Stocking Opinion

[pjust9]

Hi, I recently cycled a 29 Gallon Aquarium that is fully planted and ready for fish. I was wondering if I could get some opinions on this stocking idea I had for my tank. Any ideas if you all think it is overcrowded, or possible replacements. Thanks!

- 1 Black Angelfish
- 2-3 Gouramis (Haven't quite picked what kind, but trying to find the most docile ones that I can)
- 6 Julii Corydoras
- 3-4 Zebra Nerite Snails

I wanted the corys to be the bottom dwellers, The angelfish to be the centerpiece of the aquarium once it grows, then the gouramis to sort of be a "filler" fish, while also being very beautiful. Let me know what you think and any changes you might have!

 

[Alice B]

pearl gouramis for a planted. All the others I have had are plant nibblers

 

[pjust9]

I like pearls but they are very pricey! lol how about honey or blue gouramis?

 

[Essjay]

The tank is too small for angelfish, I'm afraid, and angels & gouramis are not good tank mates.

Pterophyllum “scalare” – Angelfish — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

As you'll read there, the minimum size for angels is 40 x 16 x 20 inches tall and I think a 29 gallon is 30 x 12 x 19 inches.

By 'blue gourami' do you mean the blue variety of dwarf gouramis or three spot gouramis? The tank is too small for any of the colours of three spots, and they are aggressive fish. Dwarf gouramis are regularly infected with at least one incurable disease by the time they reach the store. Honey gouramis would be the better choice.

Get more cories. The more the better for these fish. Are you aware that most cories sold as julii are actually C, trilineatus? True julii are rare in stores.



With cories for the bottom and honeys for a 'centrepiece' fish, you have room for a group (10+) of a shoaling fish as a 'filler'.

 

[pjust9]

Yes, I was referring to Dwarf, and I had heard of this disease but wasn't aware of how common it was! Honeys it is! I do have a question about the angel. I understand that two in a 29gal is far too small, a minimum would be 55, but I've been reading that 1 can live just fine in a 29 as long as it has its space. Please correct me as I haven't had angels before!

 

[Essjay]

It depends on where you read that about angels - and who wrote it. Many websites are written by people with little knowledge. Seriously Fish is just about the best website for fish research as the profiles are written by people who actually know what they are talking about.



I forgot to ask in my last post - what is the hardness of your water? All the fish you've asked about are soft water fish which wouldn't do well in hard water. If you are on mains water, the water provider's website should have your hardness on there somewhere - you need a number and the unit of measurement (there are several units they could use)

 

[pjust9]

Okay, ill look into it more. What other centerpiece fish would you recommend for a 29gal apart from an angel? I want something that gets a little bigger than the rest, so it pops! And referring to my water, ill have to measure it exactly, but I did notice my fish were gonna be softer water fish, so I added things like driftwood etc. to soften it up some.

 

[Essjay]

Depending just how hard, wood will make little to no difference on hardness, though it may lower pH a bit depending on the KH (water providers use the term alkalinity for this). High KH stops pH dropping. But GH, hardness, is the most important parameter for fish. The only realistic way to lower GH is by mixing hard tap water with pure water such as reverse osmosis (RO) water.


Centrepiece fish - a species which can live alone and stands out among the other tank occupants - are tricky in a 29 gallon tank. They can't be too big but most smaller fish tend to be shoaling fish

 

[pjust9]

Interesting, personally ive never been dived so deep into the water parameters, which is my own fault. Ill definitely pay attention to that then! What are your opinions on German Blue or Electric Blue Rams? Would they be suitable in your opinion? Im not sure how theyd do with gouramis, but thats something i could look into more!

 

[Essjay]

This species needs soft acidic water and a temperature higher than most cories can cope with.

What about apistogrammas? The species found most often in stores are cockatoo cichlids (A. cacatuoides) and Agassizi's cichlids (A. agassizii). Males are orange/red and the females bright yellow in breeding condition. Less common are A. borellii with blue males and yellow females.

 

[pjust9]

I do like apistogrammas, i might have to go with that! So what would you consider is a good 29 gal setup then for an apistogramma?

-6+ corys
-3-4 Nerite snails
-1 Apistogramma
- ???

 

[KiwiGal77]

The Honey Gourami/s could be the centre piece fish, and you could get a school of small thin-bodied tetras or rasboras which will make the honey gourami stand out. Neon tetra (normal or green variation) if you love colour, ember tetras, chili rasbora are tiny so would make the honey gouramis look even bigger and you could get a school of 15, lambchop rasbora is the smaller cousin to the popular harlequin.

A Bolivian Ram could be an option for centrepiece fish as well. They would go with a honey gourami no problem so you could have 1 of each. Easier to care for and more chilled than the german or blue/golden rams.

Could also add a few ottos once the tank is well established and has algae and biofilm for them to eat. Cool little fish do best in groups.

I love the (false) Julii cories, one of my faves along with panda cory.

I think your tank is probably too small for anything more or much bigger than that.

(These suggestions are all dependant on your water parameters and if they would suit these fish)

 

[Byron]

We have the tank size, a 29g, and if this is the standard 29g it will be 30 inches in length by 12 inches in width. This is a very serviceable tank, I had two running for many years in my fishroom. Water parameters are not yet known...you may find this on the website of your water provider, we want the GH (general or total hardness) and pH. The KH (likely called alkalinity) is useful too, but the GH and pH are the important ones when deciding fish species.

Cories have been mentioned, these need soft sand, as gravel is more prone to causing bacterial issues. No mention has been made of the substrate.

Filter...this causes the water current and this can impact many fish so it would be useful information. The temperature obviously can be regulated but some fish will need more warmth than others as essjay noted so it needs to be kept in mind.

And I concur with essjay that gourami and cichlids should not be combined. Males of all species are territorial, to varying degrees, and territory for most of them in this sized tank will be the tank space. You have some latitude given their respective preferred range in the water column--dwarf cichlids preferring the lower third, gourami the upper half, so it can work out but keeping risks to a minimum, I wouldn't advise it.

 

[anewbie]

I do like apistogrammas, i might have to go with that! So what would you consider is a good 29 gal setup then for an apistogramma?

-6+ corys
-3-4 Nerite snails
-1 Apistogramma
- ???

You could drop the cory (or get pygmy cory) and a pair of apistogramma; some passive species like borelli is good. A female angel would probably be comfortable in a 29; males are significantly larger in most cases - young angles are nearly impossible to sex. Angels can swim extremely fast and cover 4 ft in a fraction of a second; but in general unless spooked they tend to not move a lot. Generally I don't recommend angels in anything less than a 4ft x 2ft aquarium long term; using a 29 to breed a pair is common but they are generally removed and not kept full time.
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For apistogramma i would recommend borelli or mac in a 29; borelli are extremely passive and small; macs are not excessively aggressive. I am not a fan of cockatoo (which are quite common). There are other dwarf cichlid you could consider such as nannacara anomala; laetacara araguaiae, ... but a bit depends on your water as some require softer water to remain healthy. I would skip bolivian rams if you get more than one as their behavior is a bit problematic. Also harem apistogramma are more likely to have male<->female conflicts given how they maintain territory et all so pick the species carefully if you mix males/females.

If you want them to breed skip all cory ('ception is that pygmy might work given their timid behavior and willingness to avoid conflict).

Also you want a fine substrate with most dwarf cichild; some drift wood and plants are helpful.

A possible stocking (if you want the fishes to breed) would be:
8 ember tetra; 8 kubotai rasbora
pair borelli apistogramma
8 pygmy cory
4 nerite snails.
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For behavior the kubotai rasbora constantly swim 'school'; the ember tetra mostly sit around looking pretty but not much movement. You could consider green neon (similar behavior as ember - similar size) and some of the other small rasbora if you prefer different looks. Most of the smaller rasbora and tetra tend to not be very active or as active as kubotai if you want some movement.

 

[Essjay]

kubotai rasbora

Is this Microdevario kubotai, the ember tetra sized green fish? I have kept those and they are lovely little fish.