29G stocking suggestions.

[jessey]

Hey all! I just got a 29 gallon aquarium for Christmas Yay! It's not even set up yet, but I want to start thinking about stocking ideas. I know its better to have a low-stocked tank, but I really love a lively, busy looking tank. Right now I have a HOB filter rated for 20-40 gallons, and I may get a Duetto to compliment it. Here are some fish I'm interested in:
Gouramis (I think they're SOO pretty!)
Barbs (esp. Tiger Barbs)
African Dwarf Frogs
Angels
Cories/Ottos
Snails
Anything else that's pretty and interesting!!

Also: what is everyone's experience with Tiger Barbs? I always hear that they're semi-agressive, but my sister has a 10G tank with 2 Tiger Barbs, 2 Dwarf Gouramis, and 1 ADF.. the Tigers chase each other playfully and get along well with everyone else. Is it somewhat of a misconception that Barbs are so nippy? Or just luck?

I'm only sort of a newbie.. I've been lurking the boards for a while, because I help my sister out with her tank a lot, and I figure now that I have my own tank I might as well start posting & asking questions.

Jess

 

[Mahamotorworks]

Tigers barbs are a really cool fish. I have a school of 7. They will pester the other fish but keep 95% of their violence between them selfs. The angels and goiramis really wont mix and the Angels will get too big for the 29G tank. This is what I reccomoned. Get 5 Toger Barbs, 5 Cory Cats, and some Larger Semi-agressive Fish as a canter peice.

MAHA

 

[MissFishy]

If you really want to go with the tiger barbs, you'll have to limit your other options to more aggressive species that can take care of themselves. Get a group of tiger barbs, preferably 5-6. A good centerpiece would be ONE gourami, they don't do well in groups and will fight. Then you can consider a group of cories, usually 3 or more, they like groups. Snails are always fun and come in many colors. Just don't get any pond snails or malaysian trumpet snails if you don't want a lot of them. Look for Mystery Snails. Just remember to make sure you know about cycling a tank. If your sister has an established tank, you can cycle your tank off of hers. Remember to add fish SLOWLY. I would start with the gourami. Do you have a heater and thermometer?

Welcome to the tank!

 

[jessey]

i really like both of your ideas and i may do something similar. what are some examples of medium-sized, semi-aggressive fish, maha?

i'm not necessarily married to keeping tiger barbs. any suggestions if i were to go with a more peaceful community tank?

i got a starter kit with my 29 gallon tank (heater, thermometer, filter, etc), so i have pretty much everything i need except gravel/decorations, and of course.. fish i know a little about cycle and was planning on taking a few gallons of water and maybe a little gravel from my sister's tank. thanks for the warm welcome!

 

[FishGeek]

ok Angels do eventually get too big for a 29G tank (I have one that is about the size of a half dollar) But you guys are telling him/her that its ok to have a Gourami. IMO a Dwarf Gourami will not be able to handle the wrath on the Tiger Barbs. So he/she would have to get a "non dwarf" Gourami which the same size as an Angel. I think that a good combo would be 5-6 Tiger Barbs and a few Loaches. Polkadot Botias and Zebra Loaches are my favorite. Blue Botias are neat too.

 

[MissFishy]

Hmm, I think that if you got a complete school of tiger barbs, they would mostly pick on themselves. The dwarf gourami could easily take care of itself at the other times. I'm not a fan of tiger barbs, I think they are too much of a risk to the other fish. They tend to be very nippy and I've heard of some that just turn on the whole school of tigers and kill them all. Go figure. If you wanted to go with a more peaceful tank, you could consider a small school of cherry barbs(much nicer than tigers), or tetras. Some tetras to take a look at are pristella, blood fin, serpae, von rio, etc. Lots to choose from!

It's good to get a starter kit, but make sure you take a trip to the fish store to buy a master test kit to test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. That is a MUST.

 

[big54bob]

TIGER BARBS WILL KILL ANGELS AND GORAMIS BUT IN A SCHOOL U MIGHT HAVE LITTLE PROBLEMS*DRUMMER* *DRUMMER* *SLEEPING* *SLEEPING* *SLEEPING*

 

[Big Vine]

A three-spot, opaline, or gold gourami ought to do just fine in a 29 gallon tank with a school of tiger barbs. Full-grown gouramies from the three-spot family (i.e. the ones I mentioned above) may approach the length of a fully-grown angelfish, but they don't get nearly as 'tall' as angels, which makes a huge difference.

There are always exceptions, as someone mentioned about hearing of a single bully tiger barb that killed its entire school of tankmates, etc., but these certainly aren't the norm.

If you decide to do this, put the gourami in first and let it establish its territory and get comfortable prior to introducing the tiger barbs.

Big Vine

 

[jessey]

I'm kind of confused about everyone saying an Angel will get too big for my 29 gallon.. I've read sources that say 15 gallons for an Angel fish, and the profile on this site says 20 gallons. I like some of the ideas from above, but I also like some things that haven't been mentioned. For instance, in a 29 gallon, what would be well-suited with two ADF's?

Thanks again for everyone's helpfulness!

 

[FishGeek]

If you want 2 ADFs then any of the community fish will do fine. Tiger Barbs will not do well with them, Gouramies and Angels may of may not. Its hard to help you unless you know what you want the tank to look like. Look around and think of some fish that you would like to put together, then come back here and discuss them with us. It will make it easier to help you.

 

[jessey]

i would really like to do something like this. tell me what you think:

1-2 angels
2 dwarf gouramis
2 adf's
2-3 cherry barbs
5 danios
1-2 ottos or cories (?)

am i overstocked? this list doesn't exceed the inch-to-gallon rule but i know not everyone agrees with that rule. if you have criticisms, i'd love to hear. again, i am still weeks away from adding fish but i'm excited and giving it thought.

thanks,
jess

 

[bala_aquarium]

I think you might have a problem with only 2-3 cherry barbs.They would pick on the other fish and i would get rid of the danios if you do get tiger barbs.Angles would get to big for your tank and gouramis fight with each other alot.so maybe having gouramis isnt a good idea.If you want barbs i would go with an least 5.

 

[JWright]

The barbs and the danios are going to be very prone to picking at the fins of either the gouramis or the angels.

Decent odds that the gouramis and angels won't get along.

In a 29g, the only way you could get away with 2 angels is if they were a pair, and they pair up, they're going to get very aggressive with anything else in the tank.

There's really no point to having two smaller schools of two different types of fish. With most any schooling fish, you'll get a much prettier tank if you go with one bigger school, rather than two small ones.

I would say your best bet would be to go with 2 dwarf gouramis, a medium sized school (8-10) of some colorful tetra (cardinals for instance), and some sort of bottom feeders (2-4 cories would do nicely).

Just my opinions...

~JW

P.S. Forget you ever heard the inch per gallon rule. It _never_ applies.

 

[bala_aquarium]

what is a good stocking rule then???when do you know how much is enough

 

[JWright]

There are a ton of variables. Fish size, fish activity, fish eating habits, aquarium dimensions (not just volume), aggression, regularity of water changes, level of filtration, desire for schools, etc, etc, etc....

When you distill it all down, you'll find the "inch per gallon" rule is almost never appropriate. Sometimes you can fit a lot more than an inch per gallon, sometimes a whole lot less.

~JW

 

[jessey]

all right.. good advice so how about 2 dwarf gouramis, 2 dwarf frogs (i really want 'em ), 6 cherry barbs (they're LESS aggressive than tigers, right?), and 2-3 cories?

and out of curiosity, what is an appropriate size tank for an angel? everyone keeps saying 29 gallons is too small.. but i'm really surprised they need bigger.

jess

 

[jessey]

oh and by the way, i just picked up my gravel, decorations, and stand, so i'm going to set up now. hooray!

 

[James From Cali]

Well 29g's should be the minimum for a breeding pair, but bigger is always better!

 

[JWright]

A solo angel would be just fine in a 29, but two would almost certainly fight unless they were a pair. And if they were a pair, the other fish in the tank would need more room to avoid them.

As long as you promise to be good with your water changes, I'd say go for 2 dwarf gouramis, 8 barbs, 2 frogs, and 4-5 cories.

~JW

 

[jessey]

I just made my youngest sister put water in the tank, we fed the garden hose through my window I was planning on using some of the water from my sister's 10 gallon tank... but one of her gourami's died today. I'm actually not sure if he got sick, or got beat up. Yesterday I noticed he had lost most of his coloration, and also his top fin looked kind of messed up. I hope that tank doesn't turn into a war zone... But yeah, needless to say, I'm hesitant to add water from her tank into mine now.

I'll try to get a picture of my tank later. It looks pretty.