# fish help?



## cydric (Nov 1, 2006)

I haven't bought any fish for my 29 gallon aquarium that has been up and running for about 2 weeks now. I have a few small plants growing in it now. They're the ones you can buy at Wal-Mart (bulb plants). I have no idea on what type of fish to get! I have a 10 gallon community fish tank right now that is over run with guppies. Well that's all i have in my 10 gallon is guppies and 1 pleco. My girlfriend bought me the 29 gallon tank for my birthday and now i have no idea what type of fish to get because i've had my 10 gallon tank with my guppies for roughly 3 and a half years. 

Any suggestions would be great!


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## toddnbecka (Sep 20, 2006)

I'd start my moving a few guppies into the tank to help get it established, or doing a fishless cycle. Either way, the tank needs to be cycled before stocking. 
Since your 10 gallon is overrun with guppies, maybe an angelfish or something similar that would appreciate some live food? It's better to cull some of the guppy fry than to leave the whole population overcrowded.


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## cydric (Nov 1, 2006)

The fry i see in my 10 gallon tank never live more than a day. I see my guppies chase them into a corner and peck them to death and then eat them. It's pretty sad but the tank is seriously overrun. I could add some guppies to my 29 gallon tank and then add an angel to it? So the angel will eat the guppies i added to the 29 gallon tank? If i get angels for my 29 gallon, what are some other fish that would get along with the angels? I hear angels can be quite aggressive...


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## toddnbecka (Sep 20, 2006)

A single angel wouldn't be a problem in a 29. I thought you had a tank full of guppies of all sizes. My next-door neighbor had one like that many years ago, hundreds of common guppies of every size crowded in a 10. An angel would thrive on guppy fry, you could also add several cory cats and a small school of tetras, provided they're big enough to avoid being eaten by the angel. Alternatively, you could skip the angel and stock a couple small schools of tetras like neons and serpae's.


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## cydric (Nov 1, 2006)

I have my 10 gallon tank full of guppies. I started out with 10 guppies around 3 years ago and now the tank is completely covered in guppies. They're all around the same size. The ratio of males to females is about the same. Would the angel try to eat my regular size guppies? Like i mentioned before, i've heard they don't like guppies or neon tetras. 

Confused?  lol


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I'm pretty sure Angels would chow on the smaller Guppies, so if you don't want to lose any, I wouldn't chance it.

I hope that isn't a common Pleco in your 10 gallon, or you're going to have some serious problems in there with water quality.

As stated, you'll need to cycle your new tank, so if you can add some substrate, filter media, ornaments, etc. from your established tank and add a few fish at a time, you should be okay. Adding some more plants would also be extremely helpful in sucking up the extra ammonia, nitrates, etc. while the tank is getting established.

Good luck!


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## cydric (Nov 1, 2006)

It is a common pleco ](*,) in my ten gallon tank. Thanks for all the info from everyone and i hope i don't kill too many fish. :|


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

You won't have to kill any fish as long as you're patient and follow those few simple procedures. 

If you can, I'd try to bring the Pleco back to the store, even if they don't give you a credit for him. As they grow, they produce a lot of waste which pollutes the tank, and it doesn't take long before they need a 75 gallon tank or larger. My big guy was crowded in my 125....


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## joephys (May 9, 2006)

JanS said:


> ...
> 
> I hope that isn't a common Pleco in your 10 gallon, or you're going to have some serious problems in there with water quality.
> ...


Or for that matter, just about any pleco. Not only water quality issues, but the tank is just to small. A common pleco, depending on the species, can get to be longer than the tank. Some of the smaller species can do ok, but I really think that for even the smaller pleco's, a 20 should be the minimum tank size.

As far as what you can put into a 29, just about any community fish should be ok with plants. The biggest thing to watch out for are fish that eat plants, or fish that dig in the substrate. Tetras, livebearers, rasboras, danios gouramies, and the mentioned angels are good tankmates.


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## cydric (Nov 1, 2006)

I planted some new plants i purchased today at a lfs and planted them in my tank. The fish i've decided on are cherry shrimp and not sure what type of small schooling fish to go along with the cherry shrimp i'm going to be purchasing in the future. right now i'm just hoping my newly purchased plants make it in my 29 gallon tank. :fear:


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## star rider (Feb 27, 2006)

cydric,
FYI, a full grown angel will eat full grown guppies. there are a few smaller plecos(catfish) youcan place in a 29..bristle nose and rubberlipped are two species that come to mind..albino BN's only get around 4-5 "

for the 10 you could get oto's if the water conditions are well kept.

there are other dwarf cichlids and some small cichlid species you could get also.

there are plwnty of small schooling fish if you want to go that route..tetras come to mind.


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## cydric (Nov 1, 2006)

star rider said:


> cydric,
> FYI, a full grown angel will eat full grown guppies. there are a few smaller plecos(catfish) youcan place in a 29..bristle nose and rubberlipped are two species that come to mind..albino BN's only get around 4-5 "
> 
> for the 10 you could get oto's if the water conditions are well kept.
> ...


I've decided on what type of fish i want for my 29 gallon once it's ready. I'm going to go with cherry shrimp with a small school of fish (undecided on that). Right now i'm hoping my newly bought plants take place and grow. As for my 10 gallon, i'm going to leave it alone because i'm not having any problems with it and it's had the same fish in it for over 3 years, my pleco is only about 4" long. If he gets any bigger then i'll consider returning him to a lfs. I keep up on my 10 gallon pretty well. I use a suck vacuum to suck up all the fish waste from the bottom about every 2 weeks and do water changes at the same time.

Anyone have any ideas on what type of small schooling fish would go good with cherry shrimp?


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Hi Cydric.

Just about any of the smaller schooling fish like Cardinals, etc. should be fine with your shrimp and long as they have plenty of cover.

What kind of plants did you buy? If you can get your hands on some fast growers, it will really help eat up the extra nutrients as it gets established. Some of the faster growing ones would be things like giant hygro, najas, or hornwort.

As for the plec, one thing you might want to keep in mind is that it's better to give them to the store when they're still fairly small. Once they get huge, some of the stores are hesitant to take them.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Hi Cydric, 
I decided to split this post and move the rest to another forum since you'll get better plant question response there. 
Here's where you can find the rest of it.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-to-aquarium-plants/33068-low-light-plants.html


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## cydric (Nov 1, 2006)

Thanks JanS.


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