New to fish keeping.

[HoldenOn]

Hey all,
I'm looking to get a 29 gallon tank with 2 angelfish, 4 or 5 platys, and maybe some cory cats? After doing some research I have come to the decision of putting live plants in my tank. On that note, I'm uncertain of the required temperature, lighting and compatible plant/fish species. The tank I'm looking to buy is 18 inches tall, which according to my research, is fine for Angelfish. I live in a hot desert so maintaining warmer water should not be difficult as well. I'm going to be purchasing the majority of my equipment and fish from Petsmart. Any advice/tips would be greatly appreciated! Stay safe!

 

[Crispii]

Welcome!

Unfortunately, a 29-gallon aquarium is a little on the small size for angelfish, let alone two. Angelfish do best in a group of at least five or more and having at least two in a 29 gallon can cause aggression within the angels or breeding in which the parents will fiercely defend the eggs. Depending on your water hardness, some species may not be compatible. Platies are a hard water fish while Corydoras is a soft water fish, however, there are some species of Corydoras that can tolerate harder water.

 

[Essjay]

Hi, welcome to the forum


The first thing you need to do is find the hardness of your tap water. It may be on your water provider's website - you need a number and the unit of measurement.

The reason I say this is because you have mentioned 2 soft water fish (angels and cories) and a hard water fish (platies). We should aim to keep fish which come from water with a similar hardness to our tank water.

A 29 gallon tank is suitable for both cories and platies depending on what your water is like but as Crispii said, it's too small for angelfish.
If you have soft water, cories are suitable, but make sure you use sand as the substrate. Play sand is the most economical option and is suitable for plants.

But you have time to finalise your fish list as you'll need to prepare the tank for fish, we can discuss the options for doing this later. The first thing is to get a tank, and find out the hardness of your tap water

 

[Retired Viking]

Hello and welcome to the forum, I had a bonded pair of angelfish in a 55 gallon tank, they grew to about 6 inches (body) that is the only way to have less than 5 fish. Bonded pair(mated) are hard to find. I was lucky and was given them as a rescue.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Angle fish need to be in groups of 6 or more, I know that for sure.

What is the pH, GH, and KH of your water? You can find this out going to your local water providers website, or by calling them.

 

[HoldenOn]

Thank you both for replying so quickly! According to my cities water company, I should have a pH of 7.3. I don't see GH or KH, do they stand for something?

 

[Retired Viking]

Thank you both for replying so quickly! According to my cities water company, I should have a pH of 7.3. I'll be purchasing the tank later this week!

Did they list the GH (general hardness) that is the most important number.

 

[Essjay]

Unfortunately, that's pH not hardness. Does it give hardness as well? it will be measured in dH or mg/l calcium carbonate or perhaps grains per gallon.

 

[HoldenOn]

"In general, the hardness may be considered to average about 175 mg/l or about 10.2 grains per gallon."
Is that it? that's the closest thing to general hardness I'm seeing

 

[PheonixKingZ]

"In general, the hardness may be considered to average about 175 mg/l or about 10.2 grains per gallon."
Is that it? that's the closest thing to general hardness I'm seeing

Yes, that is correct. @essjay can convert it for you.

 

[Naughts]

I think your GH is 175ppm or 9.8 German degrees hardness. This is slightly hard water.
You can research fish requirements here https://www.seriouslyfish.com/

 

[HoldenOn]

I think your GH is 175ppm or 9.8 German degrees hardness. This is slightly hard water.
You can research fish requirements here https://www.seriouslyfish.com/

Thanks!

 

[HoldenOn]

Hello again!,
I visited my nearby Petsmart, and after seeing what they have fish and plant wise have a couple questions. Does gravel work well with Corydoras? I had seen some people saying it would hurt them, and that is something I would very much like to avoid. I also saw some Marbled Gourami, which I though would serve as a very nice Angelfish substitute. The attendant helping me said I could keep 2 or 3 in a 29 gallon, and that they would go well with Corydoras, I was wondering if anyone could verify that. And finally, if gravel is fine with Corys, would plants be able to grow in it with root tabs? Oops, one last thing what kind of plants do y'all recommend. I heard that Gourami need top plants but I'm not 100% sure what that really means. Thank you so much for your time!

 

[Crispii]

Sand is better for Corydoras compared to gravel. As for the "marbled gourami," I assume it's Trichopodus trichopterus, which is an aggressive species of gourami. Having two or three in a 29 gallon would cause constant aggression. As for plants, you can grow them in both sand or gravel, provided you give them nutrients such as root tabs or liquid fertilizer. Epiphyte plants such as Anubias and java fern are great for beginners. Top plants mean floating plants which include duckweed, Salvinia, frogbit, etc.

 

[Shiverz]

Hello again!,
I visited my nearby Petsmart, and after seeing what they have fish and plant wise have a couple questions. Does gravel work well with Corydoras? I had seen some people saying it would hurt them, and that is something I would very much like to avoid. I also saw some Marbled Gourami, which I though would serve as a very nice Angelfish substitute. The attendant helping me said I could keep 2 or 3 in a 29 gallon, and that they would go well with Corydoras, I was wondering if anyone could verify that. And finally, if gravel is fine with Corys, would plants be able to grow in it with root tabs? Oops, one last thing what kind of plants do y'all recommend. I heard that Gourami need top plants but I'm not 100% sure what that really means. Thank you so much for your time!

Anything with barbels (the little feeler thingies) are best off with sand, as essjay said play sand is probably the best option as it's nice and cheap. Anything like gravel can damage these barbels with their sharp edges, sometimes the damage is irreversable. Personally I think sand looks better. Also all plants shouldn't have any problems being planted in it.

As crispii mentioned, the gourami can be quite aggresive, so it'd be best to avoid those unfortunately.

On a side note, yet quite a serious one, be careful on what information you take in from main stores like petsmart. Although on occasion you do find an assistant who really knows their stuff, alot of times they can give you information that can seriously harm your fish/tank. There's no end to storys of where people have followed their advice and met disaster very quickly. I'm glad that you came back here to cross reference the information you was given, hats off to you for doing that.