29Gallon tank advice

[solmartin]

Ok - I'm getting a 29G tank on Tuesday, and I need some advice.

1) What kind of fish should I get for the tank?
2) What should the water levels be for these fish?

Thanks!

 

[Alien Anna]

What sort of water have you got (pH, water hardness) and what sort of things are important for your choice of fish? Colour? Behaviour? Compatibility live plants? Size? Ease of breeding? Good for beginners? It is much easier to match fish to your water and lifestyle than the other way around.

Before you start, have a read of the article in my sig. It might save you a lot of grief.

 

[solmartin]

I don't know what kind of water I have and won't until I put it in the tank.
I'm not picky as for color - anything pretty will do. I would prefer anything remotely peaceful and compatible with other fish. I plan on having fake plants as well. As for breeding, it's not on my agenda yet, so I'll try to work around that. And as for size, it's a 29Gallon tank, so anything small, maybe 2 or 3 medium sized fish.

I can adjust the water for the fish if need be, but anything that is easy to care for will make me happy.

Is that enough info?

 

[ostrow]

Is your water source a midwest lake? I'm on Lk. Michigan, pH is around 7.9.

That means I struggle to keep clown loaches alive, but I seem to have struck a balance. They are great and you can handle 3 (someone is going to scream that they grow to a foot long and you need a 50G tank. They will stay under 6" though in an aquarium for years. You have to feed a sinking disk of some sort at least once or twice a week ... I use the new marineland bottom feeder disks.)

Rainbows are a good choice. Boesmani and Goyder River and Turqoise are all beautiful and go to around 4" or so. I have 3 in mine.

A group of 6 or so neon or cardinal tetras or any small tetra you fancy also will work nicely. Pristellas are also nice.

Get yourself a dwarf pleco of some sort (clown, bristlenose, rubbernose, albino all good choices).

The options are endless. The

 

[BettaBoyz]

unlike most people i don't worry about water-chemistry; i know, bad me. i'm going to be screamed at for saying that. you should check the calculator found at the top of the tropical chit chat forum; input the height, length and width of the tank and it will tell you how many fish can fit. it's more accurate than the 1-inch-per-gallon i find, since it matches my father's way of doing things and his fish were always happy, his water always clear and well, and he had a constant supply of baby Tetras, Danios, Corydoras, Loaches and Ghost Shrimp.

i wish i had a 29 gall, but i don't, so i'll just hand you a nice list of fish that could fit in =)

SPOTLIGHTER
1 Male Betta - colorful, beautiful fish
or
1 Moonlight Gourami peaceful gourami, nice spotlight

SCHOOLERS
6 Neon Tetras - colorful, flashy little fish
6 Black Neon Tetras - darker, more daring than the Neon
6 Glowlight Tetras - pretty and shy
6 Platties - colorful, clownlike, livebearers that produce an endless supply of live food
3 Female Bettas - the duller, softer version of the male

SCAVENGERS
6 Kuhlii Loaches - clownlike, tiger-striped

=) just my ideas, seems like 6 is my magic number

 

[Morrgan]

If I had a new 29g... Just a general suggestion, I'd rather not say anything precise until you know the water chemistry.

I'd get a small school of some bottom-dwellers, maybe 6 cories or kuhliis if you want colour. For the middle I'd get a larger group of some small colourful fish, for example 12 tetras of some sort. I prefer the look of a big school of one kind to small schools of different fish. As for the top, I'm not quite sure... This is the layer I always have trouble with myself. A medium-sized gourami, perhaps? I'm sure someone else can give you a suggestion for that (and already has really).