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Help with new 29g tank

1K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  beaslbob 
#1 ·
Hi, I just bought a new 29gallon tank for my twin boys that are 2yrs old. We set up the tank yesterday and going to pick out the fish today. The people at the store said not to get more than 7 fish every 3 months and you cannot add live plants until 3 months. Is this true? When I was a kid I had a 20g tank and bought live plants and prob 15 fish right when I bought the tank. I'm looking to buy some tetras and those shark looking fish with black tips on their fins. Also they said not to buy an algea eater right away to wait 2 months. I also added Tetra SafeStart and AquaSafe and a drop of their EasyBalance.
 

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#2 · (Edited)
Typical pet-store not-quite-accurate advice. It's not a matter of a certain number of fish or a certain time (3-months). The water criteria for stocking depends on your ability to control ammonia that is exuded by the livestock. Any ammonia above 0.50ppm is harmful; any long-term ammonia >0.25ppm is harmful. A kit may be purchased to determine these readings (see Tutorial below).

Ammonia is kept under control by performing water changes to dilute it. Prime water conditioner (by Seachem) is useful for detoxifying residual ammonia increasing safety for your pets. (Aquasafe does not have this capability).

The most important condition to establish in the tank is the nitrogen cycle. This will be your focus for the first weeks or month or so in the hobby. http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/...ner-s-guide-freshwater-aquarium-cycle-353074/

With modern ammonia-detoxify conditioners (Prime) and live cycling bacteria available off-the-shelf (Tetra Safestart) you can safely cycle with fish in the tank. CYCLING: the two-sentence tutorial

Healthy, fast-growing plants help in removing ammonia. They are an asset in any tank right from the beginning. For a tropical set-up, more plants are better.

Research the fish you intend to keep with an eye toward compatibility and similar water conditions (temperature, hardness, pH).

Properly maintained the tank shouldn't have enough algae to need an algae eater. They are a whole 'nuther level of problems and commitment.

Welcome to the forum.
 
#4 ·
Properly maintained the tank shouldn't have enough algae to need an algae eater. They are a whole 'nuther level of problems and commitment.
I agree with Hallyx on the idea of "algae eater". I have never had one, but I have read that you need to be wary of what some pet stores label as an "algae eater". One type of fish (I don't know it's correct name) commonly referred to as this, becomes a fish eater when it becomes an adult, so you would not want it in your tank.

Algae can be controlled with lighting. Too much light and you will generally have an overabundance of algae. Floating plants are just one way to control how much light gets into the tank.
 
#3 ·
The pet store and Hallyx are slightly off.

Fish respiration and waste produce ammonia. Ammonia is toxic to fish. Beneficial nitrosomonas aerobic bacteria converts ammonia into nitrite. Nitrite is also toxic to fish. Beneficial nitrobacter aerobic bacteria oxidizes nitrites into nitrates. Although not toxic, long term exposure to high nitrates promotes stunted growth and poor fish health. If we could culture them, anaerobic bacteria could oxidize nitrates into harmless nitrogen gas. However, it is very difficult to culture anaerobic bacteria in the freshwater tank, so we perform routine partial water changes to keep nitrates low. This is the nitrogen cycle....Ammonia-->nitrites-->nitrates-->nitrogen gas.

It can take a couple of weeks in a new tank to develop the beneficial bacteria (referred to as cycling) required for a healthy environment.
Plants can be added right away and will use ammonia (and/or nitrates) helping to purify the water.
When doing a fish-in cycle and adding stock later, you really should add very few fish at a time to allow the bacteria time to develop. As Hallyx mentioned, products like Prime and Safe Start can expidite the process...but patience wins out with the best success in the end.
 
#5 · (Edited)
A nice brief explanation by Observer of the nitrogen cycle. I chose not to elaborate, and instead posted Iamnotbatman's "Beginner's Guide...." feeling that the OP was intelligent enough to understand it's lengthy but accurate explication.

(I think Iamnotbatman also misidentifies the nitrite-oxidizing bacteria as nitrobacter. I tend to agree with Dr. Timothy Hovanec that it is in fact nitrospira. Dr. Hovanec is the one who isolated it and based the currently most successful live-bacteria products on it.)

To avoid any confusion, while both Prime and TSS can "expedite" the process, they are in no way similar, nor do they do the same task. Prime detoxifies residual ammonia, enhancing the safety of the livestock. TSS is a bottled-bacteria product which contains the actual live bacteria that establish the nitrogen cycle.

Using TSS, one can completely stock a 29g tank safely and quickly cycle it -- of course, with careful monitoring and water testing, water changes and judicious applications of Prime. I guess I should add "in my opinion" to that last sentence.

Brownmane brought up the efficacy of floating plants. Almost any tropical environment features floating plants and marginal vegetation. Your fish would probably benefit from floaters to provide shade, places to hide and sleep. Many floaters are among the most efficient plants for removing ammonia.
 
#6 ·
Hi, I just bought a new 29gallon tank for my twin boys that are 2yrs old. We set up the tank yesterday and going to pick out the fish today. The people at the store said not to get more than 7 fish every 3 months and you cannot add live plants until 3 months. Is this true? When I was a kid I had a 20g tank and bought live plants and prob 15 fish right when I bought the tank. I'm looking to buy some tetras and those shark looking fish with black tips on their fins. Also they said not to buy an algea eater right away to wait 2 months. I also added Tetra SafeStart and AquaSafe and a drop of their EasyBalance.

Please click on and read this link (also in my signature if you can see the signature):


http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/advanced-freshwater-discussion/beaslbob-build-295530/


Ask your LFS (local fish store) about it and get their reaction.


then follow those instructions to prove them ignorant. :laugh:


my .02
 
#7 ·
Oh yea.


IMHO stay away from anything shark looking. they are aggressive and will kill other fish.


Meanwhile colorful platties are interesting especially to 2 year olds as they have babies.


my .02
 
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