Stocking questions....

[noodles62]

I am in the beginning stages of deciding what to put in my new 29 gallon tank and am getting confused!! (I tend to research things to death!)

Does this sound like it would be over stocked?:

29 gallon
5 long fin Congo tetras
6 zebra danios
3 peppered corys
1 BN pleco

I already have the zebra danios and 2 corys, so I am kind of stuck w/ them. (stuck is not the right word- I do love them!) I am looking for a pretty, medium sized, friendly fish to put in w/ the zebras.....I have read that any dwarf gouramis would hide all the time due to the activity level of the zebras; so looking for other options.....

In the 10 gallon I that I already have up and running, I would like to have 6 neon tetras (already have), 6 rummy nose tetras & possibly some red cherry shrimp (#?)for clean up; Will this be overstocked as well?

Thanks for any and all advice!!

[Dwarf Puffers]

I'd probably skip either the congos or the pleco in the 29. If you leave the congos, you could get 10 danios, 6 cories, and 2 plecos. If you skip the pleco, you could probably have 4-5 congos, 8 danios and 4-5 cories. Best to have at least 4 cories.

For the 10 gallon, rummies are a bit big, IMO. They would be a nice alternative to congo tetras in the 29, though, and you could probably get 8 rummies, 8 danios, 4 cories and a BN. You could either have 10 neons or 6 neons and a betta, dwarf gourami or honey gourami in the 10 gallon, or if you wanted a sparkling gourami, 7 neons.

Sounds like the tanks will look great whatever you pick. Good luck :)

[SchizotypalVamp]

Honestly, 5 four to five inch fish(I've seen a lot of healthy 5 inchers) in a 29 seems like sort of a stretch to me. I love congos, btw, lol.

[noodles62]

I do like your 2nd suggestion for the 29 & skip the pleco; the congos are so pretty and I did want something a little bigger. I also really like the dwarf neon or the celebes rainbows but was told they are too agressive by my LFS. For the 10-----I do love the sparkling gouramis....hhhhmmmmm; decisions, decisions!
Thanks for the input!

[Dwarf Puffers]

Dwarf neon (praecox) rainbows are anything but agressive. The males will chase each other if there aren't enough females, but they are easily sexable, with males having red fins while females have yellow fins. Both sexes are very colorful, with males usually being a tad bit more vibrant. They only get about 2" long, so if you wanted to skip the congos for them, you could probably get 7, if you went with my second idea. You could try 3 males with 4 females, or to be very safe, 2 males with 5 females.

As a side note, I am quite fond of dwarf neon rainbows. I bought one at my LFS for 2.99$, as it came in with the danios, and she was a very nice fish. She had learned how to eat like a danio, and she was much more intelligent than I would have expected. I lost her in the move to my 75 gallon a while ago, and I want some more when I can get them. I highly reccomend them to peaceful tanks 20 gallons and above.

[noodles62]

Now that is exciting! I love the dwarf neon rainbows! You just made my day! LOL

[Dwarf Puffers]

That's great :). They're also easy to breed, if you ever wanted to try it. They seem like a great fish to pass on to others.

[Lupin]

If you leave the praecox by themselves in a heavily-planted tank, expect lots of fry in a few weeks assuming these rainbows are adults, of course.