29 Gallon Stocking Question

uncskainch said:

I've started up a 29 gallon freshwater tank, Penguin 330 biowheel filter, 100w heater, an airstone (12" bubble wand), live plants (water wisteria, amazon sword, java fern, and cabomba), and some rocks and driftwood for hiding places and visual interest. I may add a simple CO2 system for the health of the plants as well. So that's my basic setup. The tank is cycled and I currently have six zebra danios in the tank, which I really enjoy watching. Our water is quite hard and alkaline (well water). I am doing about a 10-15% water change weekly with a gravel vacuum.

Below is a list of some of the fish I'm interested in, and I'm trying to decide which would be appropriate, and which would not get along with one another. Also, I'm curious about how many of each fish is appropriate in terms of the fish's preferred schooling/social behavior and, of course, I don't want to overload what my filter and maintenance schedule can support in this kind of tank. I'm shooting for a peaceful but fun-to-watch community tank, and also trying to balance fish that will be in the upper, middle and lower portions of the tank. Also, since I'm interested in swordtails, I'm wondering if I should add aquarium salt for their benefit and, if so, how much, and if any of the other inhabitants I'm considering would be adversely affected by the salt.

Here are my interests:

swordtails (the red ones) -- my husband really liked these in the fish store and I had them growing up, so I was thinking of including them -- perhaps 2 females and one male?

khuli loaches -- I just thought these looked cool. I've heard that they do best in pairs or groups of 3 or more -- true?

Those are the two that I'm probably most interest in, and here are others I've considered:

cobra guppies (can you keep just males? or just one? would other fish nip at these?)
tetras -- perhaps cardinals?
cherry barbs
cory cats (albino? other species worth considering?)
ghost shrimp

I would welcome any recommendations for how I might configure the tank to include some of these species and make for an interesting, content aquarium community. Please feel free to suggest others that you think I might enjoy and that would do well with my set-up, or to let me know if any of the fish I'm thinking about would be inappropriate for my tank setup or water conditions -- or if they'd be too hard for a beginner to keep healthy. Thanks in advance for you help!

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Hello and welcome to Aquaria Central! I too have a planted 29 gallon tank and I surely enjoy it. I hope you have as much fun with yours as I have with mine. Now, onto answering those questions.

Salt isn't necessary. You said you had hard alkaline water and the swords will operate nicely in that without salt. If you do any livebearer the ratio should always be at least 2 females to every male. This keeps agression and stress down bentween the males and stresses the females less whe they are with fry because the male may leave them alone a little more with two choices. Swordtails will swim in all layers of the tank. Also, swordtails get to be 4+ inches, so a few will take up some room when they reach adult size.

Kuhli loaches in fact do well in groups of 3 or more. They reach a size of about three inches so three or four will really fill up the bottom of the tank. Plus, they just have neat personalitis. They normally prefer slightly acidic waters, so give them some time to acclimate and you should be set.

With these as your top choices, you are looking at being very well stocked with 3 swordtails, 6 zebra danios and 3 Kuhli loaches in my opinion. Especially if you intend to keep any fry or if a few survive in the tank on their own. I know they don't seem big in the store and 29 gallons sounds like a lot at first, but as the fish grow, it starts looking a lot smaller.

Cobra guppies would be fun, but guppies are slower moving fish and while swordtails are peaceful, they are faster moving and it is hard to predict who may nip who. If you skipped the swordtails and loaches (I am not trying to persuage you to either, your other choice is a fine one, you just don;t get as many fish and for some people that can be a deciding factor, so I mention it) and went with a smaller fish type of set up, guppies are a great livebearer choice and they would mix well with other smaller fish like the cardinal tetras or pygmy cory catfish.

Cardinal tetras are wonderfully visual fish. They school well and do best in groups of 6 or more. They stay small and are not real zippy swimmers, like some tetras. They are also not as picky within the school as other tetras like head and tail light (which I have and they are very fast and constantly letting one another know who is boss. I find it hard to watch the tank for real long periods as they are a little too frenetic and they really don't school unless I scare them by gravel vacuuming).

Cherry barbs are supposedly the peaceful barbs. Also, I hear they have a lot of personality. I've never kept them, but they remain fairly small, school and do well in groups of 6 or more. Blinky, a member here at AC, has almost convinced me to buy these little guys the way she dscribes them. Maybe someday when I have more room!

Cory cats are such neat little fish. I watch them more than any other fish in my tank. They school well together so a group of at least six is recommended. Most cories get around the 3 inch range and some to go to four. However, there is one that stays small its entire life and that is the pygmy cory. It maxes out around 1 inch and these not only are active on the bottom, but also swoop into the middle sections of the tank with ferfor. They land on plants like a little flock of birds and sit for a while, then they'll swim off somewhere else. Just cute fish.

Ghost Shrimp are interesting to watch. I have enjoyed mine immensely. The problem I have run into is that when I start acuuming the gravel and my water level starts getting toward the bottom of the filter intake, I kill the power strip that my filters are on, which also kills my light. Ghost shrimp are incredibly difficult to spot in a tank without a decent light and since they are not strong swimmers, they tend to get sucked into the Python. I started with six, and I am down to two. I enjoy them, but I won't replace them. I know they're cheap, but if I can't keep them alive and safe, I suck and don't deserve them. If you think you can be mor responsible than me or just decide, "Hey, at 10 cents a pop who cares if I suck em up?" then a group of six is what I would call equivalent to one fish in the bio-load. They are not taxing on the filter or anything.

So, there are my opinions on each fish. FWIW, if you decide to go with a different setup than the swordtails and kuhlis in favor of the smaller fish, I would go with 11 cardinal tetras, 4 female and 2 male guppies (you'll end up with more, trust me), and 7-9 pygmy cory cats. That's if I had my 29 gallon open and available to stock witht he choices of fish you presented. Best of luck, and keep us posted. We love to hear how people's fish are doing.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, you can change more water once a week if you'd like. it helps the plants get the trace elements they need and it will not hurt your fish. I do 50% water changes every 5 days or so, but you can do 50% per week with no problems and it usually only helps your fish and plants.

uncskainch said:

Wow -- Thanks so much for the warm welcome and all the advice and information!

I think we may make a trip to the fish store to compare the swordtails to the guppies and see what we might be interested in, but I'm leaning toward the khuli loaches regardless. I've heard that they're fun to watch in a group, and they're really unusual to look at. I'm not too set on having a large total number of fish -- I just want an interesting community with a mix of personalities, appearances, and so on.

A couple of additional follow-up questions:

1. With slower-moving guppies, would the speedy danios harrass them? And would the 1 male to 2+ females ratio apply to the guppies the same way it would to the swordtails? And if I went with, say, a grouping of small guppies (say, 2-3 females and a male) and the loaches, would that give me room for a school of tetras, or would I be pushing it?

2. If I went with khuli loaches and maybe a few ghost shrimp (do they add significantly to the bio-load?) as my bottom-dwelling group, would I need an algae eater of some sort, or in a planted tank is that less of a big deal? (Or would the loaches and shrimp also eat algae?) Oh, and any advice on the striped khulis versus the black khulis? I've seen both, but wasn't sure about differences in adult size, ease of care, etc.

3. Any suggestions for foreground plants that will do well in lower light? I feel like the background of my tank is well-planted, but might like to add some shorter plants up front eventually. I just have one bulb at the moment and so I'm trying to stick with plants that will at least tolerate those conditions for the time being. Most of what's in there now seems to be healthy and growing, if slowly.

4. With the live bearers of all varieties -- I just have the one tank. If fry survive in my 29 gallon tank, what do I DO with them? I don't want a tank overrun with swordtails or guppies!

I've attached a photo of my tank as it is currently set up, just FYI. And thanks again for all the help and encouragement! I'm really enjoying my aquarium so far, and this forum has been a huge help.

Cheers!

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You're very welcome. There's a bit of a learning curve in this hobby and I learn more everyday, so asking questions is not a bad thing at all.

1. Danios are pretty peaceful, guppies might be skittish with such active tankmates at first, but they should get used to it. Planted tanks ease stress quite well since there is cover and the fish can feel secure. Yes, the 2:1 ratio will apply to all livebearers as a general rule. Swordtails, mollies, guppies, platys, Endler's, least killifish... the males are just so amorous they can harass the females. Also, with 3 Kuhli loaches, 3 guppies, 6 zebra danios you're still pretty stocked but not overstocked. You could probably get 5 or six of the very small tetras like cardinals, neons or lemons, but that is pushing it some. It's hard with a 29 gallon to get 2 schools unless you use the very small schoolers, and already having the danios limits that somewhat. Now if the LFS was willing to take the danios back or something, but if you're attached, I wouldn't get rid of them.

2. Ghost shrimp are low bio-load. They are very interesting and they'd eat some algae, but not much. The loaches aren't real into algae. Wether or not you get an algae eater is up to you. Otocinculus are very small, cute algae eaters but they need a developed tank to get enough to eat. With plants it is seems both easier to get and easier to get rid of algae. If you have an imbalance, the algae will come. But, healthy plants will outcompete algae for nutrients under the right conditions. From what I have read, black kuhlis are slightly smaller and like the company of other black kuhli loaches.

3. Crypts are excellent lowlight foreground plants. Follow this link for pictures and more information on the one I keep in my tank. I am very pleased with it. If you look atmy tank in the link in my sig, they are the ones at the bottom right foreground. I just have two as I sort of wanted a triangle look when I set this one up. If I trim some Wisteria more, I'll get it too.

4. If fry survive what do you do? Beats me! Most LFS won't buy livebearers unless they are a special or hard to find color morph or pattern. Most of the time, their tankmates will snack on them, but there are no guarantees. You mihgt be able to give them to the LFS as feeders or to friends who have a need for feeders.

I think I got them all. If I need to explain myself further, just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

You're welcome again. Otos do better in groups. 3 would be a good number for a 29 gallon. All of the fish should get along as theya re all fairly peaceful, but do keep an eye out for the guppies as they can be targets because of their speed. Usually not a problem, but something to watch for at least. Otos appreciate algae wafers, you could drop one in overnight. As for everyone's diet; most fish prefer a varied diet. It doesn't have to be extravagant. I feed mine two types of flake food and freeze dried bloodworms with the occasional algae wafer. They also sell freeze dried brine shrimp and some other things. The varied diet supposedly keeps them healthy and happy. Your fish selection would be pretty happy with flakes, bloodworms, algae tabs, and shrimp. When I was younger I fed flakes exclusively until I got an African Butterfly Fish and started adding insects for it. Thanks for the compliment on my tank. It's amazing how well it has grown and I doubt I would ever go with an unplanted tank again unless the fish were just completely incompatible. Best of luck and let us know what you get and how it all goes!