Restocking My 29 Gallon

[Man of fish]

Well now that all my fish are gone but one I need to restock. Next weekend once I'm sure my tank is completely ready to start housing fish I plan on starting the restock.
Here's what I want:
Male betta
Danios if possible. I know they're better in 4 fters but my tank is a 3 fter so could I get some?
Pair of honey gouramis
8 blackskirt tetras
Many platys like 5-6 varieties I had 10 platys but I don't want as many as I had. 4 of these 6 will be female so I'll have 5 females and 2 males.
3 bristlenose pleco.
5 Upside down catfish as long as they'll be fine eating algae wafers as I don't wanna buy them their own food.
I know this is overstocked. It's just a list. Tell me what I can't have. I'm prepared to do a weekly 10-15% w/c and then a monthly 30-40% w/c. Just tell me any suggestions.

 

[Man of fish]

Scratch the corys. I actually want 5 upside down catfish. I thought they were corys. I'll change now.

 

[Man of fish]

And I forgot to say I wanted advice on what order to stick them in. I know the gouramis should be last and the platys will also be near the end because I'll be using my fry. I'll prolly just buy my Molly another Molly or 2 and maybe a platy so she isn't lonely. How old should the fry be before I put them in the adult tank?

 

[onidrase]

Male betta
Danios
Pair of honey gouramis
8 blackskirt tetras
Many platys like 5-6 varieties I'll have 5 females and 2 males.
3 bristlenose pleco.
5 Upside down catfish

Way way way way way way way over stocked

You want 3 plecos that grow 8 inches each, 3 schools of different fish, 5 four inch long catfish (which will not survive on algae wafers alone) danios which like a lot of swimming room, and bettas with gouramis which are notorious for fighting with each other.

Keep in mind that upside down catfish swim on all levels of the aquarium. They're not just bottom dwellers.

This is a more realistic stocking for your tank.

1 male betta OR a gourami pair
8 black skirt tetras OR 5 upside down catfish OR 7 platys
1 BN pleco

I'd still avoid danios. Keep in mind the 4 footer is a bare minimum for the danios preferred aquarium length.

EDIT: also, I had a BN pleco in a 29 gallon before, and I had to vacuum the substrate every other day because of how much waste it produced. You'd have to do like 2 gravel/sand vacuums a day to keep the waste down with 3 plecos. not to mention they'd already be cramped alone as a single pleco, none the less with 3 of them.

Also, never mix gouramis with bettas. it never ends well.

Even if you're willing to do a lot of water changes, your fish will be way cramped in more ways than comfortable. This makes them more prone to disease, and they'll be just as stressed as they would be being shoved in a pet store.

Black skirt tetras have been known to be very nippy, too, though I've never owned them myself, I don't even know if they'd be compatible with bettas and gouramis due to their nippiness.

 

[Man of fish]

I don't wanna sound rude by not taking all your advice but here's my new list.
1 male betta
8 black skirt tetras
6 platys
2 mollys
2 bristlenose pleco-these usually get 4-5 inches at a maximum in most aquarium. Said most websites.
What will upside down catfish eat?
Could I get the gouramis and the betta then if they start to fight move the betta to my spare 2.5 gallon?

 

[onidrase]

I don't wanna sound rude by not taking all your advice but here's my new list.
1 male betta
8 black skirt tetras
6 platys
2 mollys
2 bristlenose pleco-these usually get 4-5 inches at a maximum in most aquarium. Said most websites.
What will upside down catfish eat?
Could I get the gouramis and the betta then if they start to fight move the betta to my spare 2.5 gallon?

I wouldn't even try keeping the betta with gouramis. I have yet to see anyone keep a betta and gourami with each other without one killing the other.

The 2 BN pleco's is your own funeral. Be prepared to have pleco poo as your new aquarium substrate. I took mine back after I realized it was the sole source of the waste problems. And she was only 2 inches long.

my upside down catfish tend to lean more carnivorously, they like brine shrimp and blood worms, but their staple diet is a small mix of cichlid flakes (they steal them from my cichlids) and tropical flakes. They're also very active, at least they are right now, but they're young. I don't even know if it's humane to keep 5 of them in a 29g with so much other stock. They like a lot of decorations, which just makes your aquariums idea of stock a lot more cramped.

I'm sticking to my suggested stock list. But I suppose your might work, but I'm not a livebearer person, so I don't know how much they might overstock your tank. I'm gonna wait around for somebody to take a stab at your new idea.

 

[Man of fish]

Ok thanks for the help here's what I think I'll do.
1 male betta
8 blackskirt tetra
6 platys
2 molly
1 bristlenose pleco.
3 guppys
If the betta gets aggressive in the tank I'll move him to my extra 2.5 and get the gouramis in the 29.

Oh yes and any suggestions on more algae/bottom feeders that don't have too many requirements? I can feed anything at night but in the morning I can really only feed flakes and wafers so I'm not late to work.

 

[Man of fish]

And I'm also gonna add some extra ceramic media to my filter to help with the bio-load a bit.

 

[Man of fish]

Bump...

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Black skirts can be nippy, which isn't always good with a betta. And a betta with a gourami is just a bad idea, why chance it? If you really want a betta and have the spare tank, just go with the betta in there and have the gourami with the larger tank.


Other tetras that would work better than the black skirts (given their nippiness): bleeding heart if you are going for larger tetras, black neon tetra for smaller ones (with similar coloring to the skirts, & harlequin rasboras are a similar shape to the skirts and have NO tendency to nip at all. For a brighter change up, cherry barb males are bright red, while the females are more muted, almost pale orange. Just some other thoughts for you to consider.

 

[Man of fish]

Well I want bleeding hearts but I plan to get them for my 55 so I Want something different up here.
Any ideas on good algae eaters like Otos once the tank is mature? Here's what I've got.
8 blackskirt tetra
6 platy
2 molly
1 bn
2 honey gourami
1 male betta in my extra 2.5 gallon.

If I bought a 5.5 gallon could I get a male AND female betta?

 

[Man of fish]

Just a little background on my tank. I plan on adding some live plants like java fern java moss and anubias and anacharis. I also plan on adding some driftwood.
Any corys that I could put in my tank?

 

[Man of fish]

But do corys require sand? I don't want to change my substrate to sand.

 

[onidrase]

But do corys require sand? I don't want to change my substrate to sand.

Yes, they do. Black skirt tetras might harass your gouramis, too. Maybe black phantom tetras are a better option? I dunno if they nip as much, but they have a similar appearance to the black skirts.

 

[Man of fish]

Ok well I'm going to my LFS today to pick up some live plants I'll look at the tetras and see if there's any I like.