also want to add an angle fish, a black tail shark, 3 or 4 bottom feeders, either loaches or cories and a bristol nose pleco. I have hard water with a high PH 8.2. I also have a water softener. My amonia reading was 0ppm,my nitrate 10ppm, and my nitrite .25. I am using the API FW master test. I am not interested in breading, I just want my fish to be happy and healthy. Any suggestions?

 

[Sum22]

Wait until the nitrite is down to 0 before adding more fish. Add 2 at a time.

The clown loaches are going to outgrow that tank, so I'd suggest going with something different. I'm not sure what you mean by black tail shark. Like Balas? If so, they are going to get too large to keep in that tank also.

The cories are a good idea, but they tend to like companions, so you'd likely want to add 3-4.

An angelfish, 3 cories and the 3 swordtails and 3 mollies would put you in the range of 32" of fish in a 29 gallon tank, and that is assuming you start out with a 2-3" angelfish. Eventually, the angelfish will grow too large for the tank and could turn aggressive towards others in the tank if it doesn't have enough swim space.

 

[HN1]

I agree and disagree with the above post. For your 29, a trio of Mollies and Swordtails with an Angel will about max it out. You could add a group of cories eventually assuming that you are adequately filtered and add slowly. I do agree with avoiding clown loaches and "black tail" sharks though. My main issue is with any reference to inches of fish per gallon. That "rule" is totally without merit. A single angel (assuming it's not an Altum) can be fine in a 29.

 

[martiniduck]

Sorry, I meant a black red tail shark and I was thinking of samller loaches like dwarf or zebra.

 

[martiniduck]

When I had my tank first up, 15 years ago, I made the mistake of getting a black shark (black labeo). I was unaware that the fish could get up to two feet long. When I got it it was about an inch long. The guy that sold it to me at the pet store, never warned me of the size it would get. It quicklly out grew my tank. I know now to do my research.