Opinions on stocking my twenty nine

Goldy

Goldy

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I am cycling a planted 29 gallon at the moment. I have a Penguin 170 filter. This is what I would like to put in it:

1 gourami (one of the smaller variety)
4 cories (the dwarf or pygmy kind)
5 balloon molly fry
5 cardinal tetras
5 glo-light tetras
1 apple snail
Ghost shrimp

I already have the mollies in another tank but everything else is optional at this point. Is this too much? I am also interested in the Hong Kong pleco. Could I add this or maybe have it instead of the gourami? All opinions appreciated.
 
IMO, the gourami MAY get a bit nippy towards the smaller fish. I have one in the thank at the office that bullies the 3 larger bala sharks at feeding time, once the food starts running out. Also, once your fry start growing, the mid-level of your tank is gonna get a bit crowded.

That's my in-expert opinion, I would appreciate if someone else might chime in with some other thoughts.
 
first off, I believe you need a bigger filter but that's just me. the gourami is definitely gonna be a factor depending on what species you want. I'd look into a pearl gourami, they tend to be quite a bit calmer than most but if you get a fullgrown pearl it'll probably eat the fry. You might also get away with a dwarf gourami of some type depending on the individual. there are bullies but they tend to usually pick on other gourami's from what I've seen. Stay away from blue gourami's, gold gourami's, 3-spot gourami's, etc. they tend to be more bullies than not from what I've seen and experienced. My gold harasses anyone that is new to the tank so we've started a solitary confinement procedure when adding fish and so far so good. since you are getting more community fish, I'd stay away from those types of gourami's though. KYle
 
This sounds like a fun tank! I have pygmy corys, they're so much fun, you'll love them. They school in the open water, and they're just plain adorable.
I wonder if you might end up with a problem in the long run keeping mollies and corys in the same tank; mollies want salt in the water and corys have difficulty tolerating it.
Your tank will be filled with gentle fish, you could try a pair of honey gouramis. They're very sweet tempered, but also a bit more delicate than many other kinds of gourami.
On the gourami note, my LFS can't seem to get healthy ones. They all die a strange death (see wildgator25's thread "Help Sick Gourami"). I'd ask your supplier a lot of questions about how long they've had the fish and how healthy their gouramis are before getting one. If you do get a sick one, the good news is whatever they die of doesn't seem to affect the rest of the tank, at least in the case of my LFS, myself, and wildgator25's experience.
Have fun!
 
Ok, sounds like I may skip the gourami. Any advice on the Hong Kong pleco? As for the filter, snakeskinner, the box said the Peguin 170 was good for up to 50 gallons so I thought I would be ok. What else do you suggest? Have you had problems with Penguins before?
 
regarding the tetras, they're much more active in larger groups. Unless you really want both kinds, I'd just get a large school of one. If you're dropping the the gourami and want both cardinals and glo-lite, then you can probably add a couple of more of each and still be good in the load department. By the way, do you have a regular long tank or a tall tank? More surface area equals more fish.
 
You can get away with adding 1 or 2 more of each tetra, they prefer a school of 6 or more. Personally, I'd leave out the glo-lite and go with a larger school of cardinals (10) and pygmy cories (6), which also prefers a larger school. That way you'd have a very active tank.
 
Ok, how's this:

6 cories (the dwarf or pygmy kind)
5 balloon molly fry
10 cardinal tetras
1 apple snail
Ghost shrimp

Are there any non-schooling fish that might be fun to have that would fit?
 
That's a good combo. When the fishes become full grown, you'll reach your bio-load limit so I probably wouldn't add anything else.

About the only thing I would add would be a female betta or a honey dwarf gourami (cute little bugger). A male betta could work but its risky, I'm not sure how it'll react to the balloon mollies and you may get one that's just very aggressive.
 
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