29 gal Quandry...

[Alex300]

Hi, everyone!

I'm new to this site (and forums in general, actually -- not sure how *that* part of the internet passed me by), but I do have some successful experience with freshwater tanks (cichlids, mostly). I've been lurking on your forums for some time now, and I've found the information here interesting and reliable, so I'm hoping your collective wisdom can point me in the right direction for what will surely be a verbose and meandering query.

So here's what I have and know: 29 gallon tank; the city I live in has tons of limestone, so the water is hard and full of minerals (I don't know my pH yet), and sometimes I can smell chlorine in it. (I do have access to RO/DI water at my LFS, and it's decently priced, so that may not be TOO much of an issue, but I'm thinking if I can work with what I have... that may be better.)

Also, a confession: I love cichlids. I love their personalities and their beauty (I had an Acei that would eat out of my hand). I also know that my options are pretty limited with a tank that small. I would upgrade the tank, but -- unfortunately -- that is not an option (I rent... could sneak in a 55 in the dead of night, but...). The idea of a planted cichlid tank sounds like the delightfully frustrating challenge I would enjoy -- and it's possible, from what I've seen, but... the size of the tank is limiting.

So... are there fish that would be happy in a 29g that have the personality of a cichlid? Or are there small Africans that would work? (Demasoni? Yellow Lab? Some of the ps. elongatus?) Would 4 4-5" cichlids be too many? The shelldwellers and Tanganyika species are hard to find around here, and rams and NW cichlids frighten me (soft water, oh no!)...

Any stocking suggestions for fish with intelligence and personality capable of living in the 29g would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much for your help,
Alex

 

[cryeth_the_raven]

There are many cichlids that'd work in a 29. Go for it. You'd be looking at a few small cichlids or medium cichlids like a convict or Blue Acara. what did you have in mind?

 

[Alex300]

I guess I prefer Africans based on the water that's available here -- I feel like it would be too hard to "make" soft water for the SA species -- I'd be afraid of dramatic pH swings. Would dwarf mbunas be out of the question, do you think?

 

[excuzzzeme]

My water is naturally hard as well but nothing close to yours. Convicts are hardy fish and could do well in your water. I do not soften my water for any of my SA fish and have no problems. Even though I have low ph (6.4-6.8) my Africans do well in it.

As long as you match water to what the original store keeps them at you should be OK. Then you can gently drop your water to it's normal state.

 

[KarlTh]

This is because fish care far less about pH than everyone thinks. Total Dissolved Solids is many times more important, but far fewer people test for GH and KH. They should.

 

[blue2fyre]

If you get fish locally chances are that they are already use to the hard water with high Ph.

As for fish I don't think any malawis would work in a tank that size. A 30 gallon is a minimum for dwarf species. They really need the extra floor space. If you order online a lot of Tang options open up. You could try some shell dwellers or a pair of julies. I have some white calvus and Chalinochromis brichardi in my 29.

 

[fish-n-chips]

If you want a planted, I would shy away from the rift lake cichlids personally. The only NW cichlid I ever had a problem with in my city water were gbr's( that was when I was new to the hobby though).I have had no problems at all with other NW cichlids. They include angels, keyholes, bolivians, acaras, firemouths, jd's,convicts and oscars. I have bred kribs with no problem( african riverine). I don't know your water params but the water here is at around 8ph and modereately hard. I haven't tested gh/kh in a while so I can't give exact readings. In my experience stable ph is much more important than the actual ph but that is just my opinion. Ask your lfs's in your area what there ph and tds are in their NW tanks.

 

[Alex300]

Thank you all so much for your responses!

I like the look of apistogrammas, but is the tank even big enough for them? I'm sort of at a loss with the NW species -- except that some of them can be mixed with other species of fish -- so do you think you could offer a sample stocking?

That being said, I think I'd prefer to have 4-5 fish rather than schools of little fish -- so the "centerpiece species" idea doesn't really work for me. Maybe it would be best to wait and up the tank size eventually? What works best with mbunas or malawi haps?

Ultimately, I'd rather wait and do it right ...

Thank you!
Alex

 

[BioHazard]

Thank you all so much for your responses!

I like the look of apistogrammas, but is the tank even big enough for them? I'm sort of at a loss with the NW species -- except that some of them can be mixed with other species of fish -- so do you think you could offer a sample stocking?

That being said, I think I'd prefer to have 4-5 fish rather than schools of little fish -- so the "centerpiece species" idea doesn't really work for me. Maybe it would be best to wait and up the tank size eventually? What works best with mbunas or malawi haps?

Ultimately, I'd rather wait and do it right ...

Thank you!
Alex

You could have a large colony of small shell dwellers, like N. multifasciatus in there.

 

[fish-n-chips]

Personally, yes that tank is plenty big for apistos and also for any of the dwarf NW cichlids. I've had a 29g that I had an angelfish, a keyhole, a bolivian ram and it also had a clown pleco( panaque maccus ) and a small L001 plec. I even put a krib in there with them even though I didn't really want to break up my SA theme, I just had nowhere else for him.

What is your ph/gh/kh? For an more accurate result, fill a pitcher of water and run an air stone in it for 24hr and them test using a good liquid test kit like API. If you are that uncertain of keeping NW cichlids then stay with the rifties and follow the advise of all the very knowledgeable members here