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Hmmm, lots to think about...

-pearl gourami or pair
-school of cardinals
-school of cories or loaches

or...

-dwarf gourami or pair
-school of cardinals
-school of harlequins

The reason I skipped the harlequins in my first list is because you mentioned already having cardinals and wanting to increase the school.

Having a gourami, either school, and a bottom feeder would give the tank nice balance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Actually, in a 30 gal, a pari of angels and a school of tets/small plec/cores/etc can live peacefully together. However, swords tend to get big and nippy, and should not be housed with angels in such close quarters.

I wouldn't house multiple angels in a tank that size anyway, as they really need approximately 20-30 gallons of space a piece. The swords could pose a problem later on too, but I've never had any experiences with nippy swords before, so I can't back that up too well...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

Thanks, yeah I'm rethinking the angel thing, i dont think it will work out. Is there something else that would make a nice centerpiece fish? a gourami perhaps?

(btw there will only be 2 swordtails in the 30 gallon tank and they are female)

I am now thinking my 29 (or 30, i only know the dimensions) will end up having something like this so far:

6 corys
6 cardinal tetras
6 harlequin rasboras
2 swordtails (female)

what else would do nicely with those? I am thinking some sort of centerpiece fish and/or maybe yo yo loaches? how many yo yo's would I need for them to be happy? (i like loaches heehee)



[span class="edited"][Edited by devon7 2004-09-03 14:57][/span]

You could still do a single angel if you really wanted to, they do fine by themselves.

If not maybe a pearl gourami or a pair of them for a centerpiece? That's what I'm looking into for my 30g, I've gotten a lot of positive replies regarding them from people here.

I like loaches a lot too. They're not schoolers but like the company of their own kind, at three is a good start.

Personally I'd go with the angel or gouramis, the other schoolers you mentioned, and the loaches instead of the cories, but that's just me

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Larger end swords such as greens and reds can be fairly aggressive if crammped in small spaces; I guess I wouldn't refer to it as nippy, but more like downright mean. Also, a pair of angels will be FINE in a 30 gallon. Don't worry about it--most breeders use thirty galls as permanent housing for spawning pairs.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Klee 2004-09-03 15:14][/span]

Personally for that size tank I'd choose 6 corys OR 3 or 4 loaches, because of your limited space. Other than that, the cardinals, rasboras and a gourami or 2 for the centerpiece would be a nice tank

Also, just out of curiosity, how are you decorating the tank? Real plants? Fake? Driftwood? Just being nosy

]<]Dani<]<

would it be too much to add 3 loaches and a pearl gourami? or should i skip the loaches and get 2 gouramis?

btw my swordtails are pineapples.

edit: to answer the plant question:

It will be pretty well planted my plants in my 10 gallon have done well so I am taking the leap and splurging on plants haha

I have one interesting rock i found which i plan on using (the bottlecap is there for size comparison):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v175/devon7/rock.jpg

[span class="edited"][Edited by devon7 2004-09-03 15:49][/span]

Eh, really that's overstocking the tank. IMO a better option is:

1 pearl gourami
2 swords
6 cardinals
6 rasboras

You might be able to get away with 2 pearls, but the tank would require frequent water changes. Also, dwarf gouramis are smaller than regular gouramis, so one or two of them would be nice alternative centerpiece fish to consider, vs the pearls.

BTW, the rock looks nice!

]<]Dani<]<

Klee's right. An angel really needs a bigger tank to be happy, especially when it is going to be stocked that full. An angel or 2 in a 29g BY THEMSELVES could work, but not an angel WITH other tankmates.

Ok, all this desicsion making! I know for sure I am going to stick to upping my cardinals to 6 as well as my corys. I find corys very entertaining, they have a lot of personality but I also have these 4 harlequins to find a place for.

would 6 each cardinals, corys, and harlequins; plus 2 pineapple swords; and then 1 gourami be way too much? would it make any room if I didn't increase the harlequin school size (leave it at 4) or would that just be pointless? they have been in a school of 4 at my friends house for quite some time.

Also, heres a quick Q on the cycling, I am going to plant the tank when i get it set up (either late tonight or tomorow morning.) If i add like 3 gallons of my old tank water (I am doing a water change on the 10) and one or 2 of my plants and a rock or 2 from my existing tank, how much faster will it speed up the cycling process? like how long should I wait to add the first fish? oh, and which fish should i add first? I am thinking I could use all 4 swordtails and then put the other 2 swordtails back in the 10 once I start to add the other fish.

Adding the water and decor from the other tank will only seed the bacteria. You need to have a constant supply of ammonia to feed the bacteria. The swordtails are good cycling fish. Once the ammonia and nitrIte levels spink then fall back to 0ppm, the cycle is done.

The 6 corys, 6 rasboras, 6 cardinals, 2 swords and 1 gourami should be fine, but no more. It's a little overstocked, but not disasterously.

I'd add the fish in this order:
swords to cycle
gourami
corys
rasboras
cardinals
Each grouping about a week apart.

]<]Dani<]<

thanks! so starting it with a little bit of my old bacteria is still more helpful than starting with no bacteria at all, correct?

And also I think that is the way I am going to leave it:

6 corys
6 harlequin rasboras
6 cardinal tetras
2 swordtails
1 gourami

I think that will make for some nice flashy schools, a pretty good group of bottom feeders which are interesting to watch, plus the swordtails add some very flashy orange into the color scheme, and the gourami will make a nice centerpiece.

now what kind of gourami?

Personally I'd go with a dwarf gourami (powder blue, flame or neon) because they're smaller and VERY colorful. They're shy at first but once they're used to their new home they're out all the time.

Of course starting with some bacteria rather than none is better

]<]Dani<]<

I got the tank home from my friends moms house, and to my dismay but not to my surprise, it was totally neglected. had to scrape the algae buildup with a razor, and taking the gravel out was soooo smelly. it made the remaining water turn black and muddy. I dont even want to guess how long its been since the filter was changed, and about 30% of the water was evaporated when i got there. The filter is completely full of algae (the blackish green type) and all of the test kits and stuff looked years old and not used very much. I'm surprised the fish that were in there lasted that long! I'm a little worried about putting the rasboras in my tank as i dont have a quarantine. I'm guessing they're probably just a little dirty though. no disease or they would surely be dead by now. I think the heater might be dead, too.

any suggestions on an economical heater for a 29 gallon tank?

Tempting as it is, don't buy the cheapest you can find. Go for a mid-range priced 100-150 watt heater and you should be fine

]<]Dani<]<

cool ok, how about a filter? I dont want to buy the cheap one but I also have no income right now

You're getting bit by multi tank syndrome - join the club ! Most of us are also..

Stock for a 29 gal not a 30, the difference is 6x12 inches of surface area which makes quite the difference.
I used to call my 29 gal a 30 in here also...

The Amazon Nut...

thanks, yeah I didn't know it was a 29 until I used that volume calculator, I take it 30 gallons are a different shape?