29 gallon planted tank

Question
QUESTION: hello i need help picking fishes.. i was thinking rainbow,loach,killie,gobys.. severums? please help maybe i can get one of each? although since they are not in the same region they wont be ok.. i think

ANSWER: Hi Steven

Reading between the lines here, it sounds like you are fairly new to the aquarium hobby. Therefore, it's best to start with easy to care for beginner fish.

Rainbow fish are fairly easy to care for, but they are schooling fish that do best in groups of at least 8. Your tank doesn't have enough room for a school of Rainbows.

Most Loaches will also grow too large for your tank. Kuhli Loaches stay fairly small, about 3 inches. The problem with Kuhli's is they require a special soft gravel or sand substrate as they like to bury themselves in the gravel, especially under a rock, log or other decoration. With Kuhli's. you probably won't see them very often as they stay hidden. They also don't like bright lights and require very clean water.

There are many different species of Gobies, and most are easy to care for. However, they also require a large tank, 55 gallons or larger.

Likewise, Severums will grow up to 12" and need a large tank of at least 55 gallons. Severums will also eat your live plants.

I have a 29 gallon tank with 3 Black Marble Angelfish, a Keyhole Cichlid, Dwarf Powder Blue Gourami and 3 Cory Cats. Something like this would work great for you. Just remember you won't be able to add all of the fish at once. Keyhole Cichlids are not available at most fish stores, you'd have to call around town and see if anyone has them. I order mine from an online breeder.

There are many other types of fish that will also work in your tank. Too many for me to list here. If you had any other types of fish in mind, send them to me and I will offer you my opinion about them.

Hope this helps, good luck with whatever you decide.

Richard

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: well i been into the aqua hobby for years... i just never had a planted tank... i also have a 55 american cichlid tank and a 20 gubby amd tetra tank... i have done a lot of research i just want someoone to help me one on one.... i like key hole cichlid i just want smething diffrent in this 29 i kinda want to stay away frm cichlids..also tetras, danios, and barbs..... im thinking a small school of austraian rainbows would be ok maybe 3 of them and a whiptale pleco.. and/or a horseface loach.... what do you think... btw i have 4 ghost shrimp in the tank now and im thinking of getting either cherry or algea eating shrimp is that ok as well?

ANSWER: Hey Steven

A Horseface Loach will grow to over 12" long, much too big for your 29 gallon. Rainbows need to be in a school of at least 6-8, preferably more. A Whiptail Pleco would work, they only get to 6-7 inches. I don't recommend keeping shrimp or other crustaceans with tropical fish, mainly because they have to be removed should you need to treat the tank with any type of medication, or they will die. Larger fish will eat Ghost Shrimp, (I feed them to my Cichlids) Since you already have the Ghost Shrimp, you may want to stay with smaller fish that won't eat them. There are a lot of smaller fish that are not Tetras, Danios or Barbs, the Keyhole is one of them. Below are a couple of links to photos of fish that will go with the Keyhole and Whiptail Pleco.

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/c106community4angels.htm

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/c106community5barbs.htm

http://www.elmersaquarium.com/c106community6severums.htm

Hope this helps, good luck!

Richard

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: wha about tiger barbs? four regular and four green... and a red tale shark with a whip tale pleco.. or a bushy nose pleco....although its not what i want... i really wanted something new.... different. i do like gouramis.... maybe pardise...

Answer
Although those fish would work together, that is still overcrowding your tank. You could do 5 Tiger Barbs, a Paradise Fish, Redtail Shark and a Pleco, which is still a little many for a 29 gallon, but should be fine in a cycled tank.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Richard