# Stocking a 29 gallon



## Ridewithme38 (Oct 16, 2011)

So i just began cycling my tank, so i figure i have weeks before i can actually buy any fish to put into it..But why not start researching?

This tank is a 'gift' to my daughter who turns 6 november 3rd(i'll be taking care of it though since she doesn't live with me), i wanted to let her pick her own fish, but i know ALOT of fish don't get along well and/or 29 gallons is too small for them, so i've got to figure out what kind of fish to 'guide' her towards

So my thoughts were:

6 GloFish
5 Guppies(3 female, 2 male)
5 Platy's (3 female, 2 male)
3 mollies(2 female, 1 male)
and she mentioned an angelfish, but i don't think that'll work so i'm going to try to avoid/replace that with a different showpiece fish

Will these fish get along?
Is this overstocked? 
Are these all schooling fish that need to be in bigger groups/tanks?

IF NOT OVERSTOCKED:
Can you recommend any other fish for this tank?
Would you recommend i replace any of these with other types of fish?


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

I can answer 1 thing, don't do the Mollies. They're brackish fish and while they can live in freshwater, they prefer brackish. All of the numbers sound good, but for the platies and guppies, you may just want 1 male and 3 females so the females don't get stressed. Just some advice: Glofish are genetically modified Zebra Danios, and while they aren't dyed and it won't affect their lifespan, they are slightly more suseptable to diseases, so be careful. I'd need to know the filtration to reccomend a centerpeice fish.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Ridewithme38 (Oct 16, 2011)

Ahh, the filtration i'm still working on, right now i just have the TopFin 30 that came with the 29gallon setup, but i'm going to upgrade that VERY soon, most likely to a AquaClear 50 or 70


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## MinaMinaMina (Aug 28, 2011)

If you took out the mollies, and aside from interbreeding issues...

You have a lot of top/mid swimmers and no bottom swimmers. For interest, and depending on your plant mass and filtration and your water parameters, you could add some substrate fish or a few shrimp or snails. All those are fun for kids and interesting to watch.

Also, you may want to decide now what you would do with the babies. Kids don't usually like to see the babies eaten by the other fish, so you'll need to plan ahead for either housing the very numerous fry, or talking to your LFS to see if they could take them, or getting fish of only one gender.

This will be a fun project for the two of you! I know my daughter (7 yrs) and I have had great times discussing science-based aspects like pH, calcareous rocks, natural habitats, nitrogen cycle, plant growth, fish behavior, etc. as well as family activities like trips to the LFS, leaf collecting, and rock and driftwood hunting. You'll have a ball!

So why don't you post your intentions concerning live plants, your filtration system, and your water parameters (pH, GH, etc.). And then we can help you more. :-D


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

If your going to do an Aquaclear 50, let's assume, are you looking for a single centerpiece fish, or a vibrant school? Substrate fish are also good, I personally love Bristlenosed Plecos, but I don't think that would work for your tank, the platies have a rather high bioload. Are you looking for colorful or odd?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Ridewithme38 (Oct 16, 2011)

MinaMinaMina;870182
So why don't you post your intentions concerning live plants said:


> Ok, right now i have the TopFin 30, but plan to upgrade to an aquaClear 50, I'm way new to fishtanks and live plants and am not quite up to the level of whats needed for live plants, i.e. special lighting? Special Gravel? Fertilizer? Special Nutrients? I'll check my water Parameters when i get home, but right now i'm just starting a cycle so i don't know how they will end up
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## MinaMinaMina (Aug 28, 2011)

If you want to go with soft/acidic water fish, some of the dwarf cichlids (like the red breasted acara) stay smallish and are relatively peaceful (except when defending spawning territory/eggs/fry). But some, like in the case of the acara above, only have a territory of about 6 inches, so its not as bad as other territorial fish. They're not really a beginner fish, per se, but are a beginner cichlid, if that makes any sense.  So if you chose your tank mates carefully and researched the species carefully, that may be a possibility

BUT it all depends on your water. The other fish originally listed are hard/basic water fish. So this is where knowing your pH and hardness come in to play. Some cities have their hardness listed on a website. Key words to look for are "hardness", of course, "ppm" or "parts per million", and "grains per gallon". Let us know!


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## ladayen (Jun 21, 2011)

Those are albino Bristlenose you posted. There are a regular version as well. You could possibly do one of those. As you originally thought an angelfish is a no for your tank. As someone else mentioned livebearers may not be the best choice. You could do an all male tank however. Peacocks are cichlids, not a community fish. I dont know if it would eat your other fish but it would likely kill them either way. A honey gourami might be a possibility as a centre piece fish.

As to some bottom feeders there are many species of corydora you can look at. Just google it or type it into our profile section near the top of the page. They only get to 4" max and need a group of 6+.


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## MinaMinaMina (Aug 28, 2011)

Also, the Bristle Nose pleco you listed is a softer water fish. If that squicks you AND you have water that tends toward softer/more acidic, a group of Corydoras species is a fun and very kid-friendly option. We'll know more when you have parameters.

The peacock pictured is a fish that comes from a lake in Africa with very hard/basic water. Rift lake cichlids are typically very aggressive and need to be kept only with other rift lake cichlids, and then only in certain ways and populations.

And I can't forget- You're awesome for researching all this first! :thumbsup:


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## KendraMc (Jul 20, 2011)

if you end up having soft water, don't get livebearers. they need hard water and often have a lot of problems if kept in soft water. on the other hand, there are a lot more fish that like soft water than hard, so there are plenty of beautiful fish to go with should that be the case.


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## diablo13 (Jul 1, 2011)

A good centerpiece fish may be a Dwarf Gourami, relatively peacful and comes In many colors. Your daughter can choose. Those are albino BN Plecos, Normal ones are less creepy.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Without knowing your tap water parameters it is difficult for us to be suggesting compatible fish. Cycling won't affect the parameters we are talking about here, being hardness and pH. You can ascertain this from your water supply people, many now have a website with water data posted. We want to know the hardness, both GH (general) and KH (bicarbonate, Alkalinity), and then the pH. Hardness will not change in the aquarium, unless you specifically do something to adjust it. And pH is related to hardness. It is much easier to select fish suitable to your water than trying to adjust water for sensitive fish.

Some fish are basic hard water fish: livebearers (guppy, molly, swordtail, platy), African rift lake cichlids [some of the fish pictured previously are among this group, though I would stay away from them due to other issues], and some other Cyprinids. Some fish must have soft, slightly acidic water. And some are adaptable within reasonable limits to medium hard slightly basic water. We have fish profiles, under the second tab from the left in the blue bar across the top of the page, and water requirements are given for each species. Once we/you know the tap water parameters, it will be easier to narrow down on fish.

A 29g tank seems large at first, but in fact there is limited space, so it is best to select small to medium sized fish that are compatible, meaning they share similar requirements for water, environment (plants, wood, rock, etc), water flow (your filter plays into this), plus of course their temperament. Not all fish will get along with all other fish, even though one may see them together in store tanks; that is a very different environment from putting them in a "permanent" environment and once settled they can be very different in their temperament.

Byron.


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