29G Questions

[Mantis737]

Hi all!

I plan on moving into a 29 gallon (well my fish at least) so I am starting the fishless cycle this weekend. I just wanted to get some feedback on my setup and see what the consensus is from the more experienced people here.

I ordered a Whisper 40 Power Filter and a Tronic 100watt heater. I also have 2 pieces of 12" Driftwood and some misc. Slate and Sand Stone. I am going to use a sand substrate with a low light setup to grow Java ferns / Moss and maybe an amazon sword or 2. Ohh and a blue background!:D

I plan on stocking it with the following.

3 - Raspboras
3 - Cory Cats
2 - Dwarf Gouramis
1 - Angelfish
1 - Clown Pleco
...Some 3-4 fish small school (Maybe Serpae Tetras)

Assuming I have good filtration and do water changes regularly, I should be ok with this stock scheme right?

Any ideas / comments are appreciated!

Thanks!

[tomm10]

I'm curious as to why you're fishless cycling when you could just use filter material from your 15g to cycle the 29 instantly. Obviously you couldn't go to a full bioload right away but you could at least start at the level your 15 is at right now and build up over the coming weeks.

I don't know enough about those fish to give much advice but I believe that pleco might get too big for that tank. I'm not too familiar with plecos but I think the only one that might stay small enough for a 29 would be a bristlenose pleco.

Otherwise it sounds good. good luck!

[OrionGirl]

Should be okay--my only concern would be the gouramies and angels. Sometimes they will fight. I'd probably just add to the rasbora population instead of adding another schooling species.

[RHJ]

I keep gouramies and an angel together in my 38 gallon and they get along fine. I agree with OG about just adding rasboras. I had serpae tetra and they can be nippy. The rasboras will like the "extra company" and I think it will look better with a larger school.

[Mantis737]

The reason I am not adding stuff from my 15 is I am still leaving the 15 set up with fish in it. I may just add to the raspbora school, we will see. Thanks for the input.

[tomm10]

Mantis, what I was getting at is that you could borrow some material from your still running 15 like a handful of gravel or preferably the filter cartridge from it and put it in the 29 when you're ready to put fish it.

What you could do is take the filter cartridge out of the 15 and swish it around in the 29. It will make the water temporarily cloudy but that should clear up. More importantly, it will put some of the nitrifying bacteria from the 15 into the 29. Drop the filter cartridge into your 29's filter or in the tank itself for a couple of weeks. You can replace the cartridge in the 15 with a brand new one since there should be enough nitrifying bacteria in the gravel and decorations of that tank to avoid any spikes.

I suggest this because it will save you the month of fishless cycling. You'll still need to monitor the levels closely in the beginning of course but this SHOULD cycle the tank right away.

[Mantis737]

Thanks, I think i will do that, especially since I am using a whisper filter in both, so I will be able to use the same cartridge. I was also think that I might try Biospira, and see if that works wonders. I have used it in my 15 gallon while doing a fishy cycle (I know, a mistake) and it worked really well. Any suggestions?

[tomm10]

I used Bio Spira in my 10 when I was cycling it. It worked really well but you shouldn't need it if you seed the new tank with a mature filter. I used the method I described to seed my 8g and it worked like a charm. That tank never showed any ammonia or nitrites.

If I were you I would save the money on Bio Spira for now and just seed the tank with your existing filter. If for some reason that method doesn't work properly and you start to see ammonia/nitrite spikes, then you might want to think about Bio Spira.

Make sure when you seed the new tank with the old filter cartridge that you don't let too much time pass before you put your fish in. What I would do is swish the old filter cartridge in the new tank and put it in the filter. Then go to the LFS and buy enough fishly to roughly duplicate the bioload in your 15. For instance, if you have 4 2-3" fish in you 15g buy roughly the same amount for the 29g so you don't overload the bacteria colony all at once. By the time you get home the water should be clear and ready for the fish. If you want too long (like a day instead of a couple of hours) you run the risk of the bacteria dying off.

After a week, if the levels are good, you can add another fish or two every week.