[SIZE=9pt]I am having a hard time keeping algae eating bottom feeders (plecos, Chinese algae eaters) alive in my newer aquarium. I setup a 65 gal back in March/April, it has pool filter sand about an inch thick for ground cover. I have some pieces of drift wood and java ferns for decoration. I have two canister filters, one of which came from another established aquarium. Tankmates are pretty easy going tetras (Congo, bleeding hearts) and a couple marigold variatus. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]I attempted to transfer a clown bushy nose pleco from my other aquarium and it died within 24 hours. I waited a month or two and bought a common pleco from the pet store and that again died within 24 hours. I tried a Chinese algae eater 3 weeks ago and it too died within 24 hours. No signs of disease or abuse. I saw a couple of them a few hours before I found them dead and they didn’t appear to be in distress (though it’s hard to tell with these types of fish). Prior to any pleco/algae eaters I added 5 albino corys. They all seemed happy for about a month and then I lost 3 of them over the span of 6-8 weeks. The two corys that remain appear to be doing well. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]My ammonia is at or near zero, same with nitrite, my nitrates have been ranging between 5-20, this may be the result of a variatus that died within a few days of introduction that I was not able to recover. Algae is an issue which is why I have been trying to place a pleco/algae eater in the aquarium. This could be from the higher nitrates and indirect light from a nearby window. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]I had suspected it could be related to a large piece of Malaysian driftwood I had bought for the aquarium. However I had soaked it for months and it has been in the aquarium since setup. Thinking it could have been contaminated – I removed the piece changed out some water and then attempted to add a new rubbernose pleco to the tank. It still died within 48 hours. I have hit a dead-end as to what is causing this issue…[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The PH of the aquarium is around 8.5 due to the local tap water. I try to do 20% water changes every week or two, and stir the sand to avoid toxic gas buildup. I have an aquarium with 2 plecos I want to take down, but don’t want to transfer the plecos if they are going to die.. The LPS and aquarium society have no idea why this is happening and I can’t find anything on the internet… Any ideas? Thanks![/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]I attempted to transfer a clown bushy nose pleco from my other aquarium and it died within 24 hours. I waited a month or two and bought a common pleco from the pet store and that again died within 24 hours. I tried a Chinese algae eater 3 weeks ago and it too died within 24 hours. No signs of disease or abuse. I saw a couple of them a few hours before I found them dead and they didn’t appear to be in distress (though it’s hard to tell with these types of fish). Prior to any pleco/algae eaters I added 5 albino corys. They all seemed happy for about a month and then I lost 3 of them over the span of 6-8 weeks. The two corys that remain appear to be doing well. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]My ammonia is at or near zero, same with nitrite, my nitrates have been ranging between 5-20, this may be the result of a variatus that died within a few days of introduction that I was not able to recover. Algae is an issue which is why I have been trying to place a pleco/algae eater in the aquarium. This could be from the higher nitrates and indirect light from a nearby window. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]I had suspected it could be related to a large piece of Malaysian driftwood I had bought for the aquarium. However I had soaked it for months and it has been in the aquarium since setup. Thinking it could have been contaminated – I removed the piece changed out some water and then attempted to add a new rubbernose pleco to the tank. It still died within 48 hours. I have hit a dead-end as to what is causing this issue…[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]The PH of the aquarium is around 8.5 due to the local tap water. I try to do 20% water changes every week or two, and stir the sand to avoid toxic gas buildup. I have an aquarium with 2 plecos I want to take down, but don’t want to transfer the plecos if they are going to die.. The LPS and aquarium society have no idea why this is happening and I can’t find anything on the internet… Any ideas? Thanks![/SIZE]
