Help with Cory's and Pleco's

This may be a long post so I apologize in advance. I am just frustrated with my tank and am about to throw in the towel. My favorite fish are Corydoras and Plecos. There is just something about them that I really like and these are the exact fish that I can't seem to keep alive. I fed plecs zucchinI often and they loved it. I drop sinking pellets (shrimp I think?) in tank after lights are off for the corys. The other fish in the tank will grab all food if I feed sinking pellets during daytime.

I have two tanks. Both are listed in my profile but I will summarize here.

75 gallon community tank. Sand substrate. Three filters, 2 Aquaclear 70's and one Fluval 306. I do PWC (40 to 50%) every 7 to 10 days without fail and temperature is about 76 degrees. Current stock:

6 Adult Roselines (such beautiful Freshwater fish)
10 Cardinal Tetras
10 Rummynose Tetras
4 Cherry Barbs
3 Zebra Danios
1 Platy

Recent Deaths:
1 Gibby (Sailfin pleco, about 5 inches in length) Bought him as rescue over a year ago.
6 JuliI Corys....slowly died one by one over 9 months time.
6 Albino Corys....slowly died one by one over 6 months time
Misc. bristlenose plecos over 2 years. They last about 2 months tops. (yes, have plenty of wood in tank)

The corys often acted weird after water changes and typically died days after. I use a python water changer. First vacuum the sand a bit then use plenty of prime when refilling. I check water temp in the return water to make sure it's really close. I do not have ANY unusual deaths from other community fish outside of the typical loss.

Oh, the other tank, my daughters 20 long is fool proof. We have the same fish in there from the start and she has a great BN Pleco that thrives. Gravel substrate, 2 Aquaclear 20's or 30's....can't remember. I thought smaller tanks were more difficult? I have problems in my larger one.

Any thoughts, suggestions etc? I am not going to add more plecs or Corys until I figure something out and if I can't house my favorite type of fish the hobby loses some of the fun for me.

Thanks!

-Josh

 

That is a hard one. it sounds like you are doing everthing right. Do you test your water? Do you have the parameters and PH? Plecos as a rule are tough fish. I try to leave veggies in 24/7 for the plecos and they get in addition HikarI algae minI wafers aternaing with HikarI bottom feeder minI wafers. and a couple of shrimp pellets on a daily basis. the cory cats get shrimp pellets daily as well as the same bottom feeder wafers. A couple times a week everybody gets frozen blood worms. All the tanks have driftwood for the plecos. Alison

 

HI Alison. Thank you for the response.

1. I do not check parameters that often, but when I have Nitrates are all that shows up. I will check PH for a while to see if that fluctuates after water changes for some reason.
2. It sounds as though I could be feeding more to the cory's. Can I assume that if I feed them at "lights off" that they find these sinking guys?
3. I have fed frozen bloodworms but again, the roselines are pigs and seem to eat everything before it sinks. Should I feed those at night as well? Also, do you turn off the filters when you feed bloodworms so they don't get sucked up in the filter? Frozen Brine shrimp ok?

Thanks again for responding, it is greatly appreciated!

 

No I do not turn off the filters when I feed the fish. As far as frozen blood worms or frozen brine shrimp goes I unthaw the frozen cube in a small plastic cup with a little RO water because I have one on my kitchen sink but you can also use tank water. When it unthaws you can put some in the top of the tank with some flakes to keep the top feeders busy, then take a clean turkey baster suck up some of the blood worms or shrimp and target feed the cory's in the bottom of the tank by squirting it in front of their noses. They will get used to that being the dropper of delicious food. I feed those during the day I also feed shrimp pellets during the day, The bottom feeder wafers you can throw in at night and their noses and barbels will help them find it and don't forget to give the plecos some as well. I hope this helps. You can buy turkey basters at the dollar store or supermarket. The cups I use are the plastic ones that come in a pkg like you would use in a bathroom for a dollar for 50 of them. Cory cats need a lot of protein and don't do well on algae wafers. Plecos also need both in their diet as well as driftwwod. Alison

 

Great advice Alison, thank you very much! I will test water (mostly PH) to confirm that it isn't doing anything crazy and will grab a turkey baster from the $ store. Thanks again for your help, it really is appreciated! Have a great day!

-Josh