looking for advice for a 29 gallon tank

LunchBox

LunchBox

Me fail english? that's unpossible!
Feb 7, 2006
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Kalamazoo, MI
Hi all

So I'm looking to maybe add some more fish to my tank and I am hoping the helpful folks here can give me some advice. Currently all I have in the tank are 8 bloodfin tetras, and once I start getting some algae I will be needing to get some sort of algae eater.

Here's my setup:
29 gallon tall tank
aquaclear 50 gallon power filter
undergravel filter powered by 2 aquaclear 301 powerheads
150 watt heater

I know i kinda went overboard on the filtration, but I'm sort of neurotic about making sure my water is clean.

anyway, my first plan was to get a pair of severum, which I'm now thinking twice about since ultimately they will need a bigger tank than I have at the moment. My second plan was a pair of powder blue dwarf gouramis (that's what my aquarium shop calls them anyway), but I hear pairs of gourami don't tend to work well. Essentially what I am looking to do is add more color to the tank wither via another small school or 2 or via a couple of pairs of something nice and colorful.

that's my goal, so hopefully someone will think of some goodideas for tankmates four the school of bloodfins. :)

Thanks!
 
Otocinclus cats would be my choice for algea control. Stay away from Chinese algea eaters.
And maybe a single 3 spot/ blue/ honey gourami would work as a centerpiece fish, they get to about 4".
I'm not sure about bloodfins, but some tetras are known to be fin nippers.
 
cool! that sounds like a good place to start. :)

one thing that just came to mind is not just what to bring in, but when. I started the tank about 5 days ago, let it run with nothing in it during that time, then got my 8 bloodfins. Would it be wise to wait a few weeks to make sure my bacteria take hold before adding anything else? I am assuming it probably is, but it never hurts to ask ;)
 
Yep. That would be the best bet. Did you cycle the tank w/ Biospira or something?

BTW male gouramis do poorly paired up in a small setup, but if you got a male & female pair of dwarfs you should be OK.
 
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graphicdesign_r said:
Yep. That would be the best bet. Did you cycle the tank w/ Biospira or something?
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No, unfortunately I forgot to actually put anything in there to get the cycle going (it's been a few years since my last aquarium). For some reason (going senile maybe) I thought I could just set it up and let her run for a while with no fish in it and it would cycle.

I might see about picking something up tomorrow that might kick start it a little bit just to try to cover my back since I don't want to be killing my new fish. I know the bloodfins will help get the tank cycling, but hopefully the water condition won't hurt them too much in the interim.
 
Definitely get some Bio-Spira if possible. Either way you will have to monitor the water conditions closely and be prepared to do water changes when necessary.

For clarification - I wouldn't get a blue or three spot gourami for that tank. Either a single male (or a m/f pair) of honey gourami (Colisa chuna) or Dwarf gourami (Colisa lalia) would be the best fit for the tank.
 
I might see about picking something up tomorrow that might kick start it a little bit just to try to cover my back since I don't want to be killing my new fish.
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Just looking to help you out here, but don't go out looking for something because if you do there is plenty of snake oil out there that many stores would be more than willing to sell you and you'll end up coming home with something that won't do you any good.

Look specifically for either Bio-Spira or established media which would be a sponge from a filter in an established tank from a local fish store or gravel from an established tank from a local fish store. If you get gravel, just toss in it a nylon stocking or one of aquarium specific nylon sacks and place that in your Aquaclear.

I personally have found Bio-Spira relatively difficult to find as I've called every major fish store I could find within 150 miles of me and have yet to find it stocked so don't waste your gas looking for that, call ahead. It can also be found online at places like http://www.aquariumplants.com which is where I have bought it twice now delivered overnight.

I've used it 3x now with a 100% success rate, but if you listen to most folks on here it sound like a 50% success rate is more common so keep that in mind. Just because you used it does not guarantee you are in the clear.
 
thanks for the advice guys :) Bio-spira it is then ;) fortunately my local shop is less than 5 minutes from my job so it should be relatively easy to figure out during my lunch break whether I can find it locally or not, and if not to get some ordered.

good clarification on which gouramis would fit :) I'll be looking at those when I head to the store, but of course will wait a couple weeks after the bio-spira to actually get them.

thanks again everybody :)
 
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Update: I checked around all my LFS and noboidy carried bio-spira. However, the best of the bunch had another product that looked the same (or similar). It's called Cycle and is made by Hagen/Nutrafin. Here's a listing I found on the web for it http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium...tioner_waste_control_ph_chlor-x.asp?ast=&key=

meanwhile I've purchased an aquarium pharmaceuticals master test kit that will do ph, high range ph, ammonia, nitrates and nitrites (25 bucks at my fave LFS) which I'll be using today for the first time. It looked like a good kit, and was slightly cheaper than buying some of the 5in1 paper strip tests. The guy at the LFS also echoed what everyone here has said about waiting a couple weeks before putting any more fish in the tank, and even cautioned that i may have put too many in already considering I hadn't cycled the water correctly.
 
I hope you didn't buy the Cycle.

Bio-spira is the only proven bacteria starter, and it is subject to mishandling. (Has to be refrigerated)

I've used bio-spira in a 180g, 55,and 10, all with great success. After trying a fishy cycle with my first 35g hex, I will always use bio-spira.
 
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