# fish stocking advice needed



## spikey (Jan 3, 2013)

I am working on a 29 gallon heavily planted, high light, freshwater planted tank. I could use some advice on what fish to get. 

My current fish plans:

3 female bettas
10 or so small schooling fish (I'm thinking Harlequin Rasboras)
2 kuhli loaches
possibly some boesemani rainbows
possibly some kind of swordtail
possibly a couple angelfish

Invert plans:

nerite and/or mystery snails
cherry shrimp
ghost shrimp


Any advice, comments, criticism, etc. is appreciated. Even if it is just, "You should get this kind of fish/invert. They are awesome because...." Thanks in advance.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Welcome to APC!

The angelfish and rainbows will out grow the tank. Ghost shrimp are much larger and more aggressive than cherry shrimp, I suggest you stick with one or the other. My pick would be cherry shrimp. All your other choices are fine!

Kuhli loaches are very social, and you are more likely to see them if there is a group of 5-6. But they will still hide most of the time.

My favorite site for fish information is Seriously Fish at http://www.seriouslyfish.com/ You can spend hours browsing there!


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## vancat (Nov 5, 2004)

My favorite fish for something this size: green neons, emperor tetras, cherry barbs.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Something I forgot to add, the cherry shrimp will be regarded as prey by most of the fish. You can have a population of shrimp in a tank with fish, if you plant heavily AND establish the shrimp first. They need to start breeding before they can withstand predation. And don't try this with rare, high dollar shrimp!


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## spikey (Jan 3, 2013)

I was going to add the bettas first, then the shrimp. I currently have a lot a Java Moss growing all over some driftwood and across the substrate. This came from my other tank. It should make good hiding for shrimp. I am purchasing a bunch of long stemmed plants this weekend and some rock features for hiding before I add an anubias and moss balls from my other tank. Then I plan on adding the bettas, then the shrimp and waiting a while before adding more. Will the bettas hunt the shrimp? 

My idea behind the angels and rainbows was that they would go into a 90 gal in have later. I don't have room for it now. However, I think I will hold of on getting those fish.

I also think I will hold off on the Kuhli loaches. I think my substrate is too rough for them and 5-6 seems like a lot of fish for the bottom of this tank that will already have cherry shrimp.

I do really like the Green Neons. I still am very unsure of what schooling fish to choose.

I checked out seriouslyfishy.com. You are absolutely right. I did spend hours browsing. That is definately a resource for my favorites.


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## fraviz (Oct 24, 2012)

I would put the bettas at the end and would start with cherrries

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Bettas will definitely hunt the cherries. Some bettas are lazy about this, and some are shrimp-chasing fiends.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Adding shrimp after is like feeding the fish with live food. 

Swordtails are hard water fish, and some tend to be a bit aggressive. I would figure out something else if you really need to. Body shape is a lot like Bettas. 

I have kept Angels in a 29 gallon. It is tall enough to grow nice fins, but ultimately 2 will pair up and claim the whole tank. OK until they are about half grown or until the hormones kick in. 

Rainbow fish are highly active and really thrive in a longer tank. I noticed this when I moved my Boes from a 3' long tank to a 4'. They were almost lethargic in the 3' by comparison! These tanks held the same amount of water, too. Just different shapes: Tall vs long. 

Do not trust any Loaches with shrimp. Loaches thrive by hunting little things that live in the soil. Kuhlies have quite small mouths, but even so...


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