Stocking a 29 gallon

Ridewithme38

So i just began cycling my tank, so i figure i have weeks before i can actually buy any fish to put into it..But why not start researching?

This tank is a 'gift' to my daughter who turns 6 november 3rd(i'll be taking care of it though since she doesn't live with me), i wanted to let her pick her own fish, but i know ALOT of fish don't get along well and/or 29 gallons is too small for them, so i've got to figure out what kind of fish to 'guide' her towards

So my thoughts were:

6 GloFish
5 Guppies(3 female, 2 male)
5 Platy's (3 female, 2 male)
3 mollies(2 female, 1 male)
and she mentioned an angelfish, but i don't think that'll work so i'm going to try to avoid/replace that with a different showpiece fish

Will these fish get along?
Is this overstocked?
Are these all schooling fish that need to be in bigger groups/tanks?

IF NOT OVERSTOCKED:
Can you recommend any other fish for this tank?
Would you recommend i replace any of these with other types of fish?

diablo13

I can answer 1 thing, don't do the Mollies. They're brackish fish and while they can live in freshwater, they prefer brackish. All of the numbers sound good, but for the platies and guppies, you may just want 1 male and 3 females so the females don't get stressed. Just some advice: Glofish are genetically modified Zebra Danios, and while they aren't dyed and it won't affect their lifespan, they are slightly more suseptable to diseases, so be careful. I'd need to know the filtration to reccomend a centerpeice fish.
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Ridewithme38

Ahh, the filtration i'm still working on, right now i just have the TopFin 30 that came with the 29gallon setup, but i'm going to upgrade that VERY soon, most likely to a AquaClear 50 or 70

MinaMinaMina

If you took out the mollies, and aside from interbreeding issues...

You have a lot of top/mid swimmers and no bottom swimmers. For interest, and depending on your plant mass and filtration and your water parameters, you could add some substrate fish or a few shrimp or snails. All those are fun for kids and interesting to watch.

Also, you may want to decide now what you would do with the babies. Kids don't usually like to see the babies eaten by the other fish, so you'll need to plan ahead for either housing the very numerous fry, or talking to your LFS to see if they could take them, or getting fish of only one gender.

This will be a fun project for the two of you! I know my daughter (7 yrs) and I have had great times discussing science-based aspects like pH, calcareous rocks, natural habitats, nitrogen cycle, plant growth, fish behavior, etc. as well as family activities like trips to the LFS, leaf collecting, and rock and driftwood hunting. You'll have a ball!

So why don't you post your intentions concerning live plants, your filtration system, and your water parameters (pH, GH, etc.). And then we can help you more.

diablo13

If your going to do an Aquaclear 50, let's assume, are you looking for a single centerpiece fish, or a vibrant school? Substrate fish are also good, I personally love Bristlenosed Plecos, but I don't think that would work for your tank, the platies have a rather high bioload. Are you looking for colorful or odd?
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Ridewithme38

[quote=MinaMinaMina;870182
So why don't you post your intentions concerning live plants, your filtration system, and your water parameters (pH, GH, etc.). And then we can help you more. [/QUOTE]

Ok, right now i have the TopFin 30, but plan to upgrade to an aquaClear 50, I'm way new to fishtanks and live plants and am not quite up to the level of whats needed for live plants, i.e. special lighting? Special Gravel? Fertilizer? Special Nutrients? I'll check my water Parameters when i get home, but right now i'm just starting a cycle so i don't know how they will end up

Ideally, i'd like to use a mid to large single colorful fish as a 'centerpiece' fish, but am realize that large fish tend to eat small fish like the Glofish, Guppies and Platy...so i'm not really sure which way to go...looking at AquaBid(i found a seller from the same town as me), i'm not sure that Bristlenosed Pleco's are for me, they're kinda creepy looking

But this is a Beutiful fish(Ruby Red Peacock), That odds are will eat all my other fish


or maybe? (Hara White Top Afra's F1)

MinaMinaMina

If you want to go with soft/acidic water fish, some of the dwarf cichlids (like the red breasted acara) stay smallish and are relatively peaceful (except when defending spawning territory/eggs/fry). But some, like in the case of the acara above, only have a territory of about 6 inches, so its not as bad as other territorial fish. They're not really a beginner fish, per se, but are a beginner cichlid, if that makes any sense. So if you chose your tank mates carefully and researched the species carefully, that may be a possibility

BUT it all depends on your water. The other fish originally listed are hard/basic water fish. So this is where knowing your pH and hardness come in to play. Some cities have their hardness listed on a website. Key words to look for are "hardness", of course, "ppm" or "parts per million", and "grains per gallon". Let us know!

ladayen

Those are albino Bristlenose you posted. There are a regular version as well. You could possibly do one of those. As you originally thought an angelfish is a no for your tank. As someone else mentioned livebearers may not be the best choice. You could do an all male tank however. Peacocks are cichlids, not a community fish. I dont know if it would eat your other fish but it would likely kill them either way. A Honey Gourami might be a possibility as a centre piece fish.

As to some bottom feeders there are many species of corydora you can look at. Just google it or type it into our profile section near the top of the page. They only get to 4" max and need a group of 6+.

MinaMinaMina

Also, the Bristle Nose pleco you listed is a softer water fish. If that squicks you AND you have water that tends toward softer/more acidic, a group of Corydoras species is a fun and very kid-friendly option. We'll know more when you have parameters.

The peacock pictured is a fish that comes from a lake in Africa with very hard/basic water. Rift lake cichlids are typically very aggressive and need to be kept only with other rift lake cichlids, and then only in certain ways and populations.

And I can't forget- You're awesome for researching all this first!

KendraMc

if you end up having soft water, don't get livebearers. they need hard water and often have a lot of problems if kept in soft water. on the other hand, there are a lot more fish that like soft water than hard, so there are plenty of beautiful fish to go with should that be the case.