What should I get??????

[Animalfreak]

So my grandma told me today that if I cleaned out her empty 29gal fishtank, she would buy me fish to put in it. She told me no betta's or $50 fish lol. I have been thinking about what fish to put in their. It has no heater because the one in there died. So maybe I could get her to get one. I have raised guppies and mollies before and would like to possibly add some guppies, since I miss them. But what else could I add that would be easy to care for and won't cost a fortune. Any ideas?

[thekoimaiden]

You could easily put guppies in a 29 gal. That would be a great home for colony of males. You should also put your Chinese algae eater in there, too. They need a large tank as they grow to around 6 inches long (reference). And depending on whether or not your pleco is a bristlenose pleco, he should also find another home. The common pleco grows about 12 inches long and needs a 55 gallon tank. Common pleco v bristlenose pleco.

[Animalfreak]

I would love to get guppies but I want more fish in the tank also. What else could I put in there?

[thekoimaiden]

It depends on how hard your local water supply is. If it is just medium hard there will be some tetra that can also live with your guppies, but if you have very hard water guppies and other livebearers are probably the only things you can keep. To find your local water hardness you can either check for a local water report online or call your local water treatment plant and ask for the GH and KH readings. You will also need to find out your tap pH, but the best way to do that is to buy a liquid test kit from the Pet Store. The API freshwater master kit is the best.

[djembekah]

agreed. i love my API freshwater master kit. best invention ever.

[Animalfreak]

Well it is well water. My LPS is like 45mins away from us and I can't drive yet. If I wasn't to do the guppies what could I put in the tank? I really don't want hard to care for fish or goldfish.

[Olympia]

You could do a whole group of white cloud mountain minnows. They are pretty adaptable and fine in medium hard water.

[Creat]

My tetra adapt to the hard water conditions where i live so dont worry to much plus if the tank is planted it automatically reduces hardness. You could put anything u wanted really I have a thirty gal tank for reference that has 1tiretrack eel 1 electric blue crayfish 6 green tiger barbs a pleco and right now a baby chiclid, its planted and easy matinence :p

[starrlamia]

you could always do a community tank and get a school of a few fish, 4-6 guppies or endler's or mollies (or a school of each either male or female, they can all interbreed so you wouldnt want to mix male and females), a few platies, 4 or so cories, some snails. They are all pretty hardy fish, the cories i have found are a bit more finicky but livebearers are pretty hardy, ive had good luck with endler's and guppies.

[thekoimaiden]

Originally Posted by Animalfreak

Well it is well water. My LPS is like 45mins away from us and I can't drive yet. If I wasn't to do the guppies what could I put in the tank? I really don't want hard to care for fish or goldfish.

With hard water your choices are pretty much cichlids, livebearers, goldfish, or some of the more adaptable tetra. But it really depends on how hard your water is. In medium hard water (7 - 15 GH), a lot of tetra can manage. That's why we need to know just how hard your water is. Since you have well water, you should have a water quality report from the people who check your well. Ask your parents for it. We need the GH and KH.

A planted tank will reduce the pH (not GH) but only if the KH is already low. In hard water there isn't much to be done to reduce the hardness except cutting the hard water with RO water or rainwater. While it may not seem important to us, hardness and pH of the water matter greatly to the fish, and keeping a fish in parameters it can't handle will lead to a shortened life span and less vibrant colors.

Create, I hope you plan to upgrade for your tiretrack eel. They grow about 3 feet long and need a 130 gal tank. It will do best in a brackish tank. (Source)