I really have questions that I am hoping you guys can help me with. I am not certain exactly what type of medication I should be using. So let me tell you what I have, and what I do, and hopefully you can help me figure out whether or not to keep doing the same thing or change it up.
I keep plecos. They are my passion. I have other fish as well, and have had many different fish and tank setups, but all of my tanks are now dedicated to plecos. I keep hearing that plecos are very sensitive to medication. I almost don't believe it. I have medicated 90% of my plecos with a bit of an overdose according to medication directions, and they all do really well within a week after- for the most part. The other 10% I acquired from friends and assumed they were healthy... They are all still alive, but I am experiencing problems. Ill tell you below. Luckily, I haven't lost a pleco in a while now (knock on wood).
I have show tanks with larger species- A bare bottom 150g with an L14, L24, L25, Large Royals, L114, and I also keep some Bichirs in that tank. I also have a 120 with green phantoms, blue phantoms, gold nuggets, para plecos, vampire plecos, and a couple small Royals. I have some Synodontis in the 120g, as well as some Algae eaters, and 5 Discus.
My other tanks are breeder tanks. A 40Long with LF Albino Bristle's and a pair of Long Fin Green Dragon bristlenoses, a 33Long with German Super Red Bristlenoses and a group of L183 White seam starlights. I have a 55g with about 17 L134 Leopard Frog plecos, another 55g with about 20 L333 Tiger plecos, and a 29g with a group of super red calicos. These are my breeder tanks. I keep almond leaves and alder cones in my breeder tanks. There are lots of pieces of driftwood in all of my tanks. I use Seachem Neutral regulator 7.0 as a PH buffer. I don't think it sticks though. I never use any salt at all, and the only chemicals I use are the neutral regulator 7.0 and Prime when doing water changes. I have driftwood not only for looks and food for plecos, but to drop the PH and make the water more acidic, and some pieces of Texas Holey rock to kind of balance it. Not sure if that works or not, but its a good look.
The main thing I experience with my fish is pretty typical. Sunken in bellies, sunken in eyes, white chalky poop, sometimes stringy clear poop. Some have bellies that seem to be a bit too fat, and some eat but seem to not get "full" looking if that makes any sense.
My quarantine process: When I receive new fish, I throw them in the hospital, and hit them up with some Metronidazole for 2-3 weeks. Seachem brand. I dose the water. I feed them daily, and after a few weeks once I see them eating regularly with nice looking eyes and nice bellies, I throw them in my show tanks, or the breeder tanks.
I don't see too many problems in my breeder tanks. I do see consistent problems in my 120g show tank. A few of my vampire plecos are very lethargic (I know plecos don't do much, but these guys don't do ANYTHING! I can pick them up and the wont try to swim away. This is recent- past month recent.) and they always have either a white filmy/blotchy looking substance on their skin, or they have what looks like cracks in their skin, particularly around the fins or sides of the body. The cracks are white. I also have noticed that some of my plecos have stopped eating, or don't eat as much- the gold nugget.
I keep all of my tanks heavily filtered, do weekly maintenance, and keep all of my tanks very well oxygenated. 150g has 2 Fluval 406, and 1 Fluval fx5. The 120g has 3 Aquatop cf500UV canisters. 40Long has a smaller Aquatop uv canister, and two HOB Aquaclears for 50g tanks. The 33Long has two HOB Aquaclears. The 55's each have one medium sized canister and one HOB each. The 29g has one Aquaclear HOB. There are multiple sponge filters in EACH tank as well. All good quality sponge filters.
All of my tanks have pretty acidic water parameters, and ph in the low 6's according to the test strips that I use. I don't have a legitimate test kit for my water. I don't know exactly what I should be testing for. I see a lot of people talking about ppm (parts per million?) and things about water chemistry that I don't even know about or how to test for. Most of the time I see this in breeding forums or topics. So throw me some tips on a test kit or what I should be testing for and how to do that if possible.
I am comfortable treating/dosing all of my tanks. I am also comfortable binding medication with food, but shaking dry pellets in a bag of powdered metro and focus doesn't seem to do much. I feed them freshly prepared vegetables, and the pellet foods I feed are homemade brands from trusted pleco enthusiasts, breeders and knowledgable hobbyists. I do feed daily, and I try to watch and see if all of my plecos eat. The usual ones come out to eat every time, and some stay in the caves and eat later when the lights are off. 90% of my fish have full bellies and nice eyes, color, and activity.
I am worried about the group of vampire plecos, because most of them have the same symptoms constantly. They all keep their color for the most part, sometimes faded out- actually a lot of the time. The regular sailfin Vampires (black with white spots) are all doing well. Its the golden vampires, and the black with gold spot vampires that I have issues with. They also always have full bellies, so they are eating. I also have a couple of royals that just wont get fat bellies no matter how many times I metro them. Now that I think of it, I have an adult L333 about 5" that is always pale in color, but always has a full belly and raised eyes. Wonder why he is like that...
I think Ive loaded this up with enough stuff for you guys to get a good idea of what I am doing and what I need help with. I need your help, and I know a lot of people on this website are very knowledgable. I need to get some medication, dose my tanks, and get rid of these problems so I can see a full life span on all if not most of my fish. And I really appreciate everybody's input and time.
I keep plecos. They are my passion. I have other fish as well, and have had many different fish and tank setups, but all of my tanks are now dedicated to plecos. I keep hearing that plecos are very sensitive to medication. I almost don't believe it. I have medicated 90% of my plecos with a bit of an overdose according to medication directions, and they all do really well within a week after- for the most part. The other 10% I acquired from friends and assumed they were healthy... They are all still alive, but I am experiencing problems. Ill tell you below. Luckily, I haven't lost a pleco in a while now (knock on wood).
I have show tanks with larger species- A bare bottom 150g with an L14, L24, L25, Large Royals, L114, and I also keep some Bichirs in that tank. I also have a 120 with green phantoms, blue phantoms, gold nuggets, para plecos, vampire plecos, and a couple small Royals. I have some Synodontis in the 120g, as well as some Algae eaters, and 5 Discus.
My other tanks are breeder tanks. A 40Long with LF Albino Bristle's and a pair of Long Fin Green Dragon bristlenoses, a 33Long with German Super Red Bristlenoses and a group of L183 White seam starlights. I have a 55g with about 17 L134 Leopard Frog plecos, another 55g with about 20 L333 Tiger plecos, and a 29g with a group of super red calicos. These are my breeder tanks. I keep almond leaves and alder cones in my breeder tanks. There are lots of pieces of driftwood in all of my tanks. I use Seachem Neutral regulator 7.0 as a PH buffer. I don't think it sticks though. I never use any salt at all, and the only chemicals I use are the neutral regulator 7.0 and Prime when doing water changes. I have driftwood not only for looks and food for plecos, but to drop the PH and make the water more acidic, and some pieces of Texas Holey rock to kind of balance it. Not sure if that works or not, but its a good look.
The main thing I experience with my fish is pretty typical. Sunken in bellies, sunken in eyes, white chalky poop, sometimes stringy clear poop. Some have bellies that seem to be a bit too fat, and some eat but seem to not get "full" looking if that makes any sense.
My quarantine process: When I receive new fish, I throw them in the hospital, and hit them up with some Metronidazole for 2-3 weeks. Seachem brand. I dose the water. I feed them daily, and after a few weeks once I see them eating regularly with nice looking eyes and nice bellies, I throw them in my show tanks, or the breeder tanks.
I don't see too many problems in my breeder tanks. I do see consistent problems in my 120g show tank. A few of my vampire plecos are very lethargic (I know plecos don't do much, but these guys don't do ANYTHING! I can pick them up and the wont try to swim away. This is recent- past month recent.) and they always have either a white filmy/blotchy looking substance on their skin, or they have what looks like cracks in their skin, particularly around the fins or sides of the body. The cracks are white. I also have noticed that some of my plecos have stopped eating, or don't eat as much- the gold nugget.
I keep all of my tanks heavily filtered, do weekly maintenance, and keep all of my tanks very well oxygenated. 150g has 2 Fluval 406, and 1 Fluval fx5. The 120g has 3 Aquatop cf500UV canisters. 40Long has a smaller Aquatop uv canister, and two HOB Aquaclears for 50g tanks. The 33Long has two HOB Aquaclears. The 55's each have one medium sized canister and one HOB each. The 29g has one Aquaclear HOB. There are multiple sponge filters in EACH tank as well. All good quality sponge filters.
All of my tanks have pretty acidic water parameters, and ph in the low 6's according to the test strips that I use. I don't have a legitimate test kit for my water. I don't know exactly what I should be testing for. I see a lot of people talking about ppm (parts per million?) and things about water chemistry that I don't even know about or how to test for. Most of the time I see this in breeding forums or topics. So throw me some tips on a test kit or what I should be testing for and how to do that if possible.
I am comfortable treating/dosing all of my tanks. I am also comfortable binding medication with food, but shaking dry pellets in a bag of powdered metro and focus doesn't seem to do much. I feed them freshly prepared vegetables, and the pellet foods I feed are homemade brands from trusted pleco enthusiasts, breeders and knowledgable hobbyists. I do feed daily, and I try to watch and see if all of my plecos eat. The usual ones come out to eat every time, and some stay in the caves and eat later when the lights are off. 90% of my fish have full bellies and nice eyes, color, and activity.
I am worried about the group of vampire plecos, because most of them have the same symptoms constantly. They all keep their color for the most part, sometimes faded out- actually a lot of the time. The regular sailfin Vampires (black with white spots) are all doing well. Its the golden vampires, and the black with gold spot vampires that I have issues with. They also always have full bellies, so they are eating. I also have a couple of royals that just wont get fat bellies no matter how many times I metro them. Now that I think of it, I have an adult L333 about 5" that is always pale in color, but always has a full belly and raised eyes. Wonder why he is like that...
I think Ive loaded this up with enough stuff for you guys to get a good idea of what I am doing and what I need help with. I need your help, and I know a lot of people on this website are very knowledgable. I need to get some medication, dose my tanks, and get rid of these problems so I can see a full life span on all if not most of my fish. And I really appreciate everybody's input and time.
