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hello! been a while since i posted. my tank has been nice and stable, but, some new issues have come up. i had a school of lemon tetras, and the school has been slowly getting smaller over the last few months. all of the fish are heathy, but the lemons have been succumming to old age it appears. they were all adults when i bought them a couple years ago, and i know they were at least two years old then. anyway, no signs of sickness, and i have lost a few over the last 6 months. I have not restocked them because i have been reading and you really want to have large schools of them, and my 29 gallon cannot support that many, and they are VERY active.

so, the question now is, i have a school of ember tetras and 2 female cherry barbs, and a betta that is very passive and has no problem with tank mates. i was thinking when i add more fish that i should just get a large school of ember tetras.

the question is, how many? the other question, when i bought the two female cherry barbs i bought a male as well, he did not survive the acclimation sadly, and i never bothered to get another male. should i get a male? or are the females going to be happier without a male pestering them all the time?

also, i do not want to overstock the tank. it is very overfiltered though and i also do gravel vac water changes weekly(30% when i change it).

this is the tank: http://mysite.verizon.net/reswyf0q/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/29finish.JPG

so, anyone have any thoughts on this?