new tank, adding freshwater fish

Question
The 29 gallon tank has been set up for one week.  We were instructed by the fish store to purchase tetra's and barb fish, and we bought 6 silvertail tetra's, 4 24 karat barbs, and 3 grey coloured tetra's.  One of the small silvertail tetra's died this morning.

The tank is full almost to the top, we added water today as it was evaporating, and added chemicals with it to dechlorinize it.  I don't know what the pH, ammonia or nitrate levels are.

We are new to the world of fish, and don't really have a lot of info.

My question is, did the person at the store allow us to buy too many fish for a new tank, and are these the only types of fish you can buy for a new tank?

What other type of fish can you buy for a new tank?

Answer
Hi Kelly;

New tanks should have only one inch of fish per 10 gallons. There are quite a few in there. I'm so sorry this has happened to you. Make a 25% water change to help the fish feel better. It lowers New Tank Syndrome toxins. Do 25% changes for two more days in a row. Partial changes helps keep the fish from going into shock but allows the process to continue.

Here are some web sites that will give you some helpful beginner info as well as suggestions for beginning fish;

http://www.fishinthe.net/html/section-1.html
http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin.html
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/charts/good_bad.html
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/community.html
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/fish_chart.html
http://www.aquariumpros.com/articles/fishcyclefw.shtml
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/beginnerinfo/a/fishcalc.htm
http://groups.msn.com/LyreTailsAquarium/thenitrogencycle.msnw
http://www.acicorp.us/cleaning_aquarium.php
http://www.firsttankguide.net/steps.php

And my own page about New Tank Syndrome;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

I hope that helps you get things going in the right direction. It's really frustrating to get bad advice from people who should know better.  

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins