Stocking a 29H tank

Question
QUESTION: I currently bought a 29H tank, I am having problems finding fish I want to keep in there. Some fish I would really like to have are: angelfish,gourami,electric yellow cichilds or any kind of dwarf cichlid.Could you please tell me how many fish of each species I could perhaps have? I am just looking to keep one species in the tank, not mixing diffrent kinds of fish. Thank you so much for your time and hope to hear from you soon!

ANSWER: Hi Amanda,
If you would like to do a species tank where the aquarium is devoted to just one kind of fish then any of the species you mentioned should work out well as one group in the tank. But if you would like to have some of each of the species the Angelfish, Gourami, and Dwarf cichlid would all be able to get along but likely not the electric yellow. Electric yellows would be better off in a tank setup strictly as an african cichlid tank with other eletric yellows or other african cichlid species.

With Angelfish in a 29gallon, you could likely keep about 4 angelfish to adulthood in this tank. Perhaps with even a few little bottom feeders like cories to provide some interest in the bottom areas of the tank.
With Gouramis, it depends upon the species. But you could likely put about 6 of the three-spot/blue gouramis and their color variants like the gold,opaline, and lavender. Make sure you get only females or get pairs so to lessen their tendency to fight.
With the dwarf cichlids, the little fish do best in pairs. You could probably have at least two pairs in your tank. They would be great with some schooling fish.

Electric yelllows should be kept at a ratio of 2-3 females for every male. You'll also have to provide plenty of hiding places and rockwork for the females to take shelter in. Your tank could likely hold a small group of electric yellows with about 1 male and three females. African cichlids like electric yellows can be very territorial and to keep a lot of fish you'd really do best with a larger aquarium of ideally like 50-gallons.

Well, i hope this helps,
if you have anymore questions let me know!
Karen~

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

QUESTION: To refresh I bought a 29 gallon tank, I think to have found the fish I would like to have. Angels, Dwarf Gouramis, Corydoras, plus Neon Blue Rainbows. I would like the Angelfish to be my focal point and have one or two more fish species surrounding the Angels. I was wondering if you could tell me how many fish I could have? Ex.)4 Angelfish, 3 male Neon Blue Rainbows with 5 females, and two female Dwarf Gouramis. Also, I heard corydoras are schooling fish, so could they work with 4 Angelfish? If they do how many can I keep? One more thing, I heard you were supoosed to only buy 2-3 fish at a time so the fish don't die of stress, what would the max amount of fish to buy at once?Thank you once again for your time, if something doesn't make sense please feel free to contact me for better clarification.

Answer
Hi Amanda,
I think your current fish combination is very good, it should work out very well. 4-Angels, 8-Neon blue rainbows, 2 Female dwarf gouramis and some cories shouldn't be too much fish. Just keep up with water changes and be careful with feedings.
Corys are great tankmates for just about any fish, except those who could eat them. Corydoras enjoy being in schools so minimum of 3 should always be kept. More would be great. But I would limit it to about 3-4 for your tank.

Your right about stocking your tank slowly is vital to keep from ammonia building up too fast and losing all your fish. Make sure you cycle your tank before you start adding a bunch of fish. Either cycle the tank with some small hardy fish like Black skirts, Platies, or danios, for about 3-4 weeks while checking on the ammonia levels everyday and making those vital 50% water changes when the ammonia gets above safe bounds.
Or if you don't want to fool with having cycling fish in your tank. You can cycle a tank with 1 tiny baby angelfish but you have to be very careful. Test the ammonia levels everyday and make a massive water change when ammonia starts to build up. You might have good luck with cycling the tank with the Neon Blue rainbows but you'll still have to be careful with the ammonia levels and doing water changes very frequently.
Once your ammonia and nitrite reaches ZERO consistantly, you can start to slowly stock your tank with 2-3 fish per week (making sure to test the water for ammonia the day after every fish addition) just to be sure. If you get an ammonia spike then do an immediate 50% water change and use an ammonia neutralizing water conditioner such as Amquel+ or Prime.
Stock your tank slowly and gradually and keep up with water changes and everything should work out fine.

Best of luck, I hope this helps!
Karen~