29G stocking suggestions.

[Mahamotorworks]

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

You forgot to brush his/her teeth and eat his/her Veggies too. That sounds like a plan. With the fish loosing color it sounds like stress. More important then adding water is adding Gravel or decor from the established tank. That is what has the bacteria on it.

MAHA

 

[FishGeek]

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?

I think that stock sounds just fine. Id go with 3 Cories. Start with that and see how things go. Angels can be touchy so Id hold off till after the tank is up for a while to add one later. Just an opinion but I think that it would be neat to go with 2 Powder Blue Gouramies. They would be a nice contrast to the red Cherry Barbs. Also when you pick out your Cherry Barbs do your best to get males and females. When you have the mixter the Males show off a brighter red. The way to tell the differnce is the males are bright red and the females are a brownish red. I would try and go with 2 males and 4 females. Good Luck!! *thumbsups

 

[jessey]

Yay you guys have me excited! I think you're probably right about the fish being stressed. Poor little guy. But that means her tank should be fine for me to steal some gravel from, right? We have the same kind of gravel so I think I may just swap some out, unless there's a better way to do it..

And powder blue gouramis sound nice. OH, and I really like the emerald cories.. but are they a bad choice because they get bigger than other cories?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

The cherry barbs aren't schooling fish. You should be fine with 2-3 of them mixed with whatever other fish. If you have 2 males, they will focus on each other and pretty much ignore the other fish. They really stick to the bottom third of the tank, so they don't detract from a tetra or danio school at all.

I think you'd be fine with 1 angel, 1 or a pair of gouramis, a school of little fish (danios, tetras, etc.), a few (2-3) cherry barbs, and either a couple of otos or a small group of cories (4-5).

 

[MissFishy]

My cherry barbs have never lifted a fin to the other fish in the tank. They're happy just buddying around together or by themselves. Great fish, they never bother anybody. Make sure you get that gravel from your sisters tank, and get that test kit!!!

 

[FishGeek]

Yeah I was going to say Cherry Barbs are the more easy going ones. Gold Barbs are the ones that actually act like Barbs. Also I have read that Cherry Barbs arent schooling but quite a while ago I had 9 of them and they all stuck together for the most part, never any fighting and the males did fine together (I had 3).

 

[jessey]

Okay, well I know I'm going to get yelled at for this one.. but I went and picked up some fish today. Obviously my tank isn't really cycled, but I did add some gravel and water from my sister's established tank, and let it sit for about 48 hours. I didn't pick up a full test kit at the LFS, but I did get an ammonia reader.. and right now, as can be expected, it looks like I have fairly high ammonia levels. What should I be doing? Just water changes? And this is a silly question, but... when I do water changes (just with a gallon jug, for now, until I devise a better system), do I need to take the fish out? Or just be careful that they don't end up in my gallon jug?

As for fishies, here's what I picked up:
-3 cherry barbs (I decided to only get a few males, I'm going to do a big school of something else - danios, tetras, or something)
-2 emerald cories (the LFS only had 2 left, I'll be picking up 1-2 more eventually)
-2 dwarf frogs (adorable, but of course I've only seen them 3 or 4 times since they went into the tank a little over an hour ago, lol - which is to be expected)

Another question.. all of the fish seem very healthy, but the cory cats are all over the tank - swimming all around, as opposed to just hanging out on the bottom, like I thought they were supposed. Are they just exploring? Nervous? Anything to worry about? They obviously don't have an algae to feed off yet, but I picked up both flake food and sinking tablet food at the LFS and have dropped some of both in the tank.

Well, tell me what you think!!

EDITED to add: When I do get a school of small fish in a couple of weeks, what do you think of livebearers instead of danios or tetras? I haven't really made any decisions, just throwing some ideas around...

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Okay, well I know I'm going to get yelled at for this one.. but I went and picked up some fish today. Obviously my tank isn't really cycled.. and right now, as can be expected, it looks like I have fairly high ammonia levels. What should I be doing? Just water changes? And this is a silly question, but... when I do water changes (just with a gallon jug, for now, until I devise a better system), do I need to take the fish out? Or just be careful that they don't end up in my gallon jug?

Obviously you want your Ammonia to read 0ppm so WC's are going to be ultra important until your tank cycles full circle. I would do at least 2-3 WC's a week of at least 20-25% especially now that there are fish involved.

You still need to know where your nitrite & nitrates are though, so purchase some test kits for those as well.

As for WC's Do you have a siphon? If so then use that, that way you can do a little gravel vacuuming also, get some of that food/waste off the bottom, if you don't then a gallon pitcher will have to work, just make sure you treat your new water, and try to match tank temp and new water temp as close as possible.

 

[JWright]

Well jessey... I'm afraid you just crossed over the "doing well" line to the category of "getting impatient at the expense of the well-being of the creatures you've decided to take ownership of".

Adding more fish before your tank is cycled is simply unnecessary, and exposing your fish to those conditions is irresponsible.

Corydoras catfish don't eat algae, they don't have the mouth and teeth for it. You will need to feed them sinking pellets designed for catfish. The fact that they're all over the tank could just be because they're new, or it could be an indication of poor water quality.

There are several active threads about water changes... do some basic research and check them out. (And no... don't take the fish out...)

You're going to need to do as many water changes as it takes to keep your ammonia level below 2-3 ppm.

You also _must_ buy nitrite and nitrate test kits (not optional if you want to be successful in this hobby), and let us know what those numbers are.

Don't put any more food in the tank for two days. The fish are producing enough ammonia on their own without the decaying, uneaten food.

~JW

 

[jessey]

Thanks for your quick responses guys. I'm excited with my fish and they look beautiful but of course I don't want to harm them. I did buy food that specified "for catfish and other bottom dwelling fish," so that part is taken care of.. and I'm on my way out to go for a walk with my parents, but I'll do a 25% water change (7-8 gallons) as soon as I get home.

Thanks again for your help.. aww I feel like I'm apologizing to my parents after doing something I knew was wrong.

 

[Fishywishy]

I love the little ADF's, you'll hardly ever see them with the fish you put in there and you're gonna have a heck of a time feeding them with the cherry barbs, not to mention that a 29g is a bit high for them to swim up and get air (especially when they're still babies). The ADF's are not the brightest for eating and swimming. I would suggest getting a little tank like a 5 gal or so with a small filter for them. You'll enjoy them more, they are the funniest things once they get bigger and settled in.

As far as barbs and angels I've keep 3 angels (no idea whether they are male or female) with tiger barbs and if anything the angels chase the barbs not the other way around. Tiger barbs can be quite "nippy" fish, but angels can be quite "mean" fish. They actually go quite nicely together and leave each other alone.

 

[jessey]

I made a trip to the LFS before I got my morning bagel today. Bad news first: my ammonia levels are, as expected, still high (.5 mL/L.. which I think translates to 5 ppm?), nitrite is pretty low (.5 ppm), and nitrate is relatively nonexistant (looked like 0 to me). Fortunately, the fish happy, none look particularly stressed, even the cories have calmed down from yesterday.

Now the good news: I bought a Python system!! Yay! I did a 7 gallon water change with my gallon jug last, and well, let's just say that's not happening again. So I printed out Petsmart's online price for the Python and bought it this morning.

Any new input is much appreciated.

 

[Grumpy_Marine]

I'm kind of confused about everyone saying an Angel will get too big for my 29 gallon..
Thanks again for everyone's helpfulness!

My cousin has an angel fish in 55 gallon tank, the angel fish is i kid you not about 5 inches from nose to tail and 4 inches from top to bottom.... biggest angel fish i have ever seen.

As for stocking the 29 gallon i have both barbs and gourmai in my tank and they get along fine. I had 4 barbs and two gourmai but three barbs died with a mishap i did in w/c a while back. Here is what i have in my mis matched tank:

2 paradise blue gourmais
1 dwarf blue gourmai (red and blue stripped)
1 pleco(common)
2 Oto's
1 albino red tail shark
1 tiger barb(green)
2 weather loaches
2 kuhli loaches
1 black kuhli loach
2 yo yo loaches
1 horsefaced loach
2 zebra stripped danios
2 sissor tail rasorbas
1 blind cave tetra(brain damaged)
1 striped raphael catfish


I have a highly stocked tank i am aware of this, but working on getting bigger tank in next four months. Also have two penguin 150 filters running so got 600 gph cycling through the tank to keep water cleaned for the high load of fish. My tank is also planted and will be heavily planted when finished.

I would recommend the barbs and gourmai as they are the color of my tank and the best looking fish in there. I am wanting to remove the rasorbas, danios, tetra from my tank because they just don't go with my tank.

Hope this information helps as i have 29 gallon so now you know what it can handle and put that into perspective for what you want.

Python system...


Keep hands on it when filling i watered my carpet with two gallons because i had to run to sink to shut off but didn't make in time...lol. Very fast system but have to have water running to get good fast suction to clean tank with.

 

[jessey]

Well, my last few posts in this thread have been more about maintenance advice than stocking suggestions, so I think I am turning my attention back to stocking ideas *NOTE: I am NOT getting any new fish within the next several weeks. I know I should have waited to get any fish, and I'm not going to jeapardize the well-being of any more creatures.*

On that note... my mind has been going in a million different directions as to what to put in my tank. I want a really nice centerpiece fish... I'd love something on the larger size. Are there an bigger fish that stay peaceful? Otherwise, what will make a nice centerpiece fish for my 29 gallon (should I possibly just stick with my origional plans)?

I think I'm going to get a Rubbernose Pleco after my tank is cycled. I really like those guys.

One of my frogs passed away while I was at work today. RIP, little guy.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

A pearl gourami stays peaceful, and gets to around 4". Pearls are more peaceful than most gouramis, especially if you get a female.

 

[jessey]

grumpymarine, how big is your red tail shark? how aggressive is he?

capslock.. the pearl gourami's are beautiful. i think that might be a great idea.

i feel like this is an obnoxiously long thread, so feel free to shut me up at any time.

fyi... water parameters today, PRE-water change:
ammonia 2.5 ppm
nitrite .5 ppm
nitrate 0 ppm
i did a 25-30% WC with my python today. i'm planning on doing another one saturtday morning. fishies haven't been fed since tuesday so as to not cause any unnecessary filth in the tank. does feeding tomorrow (fri) sound like a good plan?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Feeding tomorrow should be fine... feed lightly.