# New 29 gallon aquarium



## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

I just bought a 29 gallon aquarium. Right now I just have the tank up and cycling no fish yet. I rather understock the tank as I dont want a high maintenance aquarium I constantlly have to clean as I am very buisy. This is what I want to stock:
1 female betta
6 neon tetras
6 corydoras
2 african dwarf frogs

What do you think.


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

African dwarf frogs can be high maintenance when placed in a tank with other fish. What usually happens is those fish eat the food right away before the frogs have a chance getting to it. The frogs then die due to starvation. Also I would not place the frogs with the neon tetras, as they will try to eat them.

I would ditch the frogs and keep everything else  How are you cycling the tank?


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

Yeah, I don't recommend the frogs for the same reason, especially for a low-maintenance tank (man are they a pain to feed!).

Personally, I'd re-consider the neon tetras in favor of a hardier spaces. Neons are indeed easy once acclimated but that's the thing...they're kind of sensitive and don't tolerate "new" tanks very well. They can be hit or miss...it depends on how healthy they are initially, how your local water is (if it's hard don't bother), how they're acclimated, etc. In the past they were often recommended for beginners but that's no longer the case. Inbreeding has made them weak. If you're dead-set on them, go for it. Just don't add them until everything is PERFECT. I used to have a school and they were nice fish...they just don't seem to be as hardy as they used to be . Cardinal tetras, which are pretty similar, are a bit more adaptable. I'm also a fan of pristella tetras...the gold ones often sold are gorgeous and easy to care for.

We also had a betta eat a couple of neon tetras so that's something to keep in mind. That's not common but it can happen so get adults and watch the betta carefully.


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## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

ok I will not get the frogs then. Is it ok to have a bare bottom tank, no substrate. It has three hiding big caves and a bunch of artificial plants weighted down so there are lots of hiding places. I just filled the tank tonight put in the the cycle chemical and the other one and put in the freshwater aquarium salt and started the filter system. How long do I wate until I test the water with the ph strips and when can I start adding fish.


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## twoisplenty (Nov 12, 2008)

There are two ways to cycle a fish tank. One is with fish and the other is called a fishless cycle. You can not cycle a tank with chemicals from a bottle, trust me it doesnt work.
Here is a great article on how to properly cycle a fish tank How to Cycle a Fish Tank - Oscarfishlover.com

You need a test kit that tests Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates. pH strips mean nothing during a cycle.


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## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

Well I cant decide what kind of fish to get. I think I would get bored with the little fish. Is there one large or interesting fish I could put in a 29 gallon aquarium and maybe one bottom dweller. I have had puffers, cichlids,koi,goldfish in the past but they were much larger tanks. Any suggestions or options for stocking the 29 gallon.


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

Evangeline said:


> ok I will not get the frogs then. Is it ok to have a bare bottom tank, no substrate. It has three hiding big caves and a bunch of artificial plants weighted down so there are lots of hiding places. I just filled the tank tonight put in the the cycle chemical and the other one and put in the freshwater aquarium salt and started the filter system. How long do I wate until I test the water with the ph strips and when can I start adding fish.


You were given some info on cycling but yeah, you can't just dump in stuff from a bottle. Also, aquarium salt doesn't cycle an aquarium. In fact, it shouldn't be added unless you have a specific reason...it can harm certain fish (cory cats are sensitive to salt, by the way). It can work in treating for certain parasites and bacteria but it works by changing the salinity. So by adding it regularly, it won't work when you need it. I know it's a bit late but just don't add any more.

Bare bottom tanks are fine. They're technically a little less stable since a lot of the beneficial bacteria live in the substrate. But provided you don't change all of the filter media at once you should be fine .



Evangeline said:


> Well I cant decide what kind of fish to get. I think I would get bored with the little fish. Is there one large or interesting fish I could put in a 29 gallon aquarium and maybe one bottom dweller. I have had puffers, cichlids,koi,goldfish in the past but they were much larger tanks. Any suggestions or options for stocking the 29 gallon.


Some ideas:

-A pair of Bolivian Rams and a group of Cory Cats or a Bristlenose Pleco
-5 female Bettas (maybe with some small Cory Cats or a single Bristlenose Pleco)
-A small to medium Gourami species (Pearl, Opaline, Gold, Kissing, etc.), single or a pair (depends on species), along with the aforementioned bottom-dwellers
-Brackish set-up with Figure-8 Puffer and a Knight Goby or two


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## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

I did read the article on cycling. Are there any fish that are aggressive and interesting like the Oscar but only smaller that could live singly in a 29 gallon. I use to have big parrot cichlids in my one tank and they had so much personality, I could hand feed them and they would go running up at the glass when you came in the room.


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

Evangeline said:


> I did read the article on cycling. Are there any fish that are aggressive and interesting like the Oscar but only smaller that could live singly in a 29 gallon. I use to have big parrot cichlids in my one tank and they had so much personality, I could hand feed them and they would go running up at the glass when you came in the room.


How about a Figure-8 or Green Spotted Puffer? Both would need brackish water but that's easily achieved with some marine salt mix. Puffers, as you probably know from keeping them, have a ton of personality and are very intelligent.

Most of the big predators available just wouldn't fit . That's why I suggest the betta and gourami species...those guys are predators, will recognize you, etc. but are small. The Bolivian Rams are cichlids.


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## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

I loved having puffers but dont really want to get back into buying the marine salt, buying snails, frozen food. I already have female and male bettas. Bolivian rams dont do anything for me. I no I am extremely picky. I will go to the fish store on the weekend just to see whats available and what are my options. Out of all of the fish I have had puffers by far are my favorite. I love the way they buzz around in the tank. Who nows maybe I will end up geting one. If I did decide to get a figure eight puffer. Would the aquarium salt I already added hurt the puffer because I have to add the marine salt solution.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

A gourami might be okay in a 29. I like harlequin rasboras, very hardy and school tighter than any fish I've had.


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

Evangeline said:


> I loved having puffers but dont really want to get back into buying the marine salt, buying snails, frozen food. I already have female and male bettas. Bolivian rams dont do anything for me. I no I am extremely picky. I will go to the fish store on the weekend just to see whats available and what are my options. Out of all of the fish I have had puffers by far are my favorite. I love the way they buzz around in the tank. Who nows maybe I will end up geting one. If I did decide to get a figure eight puffer. Would the aquarium salt I already added hurt the puffer because I have to add the marine salt solution.


Hmm, have you considered a crayfish? That might be something interesting to try. The blue ones look neat. I'm trying to think of other interesting predators that could live in a 29-gallon but it's hard. If only it was a saltwater tank, then I'd suggest a Dwarf Lionfish or something.

Yeah, I'm a puffer fan too. I used to keep Dwarf Puffers and also had a Green Spotted Puffer for years...only lost him recently due to a power outage . He was very low-maintenance (would even eat pellets) and interesting. I haven't kept a Figure-8 but they're very similar in care.

The freshwater aquarium salt won't hurt, especially at the amount typically added .

I'm trying to think of fish that always greeted me, haha. Paradisefish, also known as the Paradise Gourami, are colorful, intelligent, predators but may look too similar to your Bettas. I had one for a long time and she was one of my favorite fish...tons of personality and extremely hardy.

I like Rosy Barbs...they resemble Goldfish but are lower maintenance and not as large. Mine weren't totally stupid like the various tetras I've had but they weren't like puffers or bettas.

Just throwing out some more names .


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

Sorry for the double-post but here are some more ideas.

-A school of medium catfish, maybe Upside-Down Catfish or Porthole Catfish
-American Flagfish
-Silver Apollo Shark (haven't kept this one, I believe it's newer to the pet trade...it's supposed to be a smaller, more peaceful shark then other common species)


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## Evangeline (Aug 23, 2011)

I have always had figure eight puffers but am looking at the green spotted puffer. They get bigger and are more aggressive. One in a 29 gallon with nothing else and good filteration should be ok. The only thing I am confused is are these fish brackish or marine. When they are smaller they are suppost to be in heavy brackish and as adults some say they should be in full marine. Do you no how fast they grow. If I get one it will be probably only 1 half inches.


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

Evangeline said:


> I have always had figure eight puffers but am looking at the green spotted puffer. They get bigger and are more aggressive. One in a 29 gallon with nothing else and good filteration should be ok. The only thing I am confused is are these fish brackish or marine. When they are smaller they are suppost to be in heavy brackish and as adults some say they should be in full marine. Do you no how fast they grow. If I get one it will be probably only 1 half inches.


We kept ours in brackish water for the first two years and then switched to marine. The real reason we switched to marine was actually because the tank contained Colombian Sharks but the Puffer didn't mind at all. Like you, I've come across conflicting sources on whether or not they _need_ full marine conditions. To be on the safe side, I'd eventually bring the salinity up to saltwater conditions but I wouldn't worry about getting perfect marine values or anything. After a while of having the tank I stopped measuring the salt when I did water changes...so they might go a week with a specific gravity of 1.018 and then a week at 1.022 or something. Brackish fish are designed to tolerate sudden salinity changes and I always figured it would also kill any parasites/bacteria that could be problematic .

Since I've only had one, it's hard to generalize about growth rates. Ours grew faster the first year or two, gaining a couple of inches. After that his growth slowed down considerably. A baby is going to take at least a few years to reach adult size.


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## BarbaraClark (Oct 23, 2011)

We have always cycled our tanks by using the de-chlorinators and then getting some fish water from a local petstore to add to the tank along with a SMALL pinch of food...it's always worked for us.


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

I had neon tetras when I was like 8, they kept dying, no matter what we did! Never have I cried so much as a kid then having so many batches of fish die lol. We ended up getting those black ones that have really fluffy looking tails, cant remember the name though.


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## swolek (Mar 31, 2011)

Kat said:


> I had neon tetras when I was like 8, they kept dying, no matter what we did! Never have I cried so much as a kid then having so many batches of fish die lol. We ended up getting those black ones that have really fluffy looking tails, cant remember the name though.


Black Skirt Tetras, maybe? They come in a long-finned variety .


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## Kat (Jul 12, 2011)

I think they were black molly's... http://www.modernpetcentre.in/data/photos/223_Black Molly.jpg so pretty! I miss having fish


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