Stocking ideas

[starrynight2331]

Hey everybody,

I just upgraded from a 10 gallon to a 29 gallon. I’m working on filling it with plants, driftwood, and new decorations, but for now it has the small decorations from the old tank, one betta plant, and one java fern.

I currently have 2 panda cories, 1 julii Cory, 2 mystery snails, and one very adored and peaceful betta.

Vinci, the betta, is a veryyy curious and non-aggressive betta. He used to get a little uppity but he loves when I walk up and follows his tank mates around at a distance. He’s especially confused by the mere existence of the snails but he likes to watch them. Sometimes when he’s swimming along the bottom, the cories will float on top of him or right next to him.

All that being said, I’m thinking of adding a school of Harlequin Rasboras, and getting either one or three more cories to make it an even 4 or 6.

My question is if this is a good amount of fish for a 29 gallon. I think it’ll be alright if I have a school of 4-6 for each schooling fish.

The substrate is black sand and I intend to make it very planted with dark decorations. The parameters are 7.0ph, 0.25 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 10-20 nitrates. I’m also adding a small bubbler today for an oxygen boost. Any ideas for fish are welcome, especially ones with a gothic vibe!

 

[Ghelfaire]

Definitely bring your cory numbers up, both corydoras will need more of their own species to feel safe/happy.
I will always reccomend black neon tetras. They school nicely, are easy to find, not too expensive, not aggressive and are super hardy.

 

[starrynight2331]

Definitely bring your cory numbers up, both corydoras will need more of their own species to feel safe/happy.
I will always reccomend black neon tetras. They school nicely, are easy to find, not too expensive, not aggressive and are super hardy.

They look super cool! How worried should I be about Neon Tetra Disease though? That’s the only reason I sort of turned away from Neon tetras.

 

[Justin2526]

Hey everybody,

I just upgraded from a 10 gallon to a 29 gallon. I’m working on filling it with plants, driftwood, and new decorations, but for now it has the small decorations from the old tank, one betta plant, and one java fern.

I currently have 2 panda cories, 1 julii Cory, 2 mystery snails, and one very adored and peaceful betta.

Vinci, the betta, is a veryyy curious and non-aggressive betta. He used to get a little uppity but he loves when I walk up and follows his tank mates around at a distance. He’s especially confused by the mere existence of the snails but he likes to watch them. Sometimes when he’s swimming along the bottom, the cories will float on top of him or right next to him.

All that being said, I’m thinking of adding a school of Harlequin Rasboras, and getting either one or three more cories to make it an even 4 or 6.

My question is if this is a good amount of fish for a 29 gallon. I think it’ll be alright if I have a school of 4-6 for each schooling fish.

The substrate is black sand and I intend to make it very planted with dark decorations. The parameters are 7.0ph, 0.25 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 10-20 nitrates. I’m also adding a small bubbler today for an oxygen boost. Any ideas for fish are welcome, especially ones with a gothic vibe!

A school of 6-8 rasbora's would be awesome for this tank. Good mates for bettas and a nice school for the tank. Upping the amount of cories is definitely ideal as well, to 3-4 of each of the species if possible. From there, you're still understocked and could finish it off with a school of 6 or so tetras if you like. Those have plenty of variety to choose from as well.

 

[FishBoy101]

They look super cool! How worried should I be about Neon Tetra Disease though? That’s the only reason I sort of turned away from Neon tetras.

Black Neon Tetra, are much much more hardy than neon tetras. MUCH more hardy.

 

[Ghelfaire]

They look super cool! How worried should I be about Neon Tetra Disease though? That’s the only reason I sort of turned away from Neon tetras.

Black neon tetras aren't the same a regular neon tetras. They dont get neon tetra disease.

 

[Justin2526]

I personally have a school of 9 neon tetras in my 29. They are all completely fine other than one loss within the first few days of them adjusting to the tank. But yes, black neons are more hardy than the red neons if that's what your worried about.

 

[ElysiumPlants]

First off, I love your screen name and your Betta’s name. Guessing someone likes art.

I’m with Ghelfaire. Corys need to be kept in schools. Six is generally the minimum there.

 

[starrynight2331]

Thanks everybody! That’s really good to hear about the black tetras. I couldn’t find a clear answer on google. My husband reallyyyy wants tetras and now I’m much more willing to give it a try. I just didn’t want to mess around with a disease like that because I’ve only been in this for about a year.

Unfortunately I did have a school of six cories, but despite everything a few of them died within a month of being added. I’ve heard this is relatively common but it broke my heart, because I did my best to keep them clean and healthy in the 10gal. It happens I suppose—I did get them from Petco and Pet Smart. It’s really unlikely that I’ll ever get fish there again.

And I totally love art bro!! My husband actually named the betta though! We love him to death. He got me Vinci as a surprise—he took him home from a daycare that was utterly neglecting him in this like, quart-sized container. Look at him now!!

 

[FinalFins]

Black neon tetras aren't the same a regular neon tetras. They dont get neon tetra disease.

This is a bit inaccurate. Neon tetra disease can affect many different species of fish, and not just neon tetras.

 

[Ghelfaire]

This is a bit inaccurate. Neon tetra disease can affect many different species of fish, and not just neon tetras.

The internet lied to me

 

[starrynight2331]

Well in that case, they’re still not very susceptible as far as I understand? What’s the worst trigger for the disease?

 

[ElysiumPlants]

Thanks everybody! That’s really good to hear about the black tetras. I couldn’t find a clear answer on google. My husband reallyyyy wants tetras and now I’m much more willing to give it a try. I just didn’t want to mess around with a disease like that because I’ve only been in this for about a year.

Unfortunately I did have a school of six cories, but despite everything a few of them died within a month of being added. I’ve heard this is relatively common but it broke my heart, because I did my best to keep them clean and healthy in the 10gal. It happens I suppose—I did get them from Petco and Pet Smart. It’s really unlikely that I’ll ever get fish there again.

And I totally love art bro!! My husband actually named the betta though! We love him to death. He got me Vinci as a surprise—he took him home from a daycare that was utterly neglecting him in this like, quart-sized container. Look at him now!!

Do yourself a favor and watch “At Eternity’s Gate.” Willem Dafoe as Vincent Van Gogh...could anything be better? The writing was outstanding, too.

 

[Ghelfaire]

Well in that case, they’re still not very susceptible as far as I understand? What’s the worst trigger for the disease?

Either poor water quality or sudden changes in the water chemistry. Or you know accidentally buying one that is sick.

 

[ElysiumPlants]

The internet lied to me

Everything on the internet is true.

 

[Islandvic]

Check out the YouTube channel Prime Time Aquatics. The host Jason has videos for suggested stockings of different sized tanks, and i believe there was one for a 29g size.

So, check out the Aqua Huna website, they are a large wholesale breeder that happens to also sell to consumers through their website.

A couple of forum members have bought from there and reported receiving healthy fish. I would buy from there myself if I needed more community fish in the future. Their s&h is only $12

 

[ProudPapa]

I know one or two other people mentioned getting more corys, but I wanted to say that it might be best to re-home one of your varieties and get 6 or so more of the one you keep. Different species will occasionally interact, but not like they will with their own species.

And I wholeheartedly agree with the recommendation for black neon tetras. They're one of my favorites, along with serpae tetras.