Re-Preparing

MuckyFish

Member
Nov 14, 2012
5
0
1
Bay Area
Preparing for pleco fry again.

I am trying to get things in order so that my BN Super Red Plecos survive more than a week in my community tank.

First two spawns have all died.
First spawn 2-3.
Second spawn about 8.

This is a community tank.
2 Neon Tetras, 4 Glowlight Tetras, 1 oto, 35 small male guppies endler guppy cross, assassin snails, 6 bn sr plecos.
Planted, Java Fern, 2 Annubias Nana, and 1 water wisteria, ripped out most because it is not doing well anymore for some reason.

Tank 56 G
Filtration
Marineland Bio Wheel
Aquatop CF500, 575GPH Cannister Filter
Drift wood, which provides cave environment

Nitrate readings were up to 80ppm, mainly as a result of being away for Christmas and for Business in the new year, fewer and smaller water changes got done. Nitrate is now down to 20ppm presumed but tested at 40ppm before major water of greater than 50%.
Ammo zero (presumed)
Nitrite zero (presumed)

I will add purigen (on order) to the filter to help regulate the nitrate to prevent it getting out of control as well as increasing the amount of water change. I will add seachem matrix and hope there is some basis to the marketing that says it can help with some denitrification.

The tank has been aggressively vacuumed and a lot of waste removed. (Fish poop, left over food, plant detritus). There is still more to tackle next weekend but its a start to bringing it back to order.

When I have fry again, assuming,
Should I keep the same water change regimen or reduce or increase?
I have ordered sera micron as recommended in a previous post. Should I make this into a paste or put in the tank as is?
I will continue with zuuchini as the main vegetable the adults seem to take to it, the fry did not as far as I could tell should I expect them to be after the zucchini. In the tank I observed them feeding on the assassin snail shells, foraging in the substrate and on the driftwood where the aufwuchs layer should be but probably doesn't exist in my tank because its been eaten out.

My guess is that the issues i have had are food and nitrate, but is there anything else I am missing?
 

Bigjohnnofish

Global Moderators
Staff member
Apr 15, 2010
1,399
2
36
Perth, Western Australia
theres only a few things that knock over b/n fry when little...

ammonia at any level can damage their gills and they will die a slow death 1-2 weeks
high nitrates can have a similar effect with slow death....
lack of food in first week of feeding....
any predators - tetras can be responsible for this too... if they fit into another fishes mouth they can be food....

no amount of water changes should kill baby b/n... assuming the new water coming in is treated correctly and doesnt contain any toxins...
best to replace changed water slowly...

whitespot will knock em over quick smart too...