Help me stock my 29g tank

[fishlover25]

So I recently setup a 29g tank after not keeping fish for a while and I am glad to be back. But I have no idea what to do for the actual fish. This is a picture so that you can see what my tank looks like and what fish would like the setup I made.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ulpvi07pgewd6xg/2013-03-23 16.47.46.jpg

Without doing any research, I think I would like a large school neon/cardinal tetras, a school of 5 or 6 corys and then one or two dwarf gourami. Or possibly switch something up to include 3 silver dollars? Would this make a good tank? What other suggestions do you guys have?

I would also like to get 1 or 2 ghost shrimps and maybe a dwarf afican fog in there too

What I basically want is a peaceful community tank with fish that swim at different levels and have vibrant colors. Or would a semi-aggressive tank be better for what I want to do?

TIA

 

[FishDad]

Guppies, mollies, platies, tetras, cories... all those should work.

 

[FreshyFresh]

29's are a nice size. I enjoy mine. My stocking list is in my sig.

 

[exhumed07]

i do like freshy's stocking and i would probably do something along those lines myself. also even though those are fake plants i would thing some apistogramas would work beautifully as well. basicly be like the crown jewel of the tank. they seem rather peacful except the females ae protective of thier babies but all the fish mentioned should be no problem with them. also with the neons u got a good school of dither fish. thats my suggestion

 

[FreshyFresh]

IMO, the only thing about Neon tetras is, they're great to look at, but don't have a whole lot of personality. Pretty much the exact opposite of me. LOL!

 

[exhumed07]

very true but they are great to look at in a big school lol. aqs far as fish with personality go u need to get fish that are more solitary. schooling fish don't seem to have personality i agree.

 

[Thyra]

I would think you could put two angels in there if you decided against the gourami I have serpaes with angels in a thirty gallon and it has worked out just fine.

 

[fishlover25]

Aren't angel fish the natural predator of neon tetras?

I really like the idea of apistogramas. Great looking fish and something I would like to have. Will look into them and see where I can buy some. Since ti is a Cichlid, would they be okay with tropical fish flakes without the need of flakes made for cichlids?

Since two of you mentioned that schooling fish have no personality, what would you get then instead of the neon tetras?

 

[exhumed07]

i love neons myself. as for the apistogramma they are a south american dwarf cichlid. they only get about 3 inches long and they like things like neons. neons are a dither fish or for lack of a better word a confidence fish. the apisto use the neons to tell them they are safe. neons will scatter and hide if a predator is around and thats a warning to the apisto. so with no dither fish around they tend to be more shy. with dither fish they are more out and about. as for the food mine eat just standard flake food. i do toss in some cichlid pellets for my catfish and panda garra. and i'm sure they grab a few of those.

 

[FishDad]

I learned something today, thanks exhumed.

 

[exhumed07]

i'm going by the research that i have done on them. when it comes to a more expensive/rare/or hard to keep fish i do alot of research. also research how to breed or just thier breeding habits. but almost everything i have read on them they say they need dither fish such as neons or cardnals or danios. small schooling non threatening fish.

 

[OrangeCones]

as for the apistogramma they are a south american dwarf cichlid. they only get about 3 inches long

This does not describe all of the species that are in the Apistogramma genus.

There is no fish called "Apistogramma." It is a genus name with at least 50 species, some not named/described yet. It is hard to make generalizations about all fish in the genus.

 

[FishDad]

I'll have to see if my cichlid store carries those. Maybe they'll go with our 72 bow. Think they can get along with angels?

 

[exhumed07]

accually i've read there are up to about 250 different apistogramma, with new ones being discovered every year. but from what i have found out the largest of the ones known only get to about 3.5 inches.