slakey

Ok in the past I have kept baby plecostamus' and all have died.
So I'm thinking that the whole "them being very hardy" is a load of garbage, as my guppies outlived them in the same tank at the same time...

So I was wondering what would be best for me to get?

Either no plecos and find something else to eat the algae?

Get a more mature pleco?

I currently have in the tank:

Loads of guppies
2 German Blue Rams
3 Three-Lined Corys
2 Black Columbian Corys? *correct name?*
About 2 Zebra Danios

The tank is a Juwel Rio 125, it has two filters the original Juwel fitted filter and a REna Kid Maxi Light filter. Also has a airpump, two pieces of bogwood, half sand half pebbles, and currently one small plant...

Now when the next water change comes along I would be hoping to get some new plants in there... Any idea?

And would a second smaller air pump do the fish favours?

The water stats will come shortly after I post this...

Thanks

EDIT: Water Stats

pH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0.25-0.50
Nitrie: 0ppm
Nitrate: 40ppm

But I done a 25% water change on Thursday... so it may still be settling.
Ive added some seachem prime in to help.

And will consider to use 7.2 pH buffer over the next week to get that down.

Barbrella

A bristlenose pleco would be the right size for that tank and they are excellent algae eaters. For a common pleco, you would need a much larger tank.

They are very hardy, so something in your tank has been killing yours.

I wouldn't add anything else until you get rid of the ammonia and get the nitrates to a lower level. Keep doing water changes until you see zero ammonia.

IMO, pH buffers aren't a good idea, since they won't keep the pH stable and fluctuating conditions are much worse for fish than steady levels. Your pH is fine for nearly all fish, except maybe the rams who like soft and acid water.

ETA: You say you have "loads" of guppies? Just how many? Depending on the number, your tank may already be overstocked.

slakey

10+

And I'm trying to figure out a way of getting rid of them as I'd like to put something else in instead of them.

COBettaCouple

The tank isn't cycled and those are fairly high levels of ammonia and nitrite. How big is your tank? The probable cause of the tank being uncycled is too many fish for the bio-load. I would go to 25-40% daily water changes until it's cycled and not add any plecos for now.

Stable pH is crucial to plecos and they are much more sensitive to water conditions than guppies, so ph altering isn't best for them and they can be slowly acclimated to your pH, especially if bought at a local shop.

sirdarksol

Buffers do keep the pH stable. That's their point. However, I did not notice a big difference in pH when I used them. I think that they're just a waste of money that adds excessive amounts of minerals to the water unless you've got really soft, alkaline-free water.

I agree that a standard pleco is far too large for that tank. Your past plecos probably succumbed to either ammonia or nitrate poisoning.

slakey

But I done a water change thursday and those were the readings? Surely after doing water change I should have no ammonia...

And nitrate from the tap is very high, but I shall double check that today. The tank has been running since November 2007 roughly so surely it'd be cycled by now?

"Stable pH is crucial to plecos and they are much more sensitive to water conditions than guppies" So does this mean pleco's aren't as hardy as people make them out to be?

FishnFry

"Stable pH is crucial to plecos and they are much more sensitive to water conditions than guppies" So does this mean pleco's aren't as hardy as people make them out to be?[/quote]

Depending on their age... you were saying "you got baby plecos in the past, and all have died", how young were the babies and how big were they when you got them?

The older the pleco is, the hardier he gets.

slakey

They were like... 1inch so baby babies.

Also done a water test few mins ago:

Same readings as before and done it on the tap that I use for water change and it came out at 0.50ppm ammonia and 20-40 nitrate...

So the water changes will clearly not sort this out.

Barbrella

1 inch plecos often don't survive. The move to a new home with different conditions often is too much for them. And if there's ammonia and very high nitrates in the water, such as in yours, there's no way they could survive.

I wouldn't get any under 1 1/2" - 2" and not until your conditions are favorable. With good water parameters, most plecos are extremely hardy.

FishnFry

With a higher pH (above 7), the ammonia can be toxic to fish. But if you keep your pH @ 7 and lower, it wouldn't affect them at all.

slakey

what can I do?

doing water changes isn't helping if it comes out of the tap with that ammonia and nitrate level?

what do i need to add to my tank/filter?

hopefully when we get a new kitchen fitted, my dad will get a water softner installed in the plumbing

but until that happens, what can i do/use?

slakey

I think the ammonia might've gone up after the water change because I did ster up some of my pea gravel, that was dark in colour, so maybe the waste between that raised it?