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Alright I already have serval fish in it and have been expermenting a bit with different things to do with my tank but haven't been paying very much attetion to the fish for serval months due to remodeling the tank so it looks pretty. Now with that out of the way (by the way I'm usiing silk plants and driftwood for decorations)I'm ready to turn my attention to the fish that call my tank home.

Currently the tank has
1 Zebra Danio
4 Cory Cats (one is a panda the other three I'm not sure what type they are, I think they might be bronze corys but I'm not really sure)
2 Cherry Barbs
1 Rainbow Shark
4 Swordtails
5 Platies

Now first of all the Shark and the Cories I really want to keep them in the tank. But the danios, barbs, and live beares I'm open to suggestions. Anyone of the above fish (barbs, danios, and live bearers) can go back to the fish store it doesn't matter. I don't really want anymore corys. but I do want a schooling fish and a group of live bearers.

What I was thinking about doing was:
1 Rainbow Shark
4 Cory cats.
8 Zebra Danios
5 Cherry Barbs
then I wanted to bring some color in with some other type of fish preferibly live bearers.

Thus my question is if this was your tank what would you do? All suggestions are very much welcomed.

Thanks for reading and hopefully you can give me your openion.

The 8 danios sound fine, they like to be in larger groups, but with the cherry barbs I was told they like to be in pairs, so go with an even number (4,6)
I don't know about the shark...if its the one I'm thinking off then it will outgrow your tank.
With the cory cats, I would get 6, but 4 I think is fine (I have 4)
If there is no aggression issue with the livebearers, I would get all males if I were you, they are usually much prettier and then you won't have a population explosion (enless you want fry...)

Get 6 cories (all the same species). They are a schooling fish and need groups of 6.

All fish of the epalzeorhynchus (rainbow sharks included) family get to large for a 29 gallon aquarium. If the LFS told you otherwise, they were lying.

Thanks!

I kinda wanted to get some females because at the moment I have these three male swordtails in the tank who I have raised since they were born and they fight terribly all the time and usually always have torn fins.
But if I did get some livebeares what type would you suggest, how many and what colors?

Thanks for your input and I definatly will only get 4 then well maybe I'll get six.....

Yeah, I know the shark will get to big for the tank (I found that out about 3 months after I got him, a few people who were in my family and were supposed to know a lot about fish told me he would be fine , I don't ask them for advice anymore), when he does I'm getting two Pygmy Gormies. But at the moment he still fits in the tank so I figure since he wasn't cheap I'll keep him around until he gets to big.

Last edited by Babsie at 07-Dec-2004 13:34

But at the moment he still fits in the tank so I figure since he wasn't cheap I'll keep him around until he gets to big.

A fish kept in an aquarium too small for them will stunt... which means it will stop growing... and when this happens they have health problems.

Last edited by john.stone at 08-Dec-2004 20:19

John is right about the shark being stunted, but he will be okay in there for awhile. Once you notice him start to grow then I would move him out.

sorry for not posting on this for a couple of days I got kinda busy.

Anyhow heres how I think I'm going to stock it for the time being (please feal free to post any comments you may have).

8 Zebra Danios (and if they don't school this time I'm going to scream )
4 Cory Cats
1 Rainbow Shark
3 Swordtails (which will be one male and two females)

So does this sound alright? I'm going to the fish store tomorrow so please tell me soon so I don't make a mistake.

EDIT: Oh and I will be sure and return the shark when he begins to grow.

EDIT (again): I've decided to scratch the Cherry Barbs for the time being because I'm afraid I'm going to have to many fish in the tank. If it looks like it can stand a little more fish I might get 4 later on but for right now I'm not going to get any. With the cory cats I guess like I said if their seems to be enough room I'll add two more of them later to. I don't want to add to many at one time because my tank gets cloudy and messed up with the biofilter when I add to many fish at a time.

Last edited by Babsie at 10-Dec-2004 14:03

Last edited by Babsie at 11-Dec-2004 11:27

Cherry barbs like to be in pairs so go with an even number. I would get 6 cories instead of 4, it is really fun watching them play together, and they might not do so good if there are not 6 of them.
Everything else sounds fine, why not add a centerpiece fish though? A dwarf gourami would be nice, or maybe a killi or two?

That sounds okay, as long as you eventually move the shark like you said.
However, I also think you should add two more cories. They are shoaling fish, and do best in groups. There really is a big difference in behavior between a group of four cories, and a group of six. Plus, the more you have, the happier and less stressed they will be. Just go with only four cherry barbs (preferable two male/female pairs), and you will be all set!

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."