Newbie Question Time!

[doublenerds]

Hello all!

OK, my head is spinning from all the reading I have been doing and I would love to get some advice from more experienced aquarium keepers.

Here are the parameters with which I am working:
*29 gallon tank (30x12x19)
*Setup is in my office, which means I will have to keep maintenance pretty basic due to time constraints (in other words, I can't dither with pH or elaborate plant maintenance schemes)
*Tap water is 8.2 pH
*My current heater is not adjustable - internal thermostat is intended to keep water at 78 degrees.
*I bought and loaded standard gravel before reading up on planted tanks and the tank is situated in a way that will make it very hard for me to redo this aspect, so I have decided to lump it and stick with my original setup.
*I am about 3 days into my fishless cycle. I am going to do a partial water change tomorrow because my ammonia level was above 8ppm this afternoon (my fault, I inadvertently added too much ammonia the night before)
*gH and kH unknown but I will test tomorrow!

I have about a million questions, but I'll try to stick to the important ones.

1) I am in a complete quandry about which fish to choose. I think my water will be too warm for livebearers like mollies/platies etc, and from what I have read it seems African cichlids will grow too large for my tank. I am not sure what other options I have with my current pH. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would love to get some marbled hatchets but that will depend on the mid-level fish available to me.
2) Should I avoid plecos due to size? If so, what is a reasonably sized bottom-feeder/algae sucker for my size tank? I must admit I do love the super fugly yet somehow charming bristlenose look
3) Are my plants doomed because I don't have a good planty-type substrate?

I really want to avoid stressing and/or killing my fish, so I do want to be extra careful about the mix-and-match process. And my brain is all kerfuffled with new information, so I'm kinda carefulling myself into a permanently empty tank

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[donny7]

Your temperature will be consistent at 78, so you're well within the means of housing live bearers. Generally tropical fish temperature ranges from 72-83. Anything under, or lower, within reasonable means would be pushing it. I'm not too sure about your PH, though.

The majority of pleco's do get quite large, such as common plecos. If you want one, you can go with Clown, Bristlenose, and Goby plecos. You could also go with an otocinclus catfish, as they get about 1.5", and are generally good about cleaning up algae.

Your plants should be fine. I have plants rooted in regular black aquarium gravel, and plan to root some in sand. Generally speaking, plant-friendly substrate will promote a faster growth and ensure a bit more longevity, but with standard gravel, proper lighting, and a cycled tank, they should be just fine !

Enjoy your tank !

 

[Randi]

Your temp is good for most tropical fish and adding a piece of bogwood should lower your pH (although some fish such as guppies, white clouds, and plecos will be fine with a higher pH). A bristlenose pleco will get about 5 inches long so as long as you keep that in mind when stocking, it should be fine. Hatchetfish are nice top dwellers but they are jumpers, so if you are going to be away from the office all weekend make sure you have a good hood on your tank.
Have fun with your tank!

 

[fishgirl4]

So when you get your fish that its better to under feed them then over feed them.

 

[waterdrop]

So when you get your fish that its better to under feed them then over feed them.

That's correct, somewhat. Our tropicals are different from us in at least a couple of major ways that make it hard for us to relate. They are cold-blooded, meaning they don't constantly need extra food "fuel" as much as we do to keep that heat going.. but more significantly they have evolved usually in such a scarce overall food supply that they usually have no mechanism for satiety, or "feeling full."

Most beginners overfeed, so one of the general attempts at feeding advice is to feed the fish no more than they can eat in 2 to 3 minutes (the assumption here is typical flake food falling and being eaten by tetras or livebearers.. the situation can seem quite different for other types of feeding and fish that feed in different ways but at least it's a start that's meant to give you an idea.)

Although our fish can survive 3 weeks (or some say even more) with no food while we're on vacation, most fish keepers enjoy feeding their fish in a comfortable way that strikes a balance of comfort without over-indulgence. Multiple tiny feedings of course get closer to mimicking nature, but in practical terms there is nothing wrong with a single morning feeding as a habit of care.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[doublenerds]

Thanks for the feedback, all! I really hope my plants make it, I'm already growing fond of them