Stocking A 29 Gal Betta Tank Question

tc2982

A month ago I bought a veiltail betta fish housed in a 2.5gal filtered tank. After I brought him home I started researching what would make a better tank. I found out that bettas can live (sometimes) with other fish so i started looking for which fish would be best in his tank. I did research on cycling new tanks and decided to perches a 29 Gal aquarium kit with quietflow filter, heater, and fluorescent lighting.

I read that hardier fish were better to start off with to start the flow of the tank (after being cycled). I was thinking of going with Black Neon Tetra to start with. Then after they work out going with Emperor Tetra and after them introducing some shrimp and snails then bringing the betta into the established environment.

Is it overstocking if I were to include:
7 Black Neon Tetra (neutral colors, usually don't nip fins)
7 Emperor Tetra (neutral colors, usually don't nip fins)
1 Veiltail Betta (purpose of the tank)
5 Ghost Shrimp (love Ghost shrimp)
2 Nerite Snails (wanted snails)

Sorry if it seems long winded but I wanted to make sure I included all the info I could about it so people can give answers with few to no questions.

thekoimaiden

Welcome to the forum and the hobby!

Both of those tetra are a good fit with betta, but instead of having two schools of 7 fish, it would be a better idea to have one large (10-12 fish) school. This will do a better job of ensuring any infighting stays in the group, and the fish will also display better colors around more conspecifics.

This will also allow you to get a school of substrate fish like Kuhli Loach or Bronze Cory cats (click on the shaded names to see pictures and read more about these fish). Have two small schools of fish in the column will make it look a bit crowded. One school in the column and one on the ground will even out the movement in the tank.

You'll also want to look into planting the tank as it will make both the betta and the tetra feel more comfortable. Floating plants like Water Sprite will do a lot for these fish.

tc2982

Hello! Thank you for the fast response and welcome ^^,

Bronze Cory seem like a great fit. How hardy are these? I'm worried about the fish being put into a new tank (it will be fully cycled) with nothing else (I read some fish start better then others). I was going to start with the Black Neon Tetra for their (relative) hardiness but, in terms of color I'm leaning towards Emperor Tetra (which aren't from what i read).

As for the plants I wanted to start out with plastic to take my experience slow. In my 2.5Gal tank i have a some real plants that he seems to really love so, I intend to start with those once i put him in. The water sprites are a good choice that I didn't know about and I'll probably put those in midway into stocking the tank.

Thanks in advance for any input!

thekoimaiden

Bronze Cory are a very hardy fish. They are great for newcomers and neat to watch, too. You could add the cories after the tank is cycled (but not while, they aren't hardy enough for that). And then add the Emperor Tetra after the tank is matured (it's the second process that comes after cycling where the parameters of the tank stabilize and the bacterial colonies become strong).

I would actually recommend live plants from the start. Especially the floating ones like Water Sprite because these will help absorb any extra ammonia that results from adding more fish to an aquarium. There are some very easy live plants you can start off with like Amazon Sword and Java Fern. These can be found in most pet stores and don't need any extra consideration. If you don't feel like diving in head first, use some live and some plastic.

LyzzaRyzz

To be honest, Water Sprite is amazing. It's so easy, grows super fast, doesnt need a lot of light, and best of all, you don't need to plant it!
It's like an ammonia sponge. It's AMAZING. You will absolutely love it.

tc2982

Sorry I haven't replied in a few days, but that sounds like I'm gonna have to get live plants. thanks again for all the feedback and I'll add pictures and updates once my tanks up and running if you're interested.

^^ thanks again.

thekoimaiden

We always love pictures here. Happy to help!! ^-^