OK, your chemistry regarding ammonia and nitrite is one thing, but don’t worry about ph and such, it’s a waste of time – fish are highly tolerent of this.
Basically for a 29 gallon tank you want fish that will get to no more then 4 or 5 inches or so, since the idea is to give them a good home, not cram them in with no room to live. Considering how active cichlids tend to be, smaller is better.
Firemouths will work and are on the larger end of the scale.
Keyhole cichlids are fantastic because they are very mild and open up many options for you regarding tankmates.
Rams, Apistogramma and Kribensis are all dwarf cichlids which will do very well in your tank. Kribensis tend to be more aggressive than the others.
Because it is a tall tank, a pair of Angels could work too.
All of the above fish are monogomous, meaning you should learn how to establish a proper pair (usually you start off with extra fish to ensure males and females)
Cichlids are robust, and shyness wears off quickly. You don’t need dither fish, so only add other tankmates if you actually want them as part of the setup, and keep in mind with cichlids it’s always a risk.
African cichlids you must be careful with. They generally need bigger tanks, even the small kinds, and with a few exceptions like shell dwellers and a few Tanganyikan species, are not good for yours. The cichlids from Malawi are not monogomous, should be kept in numbers with their own kind, and even the smallest types should have bigger tanks due to very high activity and usually high aggression.
Research cichlids as much as you can before jumping into it. is a great place to start.
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