29 Gal Tank Stocking Help!

[AngelaPhelps]

Your water GH at 140 ppm (= 8 dGH) is good, sort of on the border of soft water/moderately hard water.  Most soft water fish will have very little issue with this.  Water softening is not easy, and the only safe way to do it, if one has to, is by diluting the tap water with "pure" water such as rainwater (if otherwise safe to use), reverse osmosis or distilled water.  But once you go down this road, you are having to prepare water for every water change, and that can be a nuisance, and in an emergency (which can happen) a major water change becomes very difficult.  I would suggest leaving the tap water as is, and you should be able to find suitable fish without difficulty.
 
Numbers look very good.  The tap water pH I would suggest may be closer to the tank; remember that when testing tap water on its own for pH, you must ensure any CO2 is driven out.  Letting a glass of water sit 24 hours will do this, or very briskly agitating/shaking the water for several minutes.  But a coup-le decimal points is not an issue anyway.
 
The ammonia seems to originate in the tap water, but it is so low this is not going to be an issue.  Once the tank is cycled and running, the bacteria will easily deal with this, and live plants even moreso.
 
Any of the fish you mention in post #12 should have no difficulty with your water.
 
Byron.

 
Great! Good to know that my params are good. Thank you for the info as well.
Im wondering if you think my tank is ready for fish now? Its been cycling for about approx 3.5 weeks. The ammonia and nitrites spiked and went back down, and I was left with nitrates which got reduced after the 50% w/c I just did. Correct me if im wrong but I believe that means the tank is ready, forgive me as its been a while since Ive had to set up a new tank.
 
So, as of now my stocking will be, in this order:
 
 
6-10 various dither fish- still undecided but im still shopping around/taking suggestions. Are dither fish pretty much anything goes (provided water params are adequate)?
6 kuhli loaches
2 Electric Blue Ram Cichlids (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi)
2 dwarf gourami (im liking the neon blue or flame)
 
How is this so far, is the order of stocking ok? Is this a good number of fish for my size tank or is there space for more?

 

[Byron]

On your intended stocking, I would not have both rams and gourami.  Cichlids and gourami, being so very similar (males are territorial), are best apart.  And the dwarf gourami is always a risk unless you obtain them direct from the breeder.  This fish can carry the iridovirus without showing signs itself, and infect other gourami and some now believe other species.  There is no cure, as it is a virus.
 
The rams need warmth, 80-82F, so this will limit what you can add as not all tropical fish can last at such warmth permanently.  I would select the other fish before introducing the rams, good idea.  Remember that the rams must be a bonded pair.
 
Byron.