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29 gal Tall seeking tankmates

2K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  thekoimaiden 
#1 ·
My 29 gallon is 24" long 12" wide 18" high.
Has been establish for about a month.
So far has:
1 female guppy
1 male betta
1 female Betta

Was thinking about adding:
3 to 5 dwarf rainbows
1 rainbow Shark

Any suggestions on suitable tankmates?
 
#2 ·
Congrats on the new tank!

I'm not the best on stocking, but I have a 29g with the same dimensions, I don't think it's big enough for a rainbow shark. They're gorgeous creatures, but they get big, and will need a LOT more space, and a much longer tank to be able to swim around in comfort at full growth. Much longer as in 4 FEET, lol!

Rainbowfish are gorgeous, but if I remember correctly, the DWARF Rainbows prefer their water to be on the soft side (most Rainbows like it harder). Double-check me on that, I may be mixing things up. . . Guppies prefer hard water, so to me these two wouldn't make an ideal pairing.

You might want to start by figuring out the Gh of the water as it comes from your tap (if you don't already know!) API makes a test for Gh and Kh that runs around $7 on Amazon, but you might be able to get this information from your local water supply company. Ph is a good thing to know before purchasing fish, too.

Guppies are fairly tolerant and adaptable to various water conditions, but this isn't true of all fish, so knowing the hardness of your water is really important!

I hope this helps out somewhat! Always good to see people asking the right questions BEFORE buying the fish! Best of luck with the 29g!
 
#4 ·
I agree with Ches about the rainbow shark. Not the right fit for your tank.

Another problem I see is the bettas. Males and females shouldn't be kept together except for breeding purposes. In your pictures, the male looks pretty beaten up. That's probably the female defending her territory as they can be just as aggressive as males. Remove one of them, and then we can start to look at some fish for your tank.

Knowing the hardness and pH of your tap water will also help as not all fish can live in all types of water. I have that same size tank and am looking to stock it with a small, shoaling tetra species, but I have very soft water.
 
#5 ·
I realized the male was getting beat up later his fins are now shredded. The female is in a breeder box.

My ph is 7.6 not sure what the hardness is. I've been using neutral regulator in the tanks water so the buffering should be good.
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#6 ·
I have a 29 gallon tank as well (I believe it has different dimensions though.) And I think a Dwarf gourami, or honey gourami would be a nice kind of center piece fish. I also like the bristlenose pleco or a small group of corydoras as the bottom dwellers. :) I would also like to point out that I have the EXACT same dragon in my tank :p
 
#7 ·
Gourami are good centerpiece fish for a tank of that size, but not while the betta are in there. Both are territorial and will fight. But I'm glad to hear the male and female are at least physically separated.

As for hardness, sometimes you can find it online in a local water quality report. PH isn't a good indicator of hardness. As for the neutral regulator, throw it out. PH regulation is based on the carbonate hardness of the water. Plus, pH is one of the factors that fish can more easily adapt to (and most fish have a pretty wide range of pH tolerance). Not using it will save you money in the long run, too.
 
#9 ·
I don't know much about cichlids and angelfish in general, so I can't say whether or not they would work in a 29 gal tank. But I can tell you they don't do well with small tetra (or small fish in general). Angelfish are predatory, and many of the tetra we keep in our tanks are their natural prey.
 
#10 ·
Angelfish do like taller tanks, and I have heard of them being kept successfully with guppies, but i'm not entirely sure about them with tetras though, the tetras are smaller and tend to dart around more. Most fish would consider them easy prey.
 
#11 ·
Ok thanks for the help I've been doing a lot of research the hard part is figuring out if they can live together.
I've been looking at having a krib as the focal point and a school of tetras. Question do the blue eyed rainbows have to be a same species school or would they school with the tetras
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#13 ·
All small fish like tetra and rainbows need single-species schools. This causes them the least stress and ensures that they are healthiest. A fish will only school with another species out of complete desperation. The fish is probably already stressed to the breaking point when this time comes. To be safe, keep all small fish in sufficient schools.
 
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