Setting Up A New 29gallon Tank

[ricci427]

Hi all,

New member here, not a total novice, but definately still learning. I havent had a tank set up in about a year, last one was a 10 gallon., which I managed to keep pretty well.
I just bought a new 29 Gallon tank, and have a couple of questions. I will be planting with live plants, I alway think they keep the tank so much better looking, and I am using an Aqau clear 50 for my filter, I figured the bigger filter would be better than the one that came with the tank. I also have most of my test kits and will be testing over the next couple days.

So to my questions;

1) Cycling - How many and what type of hard wearing fish should I use for cycling.

2) Stocking (After Cycling)

I have always liked neon's, I just think they look so cool, how may should I buy for them to be comfortable in a school, I was thinking 6 to 8 of them

After the neons, I am open for suggestions as to which fish will work with them and how many. (Brither and cool looking the better)

3) Snails --- Because I plan on using live plants, I fully expect to get some snails, I read up on them after getting a mild attack of them in my last 10G tank. I didn't like the idea of using chemicals to fight snails then and I still don't now, what are the natural ways to kill them off, fish that may eat them, I think a clown loach or something like that? not sure if that is right or not. If all else fails I can squish them, but if they become too many I need other methods.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[rdd1952]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I would strongly suggest a fishless cycle rather than cycling with fish. Regardless of what fish you use to cycle, they suffer through the high ammonia and nitrite and are permanently harmed.

As far as stock is concerned, 6 to 8 neons would be fine. You could definitely go with more if you wanted. As far as other tankmates, you are mainly limited to smaller (less than 4" adult size) community fish. There are numerous options there.

You can have plants without snails. The best thing to do once you get your plants is to wash them good before adding them to the tank. Just dip the plants in a bleach solution of 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. That should kill the snails and any eggs. You definitely don't want a clown loach in a 29 gallon tank. They prefer to be kept in numbers too and even one is too big for a 29 gallon.

I also see your Group is "Validating". You need to find the email that would have come when you registered and click the link in it to validate your membership. Otherwise, you will only be able to post in a limited number of forums. If you haven't seen it, check your junk mail folders or you can have it resent by going here.