Need Help Choosing Fish!

[theking]

Ok so I gave away a lot of the fish I had.

I have a 29gallon aquarium that was set up back in the beginning of september. I have a lot of Crypto Wendtii's and one Anubias Congensis, and a lot of driftwood.
I currently have 5 Blue Neon Tetras, 6 Black Tetras, 1 Mystery snail and one ghost shrimp. I was hoping you guys would be able to recommend me more fish (not too big).. I was thinking about getting some Cory but I heard the have to be in schools of like 5 and I only wanted to buy two of them. By the way - the only fish that I can go out and buy are from here:http/www.petsmart.com/family/index.jsp?f=Taxonomy%2FPET%2F3970431&categoryId=4374503&lmdn=Live+Fish&f=Taxonomy%2FPET%2F4374503&fbc=1&fbn=Taxonomy%7CTropical&fbx=0

I do not want gouramis or swordtails and Also i do not want anymore schooling fish, i want to have a good variety of fish

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Well, cories are schooling fish, so that rules them out. They prefer to be in groups of 6, but I've seen them in groups as small as 3.


So, if you want "lone ranger" fish.... there are some options:

Male guppies or endlers. These work nicely in a community tank like you have. They also come in a variety of colors, so you can get a few and have them appear to be "different". I've had yellow, red, and blue. I've also had snakeskin or cobra endlers. They are lovely, and the endlers are a bit smaller than the guppies and I believe a bit hardier.


Platies are another option for some individuals. Again, they come in different colors and are widely available, so I would expect the Petsmart would have them. You could get blue, red/orange, red with black tails, etc. They are similar to swordtails, but smaller.


You could also add a Bristlenose pleco. I got mine from a Petsmart. They aren't always in stock, but it does happen. They hide a fair amount of the time, mine hides under a big piece of mopani, but he keeps the algae from ever showing up. BTW, wood in the tank is a must with BNs. Full grown, they get to be about 5 inches, but are very peaceful to other fish, and won't even notice the others since they are not bottom dwellers. Mine doesn't even bother my cories, unless the cories get too close to its food. Then it scares them off and continues to eat. Nothing vicious though....


No gouramis though... A dwarf gourami would work well.

Cichlids might be the way to go. Be VERY careful here though. While there are a few options that would work in a 29 gallon tank, there are others that wouldn't work if you tank was 6 feet long! I'd say that a Bolivian Ram would work nicely. Any number of Apistogrammas - dwarf cichlids (meaning various species, not any number of individuals - I'd stick to one male) and possibly even a Keyhole cichlid. The issue with the keyhole is that it can grow to 5 inches, and might eat the neons.

 

[mrvillicus]

siamese fighter?

 

[theking]

Ok so if I am looking at cichlids - would they bother my tetras/shrimp/mystery snail? will they dig up my crypts or eat my anubias?

I looked at some options from petsmart came upon these:
Black Convict Cichlid
Acei Cichlid
Electric Yellow Labidochromis
is it possible to have more than one cichlid or should i only buy one?

I am also looking into the columbian tetras now

 

[eaglesaquarium]

These are not the good options. The specific ones I mentioned are the only ones you could add. These others are too aggressive. Your options are limited to: Bolivian Rams, Apistogramma, or Keyhole Cichlids. The others are far too aggressive for your other tankmates, and many get far too big as well.

I'd stick to ONE as well.

Columbian tetras are also schooling fish, and can be VERY aggressive, especially if not kept in proper numbers.

 

[theking]

I wasn't able to find the chichlids you mentioned on petsmart.com.
What do you think of:, White Clouds and Giant Danios? do these fish like to school? if they do will 3 of each work well? . I personally don't like the guppies, platies look too much like swordtails (which i had a reason for giving away)..
I tried an Otto it lived for a month and then suddenly died, bought another one and that one didn't last a night even though all my water parameters are good.

bottom line:
with the setup i am looking at right now:
5 blue neon tetras, 6 black tetras, 5 columbian tetras- 3-4 white clouds and 3-4 giant danios- will my tank be considered overstocked? I ruled out cichlids

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I am newly quite fond of female platies (as to avoid them reproducing like mad)... they come in a good variety of colors and in appearance (colorwise) are not that different from males.

If you like guppies, vast selection of guppies, I personally like the durability of the females, but they have less colors. Males are a bit more fragile and you could get several males... they just swim around and show off their splendor to each other all day. LOL

 

[thereverendturtle]

The giant danios get to large. Other than that, the rest should be fine.

 

[greenmumma141]

A pair of angels might be nice. I think danios are a schooling fish. When you have other small fish of the same nature, not too sure you will want to add more. I don't think you're going to get the effect that you're after. Angels are different, and you only need two. I think you could do one, but I would recommend two.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I wasn't able to find the chichlids you mentioned on petsmart.com.
What do you think of:, White Clouds and Giant Danios? do these fish like to school? if they do will 3 of each work well? . I personally don't like the guppies, platies look too much like swordtails (which i had a reason for giving away)..
I tried an Otto it lived for a month and then suddenly died, bought another one and that one didn't last a night even though all my water parameters are good.

bottom line:
with the setup i am looking at right now:
5 blue neon tetras, 6 black tetras, 5 columbian tetras- 3-4 white clouds and 3-4 giant danios- will my tank be considered overstocked? I ruled out cichlids

Otos are sensitive, so they need to be slowly acclimated to a new environment. Did you use a drip acclimation process over a period of roughly 2 hours?

I understand that the cichlids I mentioned weren't available using petsmart.com. If you are willing to buy via the internet, there are several very good sources that I would recommend in the US. Liveaquaria.com is probably the best. thatpetplace.com is another very good spot. I live close enough that I can actually drive to their location, and let me tell you that they have the best tanks I've ever seen. There are never any problems and their assortment is the best I've found, bar none.


I will continue to advise against the columbian tetras in that set-up. They are just far too aggressive, especially in small numbers for the rest of the fish. If you like them, you might find five banded barbs, black phantom tetras of interest, but these are ALL schooling fish, so you'd need at least 6 of them.

The danios are FAR too active for a 29 gallon tank. I'd say they require 6 feet of swimming length to work in a tank.

White clouds generally prefer/require colder water than the rest. So, I'd advise against them. Bloodfin tetras have a similar look, and also would need 6 individuals. Rummynose tetra are also very nice, but require numbers. (Tetras in general are always going to need numbers as they are shoalers if not schoolers.)

I assume the issue with the swordtails was they were breeding. That's why many folks recommend males only for livebearers. Another option is to have so many other fish, that fry don't really stand a chance of surviving.

 

[theking]

ok thanks for all the help. I've done a bit more research came down to the following options:

2x angelfish as someone recommended above or
1x angelfish and 1x dwarf gourami

what would you recommend?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'd stick with the gourami, and stay away from the angelfish. Neons are a natural food source of angelfish. You could get 3 honey gourami instead.

 

[greenmumma141]

I'd stick with the gourami, and stay away from the angelfish. Neons are a natural food source of angelfish. You could get 3 honey gourami instead.

!!!?!?? Ive never heard this, and I've never had a problem with my angels eating/nipping any of my smaller fish, neons, guppies etc. and the same for my mothers tank with bloodfins, neons, zebras, etc. and her angels are huge. You learn something new every day though I guess, that's what I love about this forum

 

[Tuxyu3]

I would just like to say I fully agree with all the advice given by eaglesaquarium. I know it was already touched on but I would also like to strongly advise against keeping Angels with any kind of Gourami's, especially in a tank of this size. Would also advise against trying out Angels with Neons, it does work for some but not for others. If you do go for the Honey Gourami's then make sure you only ever have one male to prevent fighting.
I would again like to further back up the advice given about Danios and WCMM, the Minnows prefer more swimming room, a larger group and are usually considered cold water, if not temperate. The Danios would prefer a larger tank and would probably appreciate a larger group as well.