[Brooklyn Plant Guy]

You don't have to rule out swords altogether. There are some smaller species that will fit into your smaller tanks nicely. Like E. tenellus, E. latifolius, E. parviflorus var. 'Tropica Rosette', E. Quadricostatus and many other species and cultivars. You just need to choose wisely.

 

[Brooklyn Plant Guy]

A 29 gallon is actually deeper than a 30 gal. You could however slow the growth of the Amazon sword by not using any substrate ferts and dig it up every few months and cut the roots back. If you really want to fight algae rely heavily on stem plants. These are among your fastest growing plants and will scrub your water of excess nutrients.