[xmpjx]

Hey there,

I will be setting up a moderately planted 29g aquarium with a Fluval 206 canister filter. Dirt substrate capped with gravel and sand in some places. The PH of the water out of my tap is 7.8 and doesn't change once in the aquarium (based off of my 10g).

My plan so far is:

5 - Panda cory
10 - Rummy Nose Tetra
10 - White Cloud Mountain Minnow

I would like a bigger "show fish" but can't think of anything, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (not a fan of angelfish, I think my tank is too small for them as well)

Thanks everyone :icon_smil

 

[DGarone]

Rams are nice for this. German Blue or Gold Ram or perhaps Electric Blue Ram. I think those are nice focus fish that aren't too big or upend the style of your tank.

A nice betta would work too.

 

[xmpjx]

I was considering one or two German blue rams, they are pretty cool looking. I haven't seen them in stock for a while around here, would like to gather up a few options that would work/that I like, and hopefully I'll be able to find one of them

A betta hadn't even crossed my mind. I'm not sure a betta would appreciate the water flow, I haven't had the filter running yet but I'm assuming it'll create a pretty good flow.

 

[philipraposo1982]

rams are to weak for me. I would go with small gourami.

 

[Betta132]

White clouds prefer cooler water, GBRs prefer warmer water, bettas need warmer water. A gourami might work better.

 

[ichy]

how about ditching the white cloud's and getting a nice school of cardinals going as your showpiece?

 

[xmpjx]

I could switch from the white clouds, didn't realize they prefer cooler water. I swapped out neon tetras for them, always open to more switching. I have considered cherry barbs, Harlequin rasboras, cardinal tetras, and the white cloud minnows. I'll admit, it was mostly based on how they look, was going to look more into specific needs and stuff closer to buying.

Fish won't be going in my 29g for another 6-8 weeks

 

[HDBenson]

Neons prefer cooler water too. I would up the school of rummy nose to around 15-18 and bump up the cory school some as well. Then find a nice apistogramma sp. They look better than GBRs in my opinion and are hardier.

 

[xmpjx]

Wow! I just googled "apistogramma sp." There are many beautiful ones. I may judt end up just bumping up the number of rummy nose and pandas, seems like the easiest option and I still get the fish I really want.

One question, I was considering some cherry shrimp, would an apistogramma eat them? population control is fine, more worried about adult shrimp. (Not 100% on the shrimp, just an idea floating around)

 

[AquaAurora]

+1 rams or other small cichlid family member thats community applicable like apisto.

 

[Ras]

rams are to weak for me. I would go with small gourami.

agreed. rams are great fish if you have a ram with non inbred genetics and a soft water 80f+ tank otherwise they just end up sick alot. I plan on getting a dwarf gourami once my ram dies of old age which will be pretty soon.. if you do go with a ram I suggest buying from yunite, they have amazingly strong rams due to them working so hard to prevent inbreeding.

 

[xmpjx]

rams are to weak for me. I would go with small gourami.

agreed. rams are great fish if you have a ram with non inbred genetics and a soft water 80f+ tank otherwise they just end up sick alot. I plan on getting a dwarf gourami once my ram dies of old age which will be pretty soon.. if you do go with a ram I suggest buying from yunite, they have amazingly strong rams due to them working so hard to prevent inbreeding.

If I went with Rams, I would order from them. Unfortunately I'm in Canada, shipping fish here from the US is super expensive (if I can even find someone who does ship here) and I haven't been able to find any good online sellers in Canada yet.

 

[xmpjx]

Thought I would post here instead of a whole new thread (since my tank info is in the original post). How does this sound for stocking?

1 - Cacatuoides Apistogramma's (Cockatoo Cichlid)
8 - Panda Corydora
10 - Rummy Nose Tetra

Possibly
10 - cherry shrimp

Besides the Apisto. eating the shrimp IF I put the shrimp in, I'm not sure of any obvious issues with this stocking. I would be okay with population control with the shrimp, more worried about adults being eaten.
One thing I am curious about, is if I can bump the schools of rummy nose tetra and panda corys up a bit, how many would you think would be okay/how big of a school would you do?

 

[Stone454]

you could go with a giant/king betta, they are short finned and flow is not an issue, if you look around hard enough you can find some really awesome ones that are huge huge and as with all bettas they come in all colors, most of the giants/kings I have had have been pretty calm and did not kill their tankmates, not to say they did not chase them around and be the tank boss, other than that some sort of gourami

 

[amcoffeegirl]

I have rummynose, neons and embers with fire reds they all do ok together.
I don't have a centerpiece fish- maybe this will inspire me.
Just have some hiding spots for baby shrimp.

 

[xmpjx]

I plan to have enough plants for the shrimp to hide regardless of if I get them or not, I may get some moss, undecided about that though. I am not too concerned with the rummys or pandas bothering the shrimp, more worried about the Apisto. possibly eating the adults, but if there are enough hiding spots maybe it'll be fine?

Could always test it out and see what happens.

I am quite looking forward to having a centerpiece fish he'll be last to go in though. You should consider it, there's some pretty neat ones out there, as I've learned

 

[babarian16]

I agree with getting a larger school of one fish like 15 rummy's. I would also suggest Kribensis as a center piece fish. I put 2 in my 90 gallon as the 'main attraction' and now they have 6 fry from 2 different generations. Most fry were eaten by the neons and harlequin rasboras but watching them care for even the smaller clutches is really exciting. Plus they are super hardy and tolerate a wide range of parameters. Mine are in water with a Ph over 8!

 

[xmpjx]

Wow, Kribensis are a very beautiful fish as well! A quick search recommends 50+ gallon aquarium for them, a 29g would surely be too small even with good maintenance, no?

I am really liking cacatuoides Apistogramma's, and found a LFS that carries them (was quite excited about that)

I am definitely liking the idea of one big school vs a couple small ones as well, there are some great suggestions here that have made me think a lot about what I want in my tank lol

 

[jasa73]

+1 on the apisto. Great fish, lots of color and personality. Also its local so you wont have to ship which is huge. I would definitely also go with a larger school of one fish...you'll get better schooling behavior with more fish and greater visual impact. Rummynose are good schoolers as well.

 

[hose91]

My moderately planted 29G has 4 common Kribs (Pelviachromis Pulcher), 3 Laetacara Arguiae (Buckelkopfs) and 8 platties (2M/6F).

Kribs and Apistos both are relatively low level swimmers, and I think Kribs and Cories might clash a bit. I recently added the 8 platties to the above tank because I wanted top level swimmers with color who were OK in harder, alkaline water (7.8 pH out of tap). This has become my favorite tank. The Buckelkopfs and Kribs seem to keep each other in check, and the Platties just don't care. They are full of energy and beg for food worse than even my Mbunas in my 75G upstairs! They definitely hang out in the upper levels mostly, but they'll explore all over, and they love to eat from the top of the tank, which is nice. I have 4 red tuxedo and 4 blue tuxedo. Have yet to see any fry, but I think they'd be eaten pretty quickly, even with lots of plant mass to hide in. Lots of cool colors to pick from.

I like your schooling thoughts. I have 6 cories in another tank with 9 Harlequin Rasboras, and that tank is also a joy to watch.

I think I'd go with a school of Cories (6-8), a school of mid level fish (cardinals, rummynose, rasboras, etc, probably 10-15), and a trio of your local Apistos (1M/2F). I think they'll adapt to your more alkaline water.

I'm not sure your adult shrimp will be ok, but only one way to find out, really. I have a ton of Red Cherry shrimp in a 10G (with WCMM, some gertrudae rainbows (which you could also consider) and some neon blue rasboras (Sundadanio Axelrodi), and the shrimp are fine, but occasionally I'll accidentally siphon one out during water changes, so I fish it out and put it in one of my other tanks, and inevitably it gets dismembered pretty quickly.

Should be a great tank, looking forward to seeing it!