a few misc questions

1. ppm and mg/l are pretty much the same. Don't worry about converting.

2. If your house temp is around 78-80, or if the tank is located by a heater vent, then yes, this could result in the change. Does the tank heater still come on? Sometimes it's useful to unplug the heater, let it sit in the tank for 30 minutes, and replug it in. I've found that if you plug the heater in right away, sometimes it's internal 'brain' gets out of whack and it won't heat appropriately. Unplugging the heater and letting it sit in the tank a while sort of resets it.

3. Neither fake plants nor lights will change the pH. What is the pH of your tap water? Any decorations that might affect pH (such as coral, shells, concrete, ect)?

4. There are several good schoolers in the tetra family. Also, check out rainbows--some great fish with good schooling behavior. However, you may reconsider the clown loach--your tank will be too small in the long run, and they like to be in groups. Single loaches are prone to sickness and hiding.

5. It's all about the learning!

Do you want a cleanup crew, or an algae eater? Most good cleanup crew fish prefer to have some buddies. Cories are great, but will be less interesting solo. 3-4 is about right. If you're looking to conserve space, a group of kuhli loaches would be great. For a single fish, look into some of the smaller botias, and the 'fancy' plecos. Bristlenose are great--they eat leftovers, as well as algae, though you'll need to supplement them with greens.

Cycling tanks can have some problem with pH fluctuations, but this is a bit more than a fluctuation. What kind of substrate do you have? Driftwood usually leaches tannins into the water, which drops pH a bit. Most of the time, driftwood is attached to slate, and that wouldn't make a difference either. Any new rocks? You'll need to so some serious, careful acclimation on any new fish to avoid pH shock. I am not an expert at chemistry, but there must be something serious going on to bring your pH up two whole points! Heck--lots of test kits won't even register that high.

Not sure how much it would affect a 29 gal, but with my 10 gal I've noticed that my lighting actually seems to increase my water temp. First thing in the morning the temp in my tank is in the 72-74 range, after I turn my lights on it eventually gets to the 78-80 range. I've started turning my lights out earlier.

BTW I don't have a heater in the tank and don't adjust my home thermostat for night/day, so I'm pretty sure the increase is partly from the lighting, esp. because it maintains the higher temp even after sundown unless I turn the tank lights off.

What kind of lights are you running? Some lighting types are prone to heating, while others don't seem to have as much impact. Canopy type can also impact this--adequate ventilation is important. I run a few 6 gallon eclipse systems, and haven't had any problems (flourescents). I have one little 2.5 gallon I use for raising snails, and I won't turn the light on--it's an incandescent and it will raise the temp 4-5 degrees. For HO, VHO, MH, or PC lights, some fans to pull the warm air out will help.

OG,

I have incandescent lighting, so I guess that would account for the 4-5 degree increase in my tank. I noticed in Peteisrad's original post (?#3) that he mentioned he's been keeping his lights on longer, so I wanted to give him something else to look at when considering why his tank's running hotter than he'd like.

I was having problems over the summer with my tank getting abnormally warm due to the fact I didn't have central air, just a wall unit, so the house would get warm (80+ degrees) during the day. I finally took the heater out of the tank, and put it back in for the winter (at which point I had a problem keeping the tank warm enough, but that's another story...) If your house stays a fairly constant temperature, just unplug the heater when the tank is too warm, and turn it back on when we get some warmer weather (which will be soon, I hope, since I'm also in TN...).

As far as good schooling fish, I agree that smaller tetra breeds are great. Something like head-and-tail-light tetras are really cute, and aren't "quite" as common as neons, at least around here... (I'm not a big fan of schooling fish, since I prefer tankbusters, as everyone here has figured out, but that's just me...)

Cory cats are good bottom-dwellers, but as was stated earlier, they're not as happy by themselves, they prefer to at least be in pairs or 3's (although I have kept them by themselves before with no observable problems, as long as they have something, anything else in the tank to socialize with...)

I know that people are of mixed emotions about them, but I personally like Chinese Algae Eaters, at least until they reach full size and get a little nippy.... they do okay by themselves, and would lend a nice torpedo-look to the tank. Raphaels are another good solitary choice, and they grow slowly (heck, they do everything slowly, if they weren't so pretty they'd be boring, honestly...), so they could stay in a tank of that size for a long while. They live a very long time, so be prepared to have a lifelong friend in one.... (my ex-husband had one that was 19 years old... it finally died, and we assumed it was old age, because there was nothing wrong with it...)

Hope this helps!

Sensei--sorry, on re-reading it did sound like I was dismissing your suggestion. That wasn't my intent at all! Lighting can cause problem, especially with the pesky incandescent lights. Very good point to bring up!

No problem OG. I know there was no offense intended, and none was taken.

Peteisrad,

You might also consider that "schooling" fish don't always live up to expectations in an aquarium unless there's something in there that they might consider slightly threatening. That is, they might not school once they figure out there are no enemies in your 29 gal.

Of course that doesn't mean you should put an Oscar in with a school of neons, but maybe a slightly aggressive gourami or two might keep them "in line" if you catch my drift.

Another pretty little schooling fish you might consider other than tetras could be harlequin rasboras. I don't have any now, but am seriously considering them when I upgrade to a larger tank later this year.