Question

[Martinique]

Hello, my name is Anita and live in the Netherlands.

I am relatively new to the hobby, had a goldfish and a lot of guppies breeding like crazy before, but haven't had fish in a while. 

Now I got an a tank 27,5×17,7×13,7 I believe that is a 29 gallon tank?

I am not good at gallons and inches🤦‍♀️

I planned to set it up with sand and live plants end of this month and I watched a lot of video's, but the info is so much it is overwhelming!!!

There are some fish that I like and would like to put in my tank, but not sure if I can put them together.

They are:

Bolivian rams 

Rummy nose tetra's

Amber tetra's

Honey gourami

Hillstream loach/dwarf chain loach

Bristle nose / rubber nose pleco

Can you give advise if I can put those together and how much?

Or if you have some other suggestions?

Thanks!!

[Fish Folk]

On 2/10/2022 at 3:50 AM, Martinique said:

Hello, my name is Anita and live in the Netherlands.

I am relatively new to the hobby, had a goldfish and a lot of guppies breeding like crazy before, but haven't had fish in a while. 

Now I got an a tank 27,5×17,7×13,7 I believe that is a 29 gallon tank?

I am not good at gallons and inches🤦‍♀️

I planned to set it up with sand and live plants end of this month and I watched a lot of video's, but the info is so much it is overwhelming!!!

There are some fish that I like and would like to put in my tank, but not sure if I can put them together.

They are:

Bolivian rams 

Rummy nose tetra's

Amber tetra's

Honey gourami

Hillstream loach/dwarf chain loach

Bristle nose / rubber nose pleco

Can you give advise if I can put those together and how much?

Or if you have some other suggestions?

Thanks!!

Welcome aboard! Glad you are interested in setting up this nice tank.

Here are several setups we did with a 29 gal. aquarium. Our tank dimensions are slightly different than yours, but this gives you some ideas.

We like to line the back with a black cardboard or aquarium backdrop so that the colors of plants and fish stand out in the light.

Remember that your tank will need a quality light to penetrate to the depth of this tank.

Sand would not be my personal choice, because it is inert, and over time compacts, restricting plant root growth. If you invest in a plant-friendly substrate, there are various colors. We always prefer black, but that is a personal decision.

Tall plants in the back. Broad-leaves plants look better in back, unless they are short. Smaller… shorter… finer plants in front looks nice.

 I like your fish selections. I’d go just with the Bristlenose, not the rubberlipped Pleco. Just personal favorite.

Bolivians and honey gourami should get along mg just fine.

Let us know when you’re sharing photos.

Remember to fully cycle your tank before adding fish.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Fish Folk

[Martinique]

Thank for all the tips, so to clear things out, can I put all the other fish together with the bristle nose?

And how much of each can I put in the tank.

And there is a kind of pink and a yellow light in the lid of the tank, is that the right lighting?

[Fish Folk]

I would choose either the hillstream loach or the bristlenose. They tend to occupy the same spaces.

Your Bolivians, loaches, and Plecos tend to be more bottom-dwelling.

I like doing a mix of both mechanical (or canister) filtration as well as a sponge filter in a 29 gal.

Once fully cycled, I think you could begin by adding plants. Lots of plants! I like 3x plants for every fish. Add loads!

then… 1x Bristlenose Pleco. I recommend wood in the tank for it. If you buy a pair, they could get along… but they might spawn, leaving you with hundreds of bristlenose fry. I like the super-reds, if you can find them for sale. Golden ones are also nice.

Then, add 12x or more of your tetras. I never add less than 12x of a species. You could go with 12x rummynose, then 12x amber tetras.

One problem: adding all of your fish… you are likely to get some sick ones. Unless you quarantine, be ready to spend money on medicines.

After the bristlenose and tetras, you can add your others. Maybe a pair of honey Gourami, and a trio of Bolivians. Chain Loaches are up to you.

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by Fish Folk

[JMiller2020]

Welcome to the group 

[Tyler Kaplan]

On 2/10/2022 at 5:39 AM, Fish Folk said:

I would choose either the hillstream loach or the bristlenose. They tend to occupy the same spaces.

Your Bolivians, loaches, and Plecos tend to be more bottom-dwelling.

I like doing a mix of both mechanical (or canister) filtration as well as a sponge filter in a 29 gal.

Once fully cycled, I think you could begin by adding plants. Lots of plants! I like 3x plants for every fish. Add loads!

then… 1x Bristlenose Pleco. I recommend wood in the tank for it. If you buy a pair, they could get along… but they might spawn, leaving you with hundreds of bristlenose fry. I like the super-reds, if you can find them for sale. Golden ones are also nice.

Then, add 12x or more of your tetras. I never add less than 12x of a species. You could go with 12x rummynose, then 12x amber tetras.

One problem: adding all of your fish… you are likely to get some sick ones. Unless you quarantine, be ready to spend money on medicines.

After the bristlenose and tetras, you can add your others. Maybe a pair of honey Gourami, and a trio of Bolivians. Chain Loaches are up to you.

 

I would encourage you to add you plants right away, and not wait for the tank to be cycled! In fact, when you add them right away they can offer some valuable information about how your tank cycle is doing. I like to add all of my plants first, and when I start to see some nice sustained growth from the plants I know that the tank is getting established. 

After I see some growth I usually add in a couple of strong fish like a platy to see how the system will respond, and go from there. I would avoid adding in everything at once unless you are more experienced in dealing with the ammonia spike that is likely to come with that. 

I would strongly agree with Fish Folk that you should either choose the hillstreams or the bristlenose, not both; it will already be a tighter fit (especially for the loach) and they will be competing at similar places in the water column, 

Good luck, and happy fish keeping!

[Martinique]

Yes I just saw the video on cycling with a planted tank so I am planning to do that.

And I really like the hillstream loach, more than the bristle nose pleco, so I'm going to look for that!!

Instead of the plates, I could add the tetra's first than? Because I really like those. And from what I understand I should add the loach or pleco last?

[Colu]

Welcome to the forum I agreed plants should be added straight away

[Martinique]

Thank you all so much!!

I feel so welcome here😊

When I planted my tank I'll keep you all posted.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I vote for Hillstreams too!!! 🙃 Welcome to the forum!

[Remi de Groot]

Welcome Anita,
Already started with the tank?
I started the hobby again 2 years ago and Aquarium Co Op has been a great place for information for me!

Couple of things to keep in mind that are a bit different in The Netherlands compared to the US.
- We are not allowed to use the medicines for fish they use in the States. So the 'Med trio' Cory is talking about a lot is not an option for us. Haven't found a great option yet. So it's even more important to start with healthy fish.
I found that the quality of the fish in the small general petstores and for example the Hornbach are mostly in bad condition. It's often better to go to a specialized fish store (that for examples quarantines the fish themselfes as well).
- Hornbach is a great place to buy other aquarium related stuff like aquariums, materials or hardscape. They have the well known brands but most of the time a bit cheaper then other places. I guess the 'always the lowest price' is also on the aquarium stuff.
- Our tap water is one of the best in the world and without chlorine. We don't have to use the dechlorinater stuff they use in all the english videos. Just tapwater is fine for the fish. The amount of KH en GH is different in every area. So you might want to test that to see what plants/fish will work with your water.

Can't wait to see some pictures of the tank getting ready!