something new

[sydney]

Hi,
Well I am not a total beginer when it comes to fish tanks (although I still have a lot I can learn). I have a tank for a little over a year now. I am getting slightly bored though. All I have had in my 29 gal. tank have been tiny fish. Lets see I have lemon and cardnal tetras, platies, danio's and white clouds and a fairly young male betta. They are all very pretty and I like them but I was thinking about getting some new fish (I have a friend that could take the old ones that may not be compatable with any newcomers). I like the sounds of an angel fish or or maybe a pearl guarami, something with a little bit of size. If you could give me some ideas of what kind of fish can live together that would be great. I don't just want to stick an angle in with fish that it might hurt or that might hurt it!
Thanks a bunch,
Syd

 

[sylvia]

So are you saying you could empty the tank completely of all your current fish? Or are there a few you'd like to keep?

An empty 29 gallon - for a completely fresh start - would make a good home for some of the malawian cichlids. You said you wanted something sizeable after all. I can immediately suggest yellow labs as a good place to start. Then maybe add a small, suitable (eg bristlenose) pleco and/or some kind of synodontis catfish (obviously something on the smaller side). However, the decor and filtration you'd need for such a setup might be different from what you currently have and you'd probably not be able to keep many plants alive.

If you want a planted tank but still want good-sized, attractive fish, some of the smaller neotropical cichlids - like rams or apistos - might be what you're looking for.

There's also pulcher/kribensis though I would put them in a larger tank myself.

I have to say that I personaly don't feel angel fish are the best choice, the reason being that (besides my not being their biggest fan ) a 29 gallon will not be able to hold that many so wont make as impressive a display as say a 55 gallon would. Of course there are some wonderful fish that would look wonderful with them and get along great - for a start, you could keep your current fish (provided you still have room for them if you put in angels) though I would take out the betta (maybe buy him a smaller tank and keep him in there) - if you decide to not keep your current fish, I have found a shoal of scissortails, cory cats, smaller plecos, swordtails, platies, mollies, khulie loaches and otos to make good tank-mates. Many trichogaster species of gourami work as well but take care in choosing these as they may find an angel tank to have limmited space for territories and this could lead to confrontations.

You also mentioned you like pearl gouramies and I have to say I agree! I absolutely adore these fish and they work well with so many other species. In fact, they would do well with your current fish (except the betta) but could also work in a completely different community set-up.

If you would like to try some ouramies, the options are limmitless. The larger ones that could work (together combined or species only) would be colisa lalia (the smallest in this case), colisa labiosa, colisa fasciata and trichogaster leeri (pearl and the largest but also likely to be the most peaceful). All these would go with your current fish (except betta) or in a completely re-done community. Provided you choose which you go for carefuly, they should work together as well. Small plecos, cory cats, rams, khulie loaches, SAE, flying foxes, otos, platies, swordtails, mollies, danios, rasboras, non-nippy tetras and barbs - most anything that doesn't nip, isn't too aggressive and won't eat or be eaten will work with these gouramies.

Another substantialy sized fish is the red tail black shark. Now I am aware of other peoples' experiences but I kept one with a shoal of tiger barbs and a bristlenose plec and it made a wonderful planted display so something like this is an option. There are plenty of other smallish sharks and less nippy barbs that might be less risky to put together - and you could sneak in an opaline or pearl gourami...

Anyway, those are the fish that I can think of right now... let us know what you decide

 

[sydney]

Thanks sylvia!

Wow that's a of options! I will probably keep my other fish as long as they can get along with what ever I get. I will have to shop around and see what my local fish stores have to offer, but I think a pearl guarami is what I i will try to get. I have seen them before and I think they are so pretty! If I don't end up getting one of those though, I will probably end up getting an angel, I like them too.

I think getting a personal tank for the betta is a good idea. He has been getting cranky as he gets older. Nothing too bad but he chases the other fish a lot, and I have seen him dive into some of them before.

Thank you very much for the advise, now I feel like I can get some new fishes with out worrying about sticking preditor and prey in the same tank!

Thanks again for the advise!!!!
Syd