29 gallon tank?

PheonixKingZ said:

Could I do the 6 Zebra danios and another schooling fish? I think I’ll get maybe 1 golden mystery snail.

As a centerpiece fish, could I do maybe a yellow dwarf Cichlid or a cockatoo Cichlid?

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Apistogramma Cockatoo's are generally peaceful little Cichlids which do well in heavily planted tanks (can be aggressive if you have a pair mating) but again im not sure they would be happy with the Danios active nature. Another problem tho is Centre piece fish would more than like see your Cherry shrimp as a snack Apistogramma's certainly would id think.

Not sure what your water param's are but you can add another schooling fish for sure. I have 10 Zebra Danio, 6 Cherry barbs, 6 Cardinal Tetra, Panda cories and a BN pleco in my 29g.

But that sounds like over stocking, would something like that be possible? I was thinking maybe some Cory’s or neon tetras?

Cool @Fishmanic ! I love that rock all the way to the left!

Do you have clown Loaches?

I like that, @Fishmanic. @PheonixKingZ , need a variety of plants. I know the anacharis will thicken but it’s just stringy right now. Need a fuller foreground like in pic. You seem to like sparse tanks and I appreciate that. However, style these days are really heavier aquascaping, plants, wood, rocks. I realize you don’t like fake decor but try some of the things I sent you and get other members opinions. You have a lot that you aren’t using and taking advantage of. Climb out of your box/comfort zone and expand your decor/scraping. It’s just a little too plain. Go all out and get some opinions. Open your mind. (This is coming from your TFF mom with love).

You can also mix a couple of fake plants with real ones. Dollar Tree has some aquarium safe silk plants. Just be sure any wire is not exposed. No wire is best but if plastic coated it’s ok. They also have rocks/stones. I added a few silk plants that I got at Michael’s/Hobby Lobby for less than $3. Much cheaper than fake aquarium plants.

Awww..thanks! I plan to add a lot more plants. I’m going to move my Anubis over and maybe some dragon stone as well. I like the look of dragon stone, so next time I go to my LFS, I’ll look for some nice/big pieces. Today is a busy day for me though, so it might be tomorrow, or Wednesday.

PheonixKingZ said:

But that sounds like over stocking, would something like that be possible? I was thinking maybe some Cory’s or neon tetras?

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Not overstocked no, i do have good filtration and do 75% water changes weekly. Just giving you a idea what you can have. 2 groups of schooling fish, BN pleco and your snail's will be fine no sweat

Older picture of mine. A real nice size 29g are

Ok! For now I think I’ll just worry about getting the ZD’s and then I’ll look into getting another schooling fish.

PheonixKingZ said:

Any suggestions on a centerpiece fish? (@Byron @seangee @Colin_T @Deanasue , Any help would be appreciated.

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Can't really say I get why people think they need a centrepiece. I don't have any in any of my tanks. Just don't think I could break it to my sociable fish in decent sized groups that they are unattractive and I will be bringing in something big and colourful to impress visitors when they look at my tank

But I do agree with the others, apistos and zebra danios won't be a good mix.

P.S. My visitors must be polite - nobody has ever suggested I need a centrepiece

Russjw said:

Not overstocked no, i do have good filtration and do 75% water changes weekly. Just giving you a idea what you can have. 2 groups of schooling fish, BN pleco and your snail's will be fine no sweat
View attachment 96793
Older picture of mine. A real nice size 29g are

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@PheonixKingZ see what Russ has in Right corner? Looks really nice and it’s silk (I have the same one). You can use live and silk together. I do!

seangee said:

Can't really say I get why people think they need a centrepiece. I don't have any in any of my tanks. Just don't think I could break it to my sociable fish in decent sized groups that they are unattractive and I will be bringing in something big and colourful to impress visitors when they look at my tank

But I do agree with the others, apistos and zebra danios won't be a good mix.

P.S. My visitors must be polite - nobody has ever suggested I need a centrepiece

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I figure when all of a schoaling group die and I’m down to only one, then that’s my centerpiece fish. Lol!

A couple observations on the topic of centerpiece fish.

The first one is how one defines centerpiece fish. If one has in mind a largish fish with a number of smaller fish, the tank has to be very large for this to work. It is not really "natural" to begin with, because you will very rarely see this in the habitat of most fish. As responsibnle aquarists we need to keep in mind the natural expectations and needs of the fish we intend keeping, rather than some arbitrary "artistic" aquarium--in other words, what the fish need, not what we want.

I don't know if there is a term for this, but my idea of centerpiece would be say a 4-foot (120 cm) long tank with a shoal of Congo Tetras (12), or a group of six or seven Pearl Gourami, or a group (12) of Bleedingheart Tetras. Around whichever one of these one chooses, there could be largish groups of smaller species such as one of the Trigonostigma rasboras, or hatchetfish for the surface, or a group of 20 Corydoras for the substrate, or a group of 5-6 of one of the smaller loach species, or groups of the "Rosy" clade tetras, etc.

Another method for a centerpiece would be a group of discus or angelfish in at least a 4-foot (120 cm) long tank, with carefully chosen tankmates (very carefully chosen, given the requirements and/or temperaments of discus and angelfish).

Working with smaller tanks poses some restraints, and frankly makes centerpiece fish almost impossible. In a 29g at 30 inches (75 cm) length, no fish over three inches (7-8 cm) is suitable (with a very few exceptions). A pair of dwarf cichlids with suitable dither fish is an option, or a pair/trio of a peaceful gourami with suitable dither fish would work.

Ok, thanks guys. I’ll look into getting some fake plants. Any ideas on another school of fish? Maybe neon tetras?

If your water suits Neon tetras would be fine, id just get them in a bigger group than six. 10-12 would be a nice group size for your tank

Every batch of neons I have ever gotten has ended up with at least 2 if 6 ending up with bumps in their mouth that never go away. I had to surgically remove one bump because fish could not eat. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. He survived but I also have nursing skills ( not a surgical RN). I would recommend glo light tetras. Really cool and very hardy. Oh wait, your danio needs cooler water than the glow lights. The neons will work. I just pray you don’t get the bumps. They suspect it is a disease specific virus and it seems to be true.