# stocking a 29 gallon aquarium!



## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

ok so i was thinking
11-female bettas,
6-juli corys,
2-cockatoo apistos,
6-nerite snails
any suggestions? the corys and apistos are a definent.


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## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

would there be a problem doing 
5-female bettas,
5-male guppies,
2-cockatoo apistos,
6-juli corys,
6-nerite snails?


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## theguppyman (Jan 10, 2010)

Be careful, the guppies will nip at the bettas, also about the bettas when you first set it up their will be some skirmishes as this is how they set up the pecking order, to find out who is the leader of the group.


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## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

yea i decided to just do a sorority in my 10 gallon


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Too many fish for that size tank. Can't understand the want here lately for everyone wanting to stock all these small tanks to their max levels. Bio-load is not the only consideration when stocking a tank. Why push it? those Guppies will nip at every fancy tail in that tank....not because male Guppies do that (I don't believe it is normal for them), but because the tank population will stress them out. Some people will argue that it is normal, but I have had them in my 75g for a year now and haven't seen a one do it. I think it is because the tank is moderately stocked....nothing else.


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## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

wait too much in the one with the bettas or too much in the one in the signature?


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## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

im not doing the bettas


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Talking about the one in this thread. Better without Bettas, but still. 21 fish in a 29? why? You may like the look of wall-to-wall fish when you look at that tank, but your fish may not share your feeling. When they don't, their health detoriates and then disease comes or they start acting out of character and chewing up tails....etc... 

I have a 29g myself with 2-Platies, 1 Gourami, and 10 speckled cories. It is heavily planted and with 3 times the filtering need for it. I could add quite a few more but I choose to leave it alone. It is fine without me adding more. My Gourami taught me that. Speckled Cories are the little cories.

I will say it is different if you started with half of your plan and let the tank run for 6 months before you started adding anything else. Concentrate on keeping the ones you have healthy...sustained health. Once the fish have become established in the tank and settled into it, then maybe look into doing something else. My guess is once you've seen that the tank hasn't had any problems for a long period of time you'll come to enjoy that and leave it alone. I think fish are just too cheap to buy when one dies. If they were $30 each, everyone would have much happier aquariums.

Ultimately your decision. If you wanted the wall-to-wall effect, get a 40B, plant the hell out of it, put a monster filter on it, and get 50 Cardinal Tetras. 29g tanks just don't work for that kind of approach, IMO.


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## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

ok so i see what your saying and i think this would be ok right?
6-male guppies
6-juli corys
2-cockatoo apistos
1-bristlenose pleco
10-ghost shrimp
10-cherry shrimp
and then make it really planted (i think id like this better bc im really loving shrimp).


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Much better. Shrimp may make nice little treats for the apistos, but not sure.


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## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

nah at first they thought about it but now they dont even look at them or atleast thats what they do with the ghost shrimp


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## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

i think id rather do
6-male guppies,
6-juli corys,
2-cockatoo apistos,
1-dwarf gourami,
10-ghost shrimp (my apistos hvent eatin any shrimp yay),
10-cherry shrimp.
is it ok?


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## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

so shrimp arent gonna work my male apisto loves eating them  so
6-male guppies
6-juli corys
2-cockatoo apisto
1-dwarf gourami
1-bristlenose pleco


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello allabout...

I understand the want to have all the color and activity in you tank right away, but you're really looking for serious ammonia problems by overstocking your tanks.

The safest stocking rule is one that's worked for as long as I've read fishkeeping books or can remember and that's one inch of fish for every gallon of tank water.

That being said, you can have 29 small fish in a 29 G tank. If you have a good water filter and an airpump running to keep the water moving, then you might be able to squeeze a couple more in the tank, but no more.

You must always think about the health of your fish first.

B


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## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

that's not really overstocking though. i have a huge filter also.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

allaboutfish said:


> that's not really overstocking though. i have a huge filter also.


OK. If you have a good working knowledge of stocking a tank, the next thing that needs to be considered is the size of the adult fish. The larger the fish, the more waste it's likely to produce. It might be worth the time to research the species you plan on having and find out how big the adults get.

B


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## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

i have.


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