new to freshwater. want advice stocking my 29gal. Pics would be awesome.

[eb-gator]

Hey. I am starting up a 29gal with a wet-dry filter that was used previously in my saltwater tank. I want to get some input as to what kind of fish I can safely keep in a 29 and in what order I should add them, and a time frame for adding them as well. I like some of the cichlids I have seen at the fish store in town and I like the rainbow shark. Can I do a few cichlids and a rainbow shark? What's a good bottom feeder that will take care of some algae? Will that interfere with the rainbow shark? If you have pictures of the fish I'd love to see them. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Kissyboots]

First of all, WELCOME!!!

I'm sure you know about cycling the tank first; if you need help with that, click on "MissFishy"'s link in her signature. That should help.

Bottomfeeders and algae eaters are two different things.

Cories are cool bottomfeeders that get about 1 inch long. They eat the leftovers.

Otos eat algae and are also very small.

I've never had cichlids or rainbow sharks so I can't help you with that. If you want pictures just google it or click on "profiles" at the top. That gives reviews and pictures of many fish.

Good luck!

 

[Avalon]

You can definitely keep cichlids in your 29. You may want to keep cichlids that do not get much larger than 6". The dimensions limit your choices a bit, but there's a LOT of cichlids out there. Do you have any specific species in mind? A rainbow shark will work also. They don't get very big, but can be aggressive, so you should keep fish that can fend for themselves (like the cichlids). A bushy nose pleco will stay small and help with algae. Regular plecos get too big.

 

[eb-gator]

Thanks for the fish ideas. Do you have any suggestions for cichlids that wouldn't get too big that are colorful or have fun personalities?

 

[Avalon]

There's a myriad of South American 'dwarf cichlids.' If you wanted something a little larger than 2-3", then you could house a couple of Firemouths. They are colorful, easy to keep, and animated. The bad thing about the larger cichlids (non-dwarf) is that the males tend to stake off territories that extend to at least 4' in diameter...about 2' from the center point if up against a wall. You might also be able to work with African cichlids...however I'm not very knowledgeable of Africans, so you might want to seek advice from someone more knowledgeable than me about them. I prefer the dwarf cichlids, but Africans are really nice as well. My best advice is to do your homework and see what's out there before settling.