Gifted new 29gal, stocking ideas

[NanotankBank]

Hello all, recently I had a friend who moved out of country and decided to give me his established 29gal aquarium. Included were several live plants, a piece of driftwood, sponge filter meant for up to 50gal, heater, etc. Also, he gave me his last remaining fish (a Juvenile veil angelfish). I’ve let the tank kinda settle down for a few days and the parameters are roughly: pH: 7.0-7.4, Temp: 78-80°F and the water is right on the brink between hard and soft. Anyways, I was wondering what you’d recommend I’d put with this lone angelfish in this 29gal. I know the 29gal is a sort of “rocky” terrain for an angel, but he seems to be doing well and I want to add a few things.

how would this sound in terms of stocking:

-1 angel (owned)

-1 Bolivian ram

-4-5 corydoras (Albino or False Julii)

-2 Honey Gouramis

-5-6 Cardinal Tetras

 

let me know if you have any suggestions! Thanks!

[Jess]

I won't comment much on your specific stocking selection because I'm not an expert on that, but with a long angel in a 29 gallon I'd probably do a big school of corydoras (probably sterbai because they like warm temps) and a big school of cardinal tetras and call it a day.  Both corys and cardinals like the same (higher) emps as the angel, so you won't be pushing their metabolism too much I think.  Those are both schooling fish - they really just don't as good when you only have 5 or 6.  A dozen Sterbai corys and 14-16 cardinal tetras will be way more fun to watch I think.   That said, will the angel eat the cardinal tetras when it becomes full-grown?  Good question...maybe someone else can chime in.

I personally would not pair the honey gouramis and the ram and the angel because I'd worry about squabbling...but like I said, I've never tried it and I haven't kept any of those except the honey gourami long ago.  Maybe you could get away with just the ram....I'll let someone with more experience comment on this grouping though!

Edited September 21, 2022 by Jess

[NanotankBank]

On 9/21/2022 at 1:34 PM, Jess said:

I won't comment much on your specific stocking selection because I'm not an expert on that, but with a long angel in a 29 gallon I'd probably do a big school of corydoras (probably sterbai because they like warm temps) and a big school of cardinal tetras and call it a day.  Both corys and cardinals like the same (higher) emps as the angel, so you won't be pushing their metabolism too much I think.  Those are both schooling fish - they really just don't as good when you only have 5 or 6.  A dozen Sterbai corys and 14-16 cardinal tetras will be way more fun to watch I think.   That said, will the angel eat the cardinal tetras when it becomes full-grown?  Good question...maybe someone else can chime in.

I personally would not pair the honey gouramis and the ram and the angel because I'd worry about squabbling...but like I said, I've never tried it and I haven't kept any of those except the honey gourami long ago.  Maybe you could get away with just the ram....I'll let someone with more experience comment on this grouping though!

Thanks for the feedback! So regarding the honey gouramis and the rams, I have a 20gal tank that has 3 Bolivians and about 6 honey gouramis, they get along just fine so I was gonna take out the odd 1 Bolivian Male out and like 2 of the gouramis. My buddy has said that the angel got along with Honey gouramis in his tank before, and I love their size and look so that’s why I was interested. I also thought of the ram because they stay on different parts of the tank and I feel that’d be a good match take it as they r both cichlids. But yes, if anyone has any other feedback, that’d be much appreciated!

[Jess]

On 9/21/2022 at 2:38 PM, pjust9 said:

Thanks for the feedback! So regarding the honey gouramis and the rams, I have a 20gal tank that has 3 Bolivians and about 6 honey gouramis, they get along just fine so I was gonna take out the odd 1 Bolivian Male out and like 2 of the gouramis. My buddy has said that the angel got along with Honey gouramis in his tank before, and I love their size and look so that’s why I was interested. I also thought of the ram because they stay on different parts of the tank and I feel that’d be a good match take it as they r both cichlids. But yes, if anyone has any other feedback, that’d be much appreciated!

Oh, cool, that's good to know!  

[nabokovfan87]

The angel might pick on the gourami is my only concern. 

[redfish]

On 9/21/2022 at 1:38 PM, pjust9 said:

I have a 20gal tank that has 3 Bolivians 

Do you know the sex of your rams? 

[NanotankBank]

On 9/21/2022 at 2:50 PM, redfish said:

Do you know the sex of your rams? 

Two males and a female, I inherited 4 and one of the females died so it’s three remaining

On 9/21/2022 at 1:53 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

The angel might pick on the gourami is my only concern. 

The angel had previously been with honey gouramis and left them alone from what I hear 🤷🏼‍♂️. So other than that, would the rest of that stock seem fine to you?

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/21/2022 at 4:05 PM, pjust9 said:

The angel had previously been with honey gouramis and left them alone from what I hear 🤷🏼‍♂️. So other than that, would the rest of that stock seem fine to you?

I don't like putting corydoras that high (julii's are fine) but the highest I would take a corydoras is ~76-78.  I understand people go higher.  Having warmer water fish that thrive in the 78-80 range just means that the corys might not thrive.  Shorter lifespan is mostly what it means.  If you want them to be 76+ then I'd lean towards the false julii / trilineatus corydoras. 

The angel might have been fine because is was still a juvenile?  The main thing is to have line of sight breaks, tall plants and/or hardscape so the angel can have it's territory.   I had one angelfish, once, and it didn't go well.  Hopefully yours is a lot more timid and community friendly!

[NanotankBank]

On 9/21/2022 at 6:48 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I don't like putting corydoras that high (julii's are fine) but the highest I would take a corydoras is ~76-78.  I understand people go higher.  Having warmer water fish that thrive in the 78-80 range just means that the corys might not thrive.  Shorter lifespan is mostly what it means.  If you want them to be 76+ then I'd lean towards the false julii / trilineatus corydoras. 

The angel might have been fine because is was still a juvenile?  The main thing is to have line of sight breaks, tall plants and/or hardscape so the angel can have it's territory.   I had one angelfish, once, and it didn't go well.  Hopefully yours is a lot more timid and community friendly!

Very friendly from what I’ve seen and heard. Luckily the plants I got from him were fully grown Amazon swords, El Niño ferns and Anubias. So they cover the tank nicely. What form of tetra would you recommend? Would Cardinals be big enough that they don’t become dinner?

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/21/2022 at 5:18 PM, pjust9 said:

What form of tetra would you recommend? Would Cardinals be big enough that they don’t become dinner?

I can't say, honestly. I just don't have enough experience with angels.  Emperor Tetras would be my pick! Aquahuna has some cool varieties.  @tolstoy21 is also giving some away in the fish trades section 🙂 .