Stocking 29g

[gabysapha]

Hi everyone,

I have some questions regarding appropriate stock for a well-planted 29g.

For a tank containing 1 female paradise fish, with temperatures kept in the mid-70s, what is a stock I can implement? The paradise fish seems quite peaceful, but who knows what could happen. I would like to put in a group of 5 peppered cories from another tank.

If the tank did not contain the paradisefish and the temps were kept in the high 70s-low 80s, what would you recommend stocking with 5 peppered cories?

All fish should be peaceful (no fin-nippers!) and relatively common, as well as generally hardy.

Water parameters- ph 8.6 and very hard. Yes African cichlids would like this water but I'm not interested in keeping them

Thanks!

 

[gabysapha]

I thought I'd add some fish I'm considering:

First, I just came across red breasted acaras. They look lovely; they have the cutest faces!!!!
Does anyone have experience with these fish? I believe one can fit well in my 29g, but I am unsure if their compatibility with peaceful community fish like tetras or fish with flowing fins. I have never kept acaras before, and I'm not sure what to expect or look for in this fish. And I assume getting a pair would be a bad addition to my tank?
I sure hope they are plant-friendly. They are just too cute

Threadfin rainbows. They look lovely, but I am unsure if they will thrive well in my tank given the tank is rather tall compared to long. Also unsure of how many to get in the end.

Thanks!!!

 

[librarygirl]

Hm, not really familiar with the Acara or Paradise fish mysel so I can't be much help there. Hoepfully someone else will see this and reply.

 

[gabysapha]

Hm, not really familiar with the Acara or Paradise fish mysel so I can't be much help there. Hoepfully someone else will see this and reply.

Yeah I was not coming up with a lot of acara info online, until I started searching for "dwarf flag cichlid!" That turned up more results. It seems like there are no records online of aquarists keeping them in ph 8.0+. So, I'm a little worried about ordering them and acclimating to my ph 8.6. Hmm

I tried putting an extra heater in my tank, and it is able to bring temps into the high 70s-low 80s. So, no paradise fish! This tank won't go subtropical as I had expected!

I may not plan for threadfin rainbows. I'd like to stock small fish, in order to make the tank look as large as possible. I think threadfins are too big to get a nice school of them?

This is going to be the biggest tank in my living room, therefore the display tank! And the substrate is play sand, so I'm trying to think of fish that will contrast well with the sand and not look too washed out.

In the end, this tank needs a lot of color and balance to make my guests think I'm awesome

 

[librarygirl]

I have a 29 gal tank too with a lot of smaller community fish. THe tank looks very lively. Here's what I have in case it appeals to you:

8 Spotted Blue Eye Rainbowfish
10 Ember Tetra
8 Panda Cory
8 Celestial Pearl Danio (going to add about 5 more of these)
2 Horned Nerite snails
a few baby pond snails that I inherited with some live plants

I'm also going to add a pair of Scarlet Badis.

Since all of these fish prefer slightly cooler water I keep my tank at about 74-75 degrees.

 

[gabysapha]

I have a 29 gal tank too with a lot of smaller community fish. THe tank looks very lively. Here's what I have in case it appeals to you:

8 Spotted Blue Eye Rainbowfish
10 Ember Tetra
8 Panda Cory
8 Celestial Pearl Danio (going to add about 5 more of these)
2 Horned Nerite snails
a few baby pond snails that I inherited with some live plants

I'm also going to add a pair of Scarlet Badis.

Since all of these fish prefer slightly cooler water I keep my tank at about 74-75 degrees.

That must be a beautiful tank! That's just the kind of thing I like to aim for. I hope to get my LFS to order ember tetras for me.

Unfortunately the stock around here is lacking in nano fish, but I'll make do. Usually I would just order online, but this is my official Beauty on a Budget tank, so I'm restricting my online ordering addiction this time

 

[savage]

I have a 29 gal tank too with a lot of smaller community fish. THe tank looks very lively. Here's what I have in case it appeals to you:

8 Spotted Blue Eye Rainbowfish
10 Ember Tetra
8 Panda Cory
8 Celestial Pearl Danio (going to add about 5 more of these)
2 Horned Nerite snails
a few baby pond snails that I inherited with some live plants

I'm also going to add a pair of Scarlet Badis.

Since all of these fish prefer slightly cooler water I keep my tank at about 74-75 degrees.

That combo sounds incredible. A lot of color!

 

[gabysapha]

I decided to cross the red breasted acara off my list. It seems they may be a little sensitive, and buying them from a seller on Aquabid or in another town from me would make me very sad if the fish did not do well and I could not exchange it

I need to think of trustworthy species! I also need to think of species that are not scared easily, because the tank is in a high traffic area. I read that red breasted acaras are shy and hide a lot, so I think housing it in a high traffic area would be unfair.

That being said, a centerpiece fish with personality would fair better. I hear Bolivian Rams have personality and are hardier compared to GBRs. I never considered keeping them before, but maybe I should this time.

I also hear about apistos being peaceful centerpieces. But which apistos would be appropriate? What is it like keeping apistos in a community tank? I've never kept cichlids before! And there are SO MANY.

As far as easily-available schooling fish go, whatever Petsmart has in stock is easy. Black neons, neons, and von rio flame tetras caught my eye today. I will also DEFINITELY order ember tetras through my LFS, to put in either this tank or a 20g.

 

[gabysapha]

I've also been researching cardinal/neon tetras, because I just love the way they look. But it seems like the consensus from my google searches is that they will all die because of my water
My water is crazy hard and has a ph of 8.6. At least my harlequin rasboras and gouramis are doing well over the past year!

 

[gabysapha]

Is this an appropriate stock? Not sure.

Harlequin rasboras x 9
Neon tetras x 9
Corydoras x 6
Bolivian ram
Top swimmers?

 

[Reygan2]

Is this an appropriate stock? Not sure.

Harlequin rasboras x 9
Neon tetras x 9
Corydoras x 6
Bolivian ram
Top swimmers?

I currently have nearly the same stock in my 29g, minus the rasboras, and it works out really well. I had an unfortunate outbreak of disease so I'm down to 5 neons and 4 cories. I'm going to fill out their schools soon, but right now I'm experimenting with a fishless cycle in my qt tank so it will be a while. I love my Bolivian Ram, he is a great tankmate for the cories and neons, he even swims with the cories sometimes. So adorable. In addition I also have 2 baby angels that fill out the middle/top. This might not work out in the long run, but I have plenty of time to make necessary adjustments. As for now I couldn't be happier with my stock. Good luck and have fun! Oh yeah, don't forget to qt! I made the mistake of thinking I could get away with bypassing this important step, but it devastated my tank.

 

[gabysapha]

I currently have nearly the same stock in my 29g, minus the rasboras, and it works out really well. I had an unfortunate outbreak of disease so I'm down to 5 neons and 4 cories. I'm going to fill out their schools soon, but right now I'm experimenting with a fishless cycle in my qt tank so it will be a while. I love my Bolivian Ram, he is a great tankmate for the cories and neons, he even swims with the cories sometimes. So adorable. In addition I also have 2 baby angels that fill out the middle/top. This might not work out in the long run, but I have plenty of time to make necessary adjustments. As for now I couldn't be happier with my stock. Good luck and have fun! Oh yeah, don't forget to qt! I made the mistake of thinking I could get away with bypassing this important step, but it devastated my tank.

Thank you for your input! It's great to hear such nice things about Bolivian Rams- there's a petstore 30min from me that sells various color morphs of german blue rams as well as bolivians. Although germans blues are tempting, I think a Bolivian would be best. But I am a little worried my tank will be a little bottom heavy. I'm unsure what to do about top swimmers....

True that about quarantine! Any neons I have purchased ALWAYS come home with ich. I have a 20g tank ready and waiting for those ichy buggers.

 

[Reygan2]

Thank you for your input! It's great to hear such nice things about Bolivian Rams- there's a petstore 30min from me that sells various color morphs of german blue rams as well as bolivians. Although germans blues are tempting, I think a Bolivian would be best. But I am a little worried my tank will be a little bottom heavy. I'm unsure what to do about top swimmers....

True that about quarantine! Any neons I have purchased ALWAYS come home with ich. I have a 20g tank ready and waiting for those ichy buggers.

I had the same concern about overloading the bottom of my tank, and I even posted that concern on here some time back. But I have to say that even though there is alot going on at the bottom, it works out. I thought the panda cories would drive the ram crazy, but they get along fine. I'm thinking that if I bought him a female the aggression toward the neons and cories would be too bad, so for now he is a bachelor.

I agree about the German Blue Rams, but I've heard that they are very difficult to keep alive, even in the best conditions. I've had my BR for a month now and he's doing great, however I do 20 to 25% vacuum/pwc's biweekly because of the baby angels. I feed them twice a day and I don't want the tank to get nasty. I've had such bad luck with angels, so I'm trying a different method to get these babies grown out and healthy.

 

[gabysapha]

I had the same concern about overloading the bottom of my tank, and I even posted that concern on here some time back. But I have to say that even though there is alot going on at the bottom, it works out. I thought the panda cories would drive the ram crazy, but they get along fine. I'm thinking that if I bought him a female the aggression toward the neons and cories would be too bad, so for now he is a bachelor.

I agree about the German Blue Rams, but I've heard that they are very difficult to keep alive, even in the best conditions. I've had my BR for a month now and he's doing great, however I do 20 to 25% vacuum/pwc's biweekly because of the baby angels. I feed them twice a day and I don't want the tank to get nasty. I've had such bad luck with angels, so I'm trying a different method to get these babies grown out and healthy.

Thanks again for your input in this thread. I currently have an order of 5 bolivian rams coming, and I'm excited to spread them out amongst the tanks.