Changing up my tank - fish advice wanted
I have an established moderately planted (low tech) 29g tall community tank. I've lost some fish in the last year to old age, so now i'm in the process of slowly restocking and would like some advice on a nice, pleasant school to add and, possibly, a centerpiece fish.
Current inhabitants: 2 cory cats*, 6 colombian tetras, 3 nerite snails, 1 penguin tetra, 1 purple glo-tetra. I just got the Colombians on a whim about a month ago and they are a hoot. They follow me around for food, school beautifully in the evenings, and seem to get along with everyone fairly well. (Don't judge me for the frankenfish - I have a kid. You try keeping a kid from picking out neon colored fish when they are little.) I used to have a nice school of pristellas, the last passed two weeks ago from old age.
Since the tank is planted, it has a lot of dark and light green around. I like the way the blue and red of the Colombian Tetras flash and contrast. I was thinking of adding something silver/black to contrast, like a silvertip tetra or a diamond tetra. I would restock the penguin tetras, but I've had a lot of trouble with them being bullies, even in a school of 10. I do like pristellas as a fish - they were great, I just want something that doesn't have red fins now that I have the Colombians.
I've heard of people adding a betta to an established tank as a centerpiece. I'm interested in that, but I wouldn't want to add something just to kill it. I had a brief experiment with shrimp that ended with very happy fish, but no more shrimp. I have a female betta at work who is a delight. WIth the smaller fins on a female, it seems like that could be a decent option, if the other guys aren't going to harass her and vice versa.
So with all that, a school of diamond tetras and a betta? Or a school of something else? Betta or no betta?
*I added the cory pair when the tank was about a year old. They were castoffs from someone else's tank and my guess is that they are now 10 years old. I've tried adding other cories and they seem to fight with the established guys for food (even when I set up feeding stations) and die unexpectedly in the first month. Sometimes I can catch an injury and treat, most of the time I just have a dead fish, which sucks. I feel like a fish killer for the continued cory deaths. While I'd like a larger school, I'm not sure I can risk the lives of more innocent fish to get there.
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I would avoid adding anything with longer fins. So, no to the Betta. Like you mentioned in your post, tetra can be fin nippers. Something to consider is that sometimes our tanks tell us we are at/ close to our stocking capacity by killing off fish. It isn't necessarily that you are a fish killer. It could just mean that your tank cant handle the additional fish. This is often the case when you have a low tech/ low maintenance set up. In order to keep high densities of fish you need to consider extra filtration and frequent water changes. I'm too lazy for this, so I usually settle for low maintenance and low stocking densities.
If you are going to add another school, they should be fish that are going to stay 2 inches or smaller. So this would mean no to the Diamond Tetra. I would consider something like Black Neon Tetra, Harlequin Rasbora, or Danios.
Alternatively you could go the route of adding in a male-female pair of small peaceful cichlids. My suggestions would be Kribensis if you are a low maintenance fish keeper. If your are doing frequent small water changes you could consider dwarf cichlids such as Rams.
I am confused by the Frankenfish statement. If your Colombian Tetra are red finned with blue sheen on the body, this is the natural color.
Hi FishKnight! You don't think she would run into some agression issues if she put in Kribs?
Hey, you're right! OP probably should stick to the more peaceful South American dwarf cichlids (Rams). The Kribs might become overly aggressive if they form a breeding pair. In the 29 gallon there might not be enough space for the other fish to escape the aggression. I would be most worried about the cory cats. Good catch Mewt!
I think with the franken fish comment she means more like the neon ones they sell labeled as glofish. I would listen to this guy more than me by the way as I am not very experienced with freshwater.
Thanks. I just read it again and caught where I got confused. I read it as glo-light tetra instead of purple glo-tetra. Should have paid more attention.
Are all the tetras schooling together well? I love your stocking choices also. I would personally not go with a Betta because sometimes even the females can be finicky and some fish are dicks and will fuck with their fins. A small school of diamonds would look awesome. I would keep it small though as it might get a little overstocked. Maybe not though. Bettas don't really flair their fins much anyways so a lot of the times they can look pretty boring. Maybe an angel? Could look interesting.