[Lupin]

Welcome aboard, Otis.:wave:

I wouldn't go with pictus catfish if you want shoaling fish in your tank. Pictus will rather devour small fish, not to mention your kuhli loaches.:blink: I would recommend 6 kuhlis. They are not quite bold enough to come out often if kept in lesser number. Cories and otos are another options I'd recommend. Both are fun to watch.

As far as gouramis are concern, I would stick only with honey gouramis or a pair of dwarf gouramis(note that males can get aggressive even towards other species based in my experience). Pearl and three-spot(golden is selectively-bred) gouramis will push out your hatchetfish of your plans. Gouramis are surface dwellers and so are hatchets.

It appears you don't have mid dwellers. What species do you like? There are barbs, rasboras and tetras.

 

[Lupin]

Re: good advice!

would the gourami's pick on glass catfish (i would get at least 6 of them).

No, they shouldn't.

so i should pick only one kind of gourami? is there any two species that i can put together? and also, about the dwarf ones, how do i sex them to get a pair?

I play safe than to be sorry. Only one species definitely for a 29 gallons. Dwarf gouramis are easy to distinguish sexes with. Males are rather colorful whereas females are plainly drab or silvery in color. Females are rarely available mostly because of the fact that males are in demand more than the females.

i have no idea what to put in the middle, i have been looking for a while, but i only seem to like bottomdwellers and gourami's, and really funny/interesting lookin fish like the hatchets. any suggestions? i'm not really a fan of most tetras, some barbs and rosaboras are ok, but not my favorite.

Your glass catfish will serve to be your mid dwellers if you really want to keep them. Be careful with the tankmates you choose. Glass catfish are rather slowpokes at feeding. Danios, tetras and other shoaling fish have a tendency to eat everything before slow eaters could even get their fair share.

Barbs: Try cherry barbs or Odessa barbs.

one more question, i want a really heavily planted tank, will any of those fish eat the plants?

None with the exception of some barbs but not cherry barbs.