# 29 gallon stocking



## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

So now that my goldfish moved to a pond, I need to fill up my 30 gallon!
What I have already gotten:
Bs pleco
Dalmation Molly
2 dwarf gourami
1 rainbow fish

I know that rainbow fish should be in schools but they're like $10!! So I'm seeing if this guy (isn't very colorful) is ok on his own, but if not I'll return him. I wanted to get barbs but I don't think that them and dwarf gourami are compatible? 

I have a bio wheel penguin 150 on there as and HOB filter and I also put my top fin 20 on there for now but the propeller makes too much noise so I was planning to toss it? It has an air stone, silk plants, and gravel. ph is like 7.8 and it has a piece of driftwood in there. The lights are on 10 hours a day and are on a timer.

What else should I get? Anything I should know about the care of the current fish? I'm also hoping my family will let me get a 60 gallon soon, it's a battle. And if anything I also have a 20 planted tank.


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## Superfly724 (Sep 16, 2007)

Depending on the type of Rainbow, they could get quite large. Most Rainbows do best in a trio of 1 male and 2 females. There are smaller varieties that would work, such as Gertrudaes and Threadfins, but those are usually a little harder to find and the price is usually higher as well. Barbs tend to be less aggressive if you keep them in schools of 5 or more. Any less and you'll see them get bored and start nipping on other fish. I think 5 Cherry Barbs would make a nice addition to your tank. Then maybe a nice school of Corydoras to hang out on the bottom.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Superfly724 said:


> Depending on the type of Rainbow, they could get quite large. Most Rainbows do best in a trio of 1 male and 2 females. There are smaller varieties that would work, such as Gertrudaes and Threadfins, but those are usually a little harder to find and the price is usually higher as well. Barbs tend to be less aggressive if you keep them in schools of 5 or more. Any less and you'll see them get bored and start nipping on other fish. I think 5 Cherry Barbs would make a nice addition to your tank. Then maybe a nice school of Corydoras to hang out on the bottom.


I have Cory's in my 20 gallon, but the reason they're there is because they like sand  this rainbowfish gets 4 inches, I might take it back. Too expensive and they should really be I. Schools... I wouldn't mind a nice school of barbs, but does anyone know how they get along with dwarf gourami? All I've read said they sometimes get along, but not always..

Also, would cherry barbs be the best?

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## Superfly724 (Sep 16, 2007)

I find that Tiger Barbs are one of the more aggressive barbs, while Cherry's tend to stay on the more mild side. Odessa Barbs would also work in a group of about 5. Dwarf Gourami's are kind of slow movers, so they may be prone to getting picked on more. It's hard to determine whether the individual fish you bring home will work out without trying it. It could be perfectly fine, or you may find out that your Gourami has a deep-rooted hatred for Barbs and he goes on a killing spree.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Superfly724 said:


> I find that Tiger Barbs are one of the more aggressive barbs, while Cherry's tend to stay on the more mild side. Odessa Barbs would also work in a group of about 5. Dwarf Gourami's are kind of slow movers, so they may be prone to getting picked on more. It's hard to determine whether the individual fish you bring home will work out without trying it. It could be perfectly fine, or you may find out that your Gourami has a deep-rooted hatred for Barbs and he goes on a killing spree.


Haha, ok I'll try 5 cherry' sand take back the rainbow, would that be stocked enough?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Enough? Well, you'd be a long way from overstocked, at least.


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## Superfly724 (Sep 16, 2007)

TheOldSalt said:


> Enough? Well, you'd be a long way from overstocked, at least.


Better to be understocked than overstocked. But I agree, you have room for more if you'd like it. You could add another small school of a smaller species of Danio, or some Tetras. Or once everything is well established you could try a pair of Kribensis or something similar as a show fish.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

or give your molly some friends


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

That'd be nice, when I put the plan on aq adviser though it says I don't have enough filtration? I have a bio wheel Marine land 150 on there. Currently also have the top fin 20 but I don't want to keep it on there since it's so loud. I could always add a sponge filter or something though?


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

aq advisor is a good starting point, but it doesn't know everything. It doesn't consider live plants, how many water changes you do and so on. Plus it is made to understock your tank. Your tank is really not overstocked so you shouldn't worry about what aq advisor said there. I just tried it with my betta tank, and the stocking level is, according to that site, 304%.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

BettaGuy said:


> aq advisor is a good starting point, but it doesn't know everything. It doesn't consider live plants, how many water changes you do and so on. Plus it is made to understock your tank. Your tank is really not overstocked so you shouldn't worry about what aq advisor said there. I just tried it with my betta tank, and the stocking level is, according to that site, 304%.


But still... It must mean something, right? I mean is that filter that bad?


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

The bigger the filter the better it can handle the bioload. I have a Aqueon Quiet Flow 20 on my 10 gallon tank. I'm not sold on those bio wheel filters. Check out the 4 stage Aqueon Quiet Flow filters. One advantage on those, there's no need to prime them before turning it on.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

yeah v-paw, more filtration is always good. One nice way to see if you have enough filtration is see what the flow rate of your filter is (gph) if it is 10 times of the tank size in gallons (so 10x30g = 300gph) you have loads of filtration. I have a filter that filters 55gph in a 5g for example, but i have turned the flow rate down about half, so its only 5 times of my tank size, but I have loads of plants. So yeah, it all depends on your situation, aq advisor is good, but not perfect.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

BettaGuy said:


> yeah v-paw, more filtration is always good. One nice way to see if you have enough filtration is see what the flow rate of your filter is (gph) if it is 10 times of the tank size in gallons (so 10x30g = 300gph) you have loads of filtration. I have a filter that filters 55gph in a 5g for example, but i have turned the flow rate down about half, so its only 5 times of my tank size, but I have loads of plants. So yeah, it all depends on your situation, aq advisor is good, but not perfect.


Gph only of 150, and the top fin is 100 gph. It is still very loud, so I still don't intend to keep it. Is there a way to check a gph of a sponge filter?


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Ok, I ordered 30 cherry shrimp, they were a dollar each but shipping was 12 so it ended up being $42!! But oh well.. I guess.. If they breed I have unlimited, right?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Yea, if you can get cherry shrimp to breed, you can likely get $1 each for young ones from locals and make your money back with interest.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

v-paw said:


> Gph only of 150, and the top fin is 100 gph. It is still very loud, so I still don't intend to keep it. Is there a way to check a gph of a sponge filter?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Not really, the bigger the sponge, and the bigger the flow rate of the airpump the better. Make sure that when you put the sponge filter in that you leave the other filter in for two weeks or so that the bacteria can build up on the sponge.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

BettaGuy said:


> Not really, the bigger the sponge, and the bigger the flow rate of the airpump the better. Make sure that when you put the sponge filter in that you leave the other filter in for two weeks or so that the bacteria can build up on the sponge.


Yeah I did that. And it has an air pump. I thought sponge size doesn't effect the gph? Only the pump rate(which says for 20 gallons, but I might make it more)


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

it doesn't, but the more sponge the more space for bacteria to build up, so better filtration.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

One of the cherry barbs brought home ich. And most have died. I've increased the temp and am using meds. My dwarf gourami aren't acting too great though.. And my bs pleco died! ;(


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Always watch the fish at the store closely before buying, damm that sucks. Hope the medicine works, i really like nox-ich works like a charm. I treated two ottos who had ich with it and they both survived untill the ich was gone, which is when they died.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

My cherry shrimp also survived the treatment


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

So the ich is in the tank I wanted to put the cherry shrimp into... When I get them should I just put all 30 in my 20 gallon? I hope I didn't transfer any ich into there.. I used the same cup for water transfer into a 1 gallon, that's about it.


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

Did you dump the water from the bag the fish came in from your LFS? If so, there's your answer. Never dump water from the bag the fish came in from your LFS.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Ice if the ich was on the fish then it doesn't matter if you dump the water or not, but i agree never do that. Definitely don't put the shrimp in the tank with the ich if you can avoid it as they normally are a lot more susceptible to getting killed by medicine. I know this sounds weird but invertebrates and scaleless fish don't handle medicin as well.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Ice said:


> Did you dump the water from the bag the fish came in from your LFS? If so, there's your answer. Never dump water from the bag the fish came in from your LFS.


No I didn't, I always transfer fish into a one gallon and use a cup to condition them to the after (after they float around in their bag to get used to the temperature) and then net them out.

Would all 30 fit in my 20 gallon? I only see one barb with ich now.. And am running out of medicine.. 


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

yes they would, i believe loha already said that? And get some new medicine then, really don't want to introduce new inhabitants into the tank while you still have sick fish, even though the cherry shrimp wont get ich, the treatment might be too much for them.


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## TheJakeM (May 11, 2013)

I believe that as long as there isn't copper in the medicine the shrimp will be fine. Once, after discovering that ghost shrimp weren't lasting that long in my 5 gallon, I looked at the ingredients on the fish food and it said there was copper added. Changed it and didn't have any problems after.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

I got the cherry shrimp today, would AFD's eat them? I got babies, so they're tiny! Are they temperature sensitive? Because I put the tiny ones in a 1 gallon with no heater, and some bigger ones into the 20 gallon. Nitrates?


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Not familiar with the lingo, what are AFD's? And they are a tropical species if you mean that for the cold. But if it doesn't get below room temperature at night (18C) I think they should be fine for a day or two. Gives you enough time to buy a small betta heater. Shrimp don't produce a lot of waste, since its a lot in a 1g though i'd change the water daily if you have no filter.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

BettaGuy said:


> Not familiar with the lingo, what are AFD's? And they are a tropical species if you mean that for the cold. But if it doesn't get below room temperature at night (18C) I think they should be fine for a day or two. Gives you enough time to buy a small betta heater. Shrimp don't produce a lot of waste, since its a lot in a 1g though i'd change the water daily if you have no filter.


I mean there's an under gravel filter with an air pump. Most of them are babies, ADF is african dwarf frog, and yes, they do eat them. ;( good hint I moved the shrimps first. So dwarf gourami and mollies are ok with them too, right?


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

I kinda figured that you meant African dwarf frogs considering you posted as "AFD" not ADF. LOL!


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Ice said:


> I kinda figured that you meant African dwarf frogs considering you posted as "AFD" not ADF. LOL!


Oh.. Oops! I do have a nitrate problem in that tank... I think that some of my plants aren't too great.. I thought the shrimp might help help me with that, but I guess that as long as I have the frogs, I can't do anything. I like the little guys though. *sigh*


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Wow, I feel like I'm in trouble now.. So all the RCS are in a 1 gallon with an under gravel filter and a little heater. This is because my 20 gallon would be perfect except for the fact that it has ADF's who would eat them, they are all pretty small right now and alive  but the 30 gallon still has the medical problems, I turned the temperature back to normal today, because I haven't seen any ich for a few days, but now one of dwarf gourami's had white spots... Dang... I'm out of ich treatment too. I'm turning it back up now. I put maybe 3 shrimp in there out of the 30 I have to test it out, I can't really find them but at least one made it though the night. I don't want them all dying because they were $42 and there aren't returns. I have large rocks in my 30 gallon as well so I don't think the frogs would do well in there. And the 20 has higher nitrates from some dead plant matter so I'm not sure if that's a problem..


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

I believe dwarf gouramis are prone to be ich magnets. I was going to get one but decided against it.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Damm sucks about the ich returning, now you gotta wait again till the spots fall off, your in for another ich cycle. Sorry, I didn't read the part about the under gravel filter, must have missed it. The shrimp are just gonna have a small space problem for now, but its not going to kill them as long as they get enough food and the water stays clean. I would still only move them once the ich is gone


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Raise the temp to 82-84 degrees, add salt. This will help a lot. You should keep the temp up until all visual signs of the ich have been gone for 2 weeks. Then you can slowly reduce the tank temperature and allow the salt to go out with the subsequent water changes. 

If you have snails in there- no salt as it will kill them.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Obsidian said:


> Raise the temp to 82-84 degrees, add salt. This will help a lot. You should keep the temp up until all visual signs of the ich have been gone for 2 weeks. Then you can slowly reduce the tank temperature and allow the salt to go out with the subsequent water changes.
> 
> If you have snails in there- no salt as it will kill them.


I have pest snails, lol. I had the temp at 86 before, and I've only read that it's 3 days after. What about the like 3 shrimp that are in there? Won't the salt kill them? Also I read cherry barbs don't like salt.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

yeah it would kill the shrimp, you can just do it with only the medicin to preserve the shrimp (as long as the medicin won't kill them)


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

BettaGuy said:


> yeah it would kill the shrimp, you can just do it with only the medicin to preserve the shrimp (as long as the medicin won't kill them)


I just bought new medicine and this one isn't as good for the shrimp, there are only like 3 I put in and I only ever see 1..


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

they are good at hiding though


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Ok now I need more ideas again. Haha. (Sorry to renew an older post but the app didn't let me log in for about a month, until I changed my password ) 

4 cherry barbs
2 golden barbs
2 dwarf gourami
1 bs pleco

It looks a little empty, so I was wondering what else would look and live nicely in there?


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

a school of fish, there are many tetra species that would work in that scenario.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Some larger type? Cardinals? I just got 5 black skirt tetras for my 45 gallon, I love how they actually school unlike my cherry barbs who shoal


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Since it is a 29g I think you would be fine with larger ones as well. Cardinals sound good


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

Oh, can you recommend some?

I just looked up cardinals (I've only heard of the, on the forums and heard that they're peaceful) I didn't know what they were lol. Ya they look a lot like neons and I think my water is far too hard for them! It's in the teens 0.0 any others? Flame tetra, maybe?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

If you really have hard water, I'd avoid most tetras. Though some of the Mexican ones come from really alkaline water, most of the common pretty ones are soft water. Time to go find one of the aquarium atlases in the library and browse.

Remind me about the tank size. Was it 20? 

Do the fish you have come out or hide? More decor will often make fish come out more.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

emc7 said:


> If you really have hard water, I'd avoid most tetras. Though some of the Mexican ones come from really alkaline water, most of the common pretty ones are soft water. Time to go find one of the aquarium atlases in the library and browse.
> 
> Remind me about the tank size. Was it 20?
> 
> Do the fish you have come out or hide? More decor will often make fish come out more.



29 gallon, and the barbs are all out and sometimes the dwarf gouramis come out. My black skirt tetras I just got for my 45 are doing fine 

Sorry I don't have a full picture right now.. But. Have this corner!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

cute cat..


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

emc7 said:


> cute cat..



Thanks, she sometimes drinks the water as it comes out of the filter and it drives me crazy... Ok I got a full pic now, I took one of the fake plants out because it was covered in algae,mi soaked it in vinegar but it didn't come off and I can't get the smell out... So ya...









Lol I can't see any barbs in this one! Uh oh.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I had a cat that would do that. When she sniffs and walks away, do a water change.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

emc7 said:


> I had a cat that would do that. When she sniffs and walks away, do a water change.



Cute, so it's a good indicator?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

mine was. She had a refined palette, only clean water was good enough. It only worked on the one tank that had the HOB next to the stairs, though. She was too lazy to jump up on a tank.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

So most tetras wouldn't do well? Idk then..


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

You'd have to look them up; Tetras are to the Americas what barbs are to Asia. They fill the top water niche from Mexico to Brazil. You want one from Mexico or Central America. Avoid fish from "blackwater" if you don't have super soft water. You should be able to find some tetra, but be selective.


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## v-paw (Feb 17, 2013)

What about a school of flame tetra? 6 of them?


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