Give me advice plecoholics

[jimmy chonga]

trying to tweak my tank and get it exactly where i want. been having small ammo/nitrate spikes recently. also my ph has gone up to the 7.2 range, which i think is due to the extra peice of slate i added to the tank a couple weeks back.

46 gallon bowfront
currently:
ph 7.2
ammo 0.25 ppm
nitrite 0
nitrate 80ppm
AC 70 filter
temp 79-80f

residents:
pair of small red hump geos
pair of mature golden wonder killi
4 small metae cory
4 serpae tetra
6 brilliant rasbora

5-6 inch adonis
4-5 inch three beacon
3 inch sunhine
2 inch royal
been changing water twice weekly, 30%, then 20%. recently switched over to prime, as i got tired of aqua clean and the BA brand stuff

how often do you all change your water/how much? what water conditioner do you use, what ph, temp etc etc

i would like to get it down to an exact regiment and be able to rely on the water being stable throughout the week?

what do you all think? any recommendations will help, thanks :biggrin:

[Bwhiskered]

As long as the fish appear happy leave things alone. I change 30% of my water in my bigger tanks once a week with straight tap water. Unless I am trying to get something to spawn I don't worry about PH or hardness. I was in the hobby before they new what nitrate was. I only test for nitrate if I have a problem.
That is only to confirm that is what it is. The less testing you do and the less you play with things the less problems you will have. Healthy fish can adapt to a wide range of conditions. Conditions in the wild are not as stable as most people think.

[upc239]

Hi,

Let me be the first to say it. You have lots of big plecos in a small tank. Is this a temporary setup?

[bcarlos]

I'll second upc239. The adonis alone is going to out grow that tank in half a year.

[Chouin]

Like upc239 said, that's a lot of fish in a 46g tank. You may also have some problem with the adonis in the future since they can become aggressif to other fish. Also, be carefull with your royal, he don't have the same diet as the other pleco you have.
If we go back to your question, here is my weekly routine on my 125g tank if that can be of any help.
You can see the pleco in my signature, but it also house those : 1x 6" Red Wolffish, 1 Adult Angel fish, 12x Lemon Tetra, 4x 3" Clown Loach, 5x 3" Yoyo Loach and 2 Re Eyes Congo Tetra.
I have a test kit for pH and everything, but I rarely use it except when I have problem, like Bwhiskered. My tap water have a pH around 7.4 and I have been using Prime for 4 years.
The tank is filtered by : Rena XP4, DIY Wet/Dry (7-8g of BioBall, 5g of Fluval Biomax/Seachem Matrix), 2 sponge filter V with power head (Hagen 70 and 402) and 2 Koralia circulating pump (model 3 & 4).
On tuesday and saturday, I do 30g water change (I also rinse the sponge and the filter pad in the wet/dry) and recently I try to do a small 10g on thursday to rince the sponges. Once a month, I also remove all the driftwood and clean under them.

I would recommand a canister filter on your tank, maybe something like a Rena XP3. It won't cause any harm and you fish will like the extra current.

Good luck with your setup
Chouin

[2wheelsx2]

I'm with Chouin. That's a small water volume for all those cichlids and plecos, which are both big waste generaters. I would definitely consider a bigger canister like an Eheim Pro III, Rena XP3 and the like. It'll give you better filtration plus increase the water volume. In my 125 gallon with 3 EBJD's and a whole community of plecos, I have 3 canister filters: FX5, XP3, Eheim 2028, plus 2 Koralia powerheads for water circulation (because the tank is planted and CO2 injected). I change between 50 - 70% of the water per week. If I were you, I'd shoot for at least 50% a week, and failing that, 30% twice a week (smaller changes aren't as effective as one big one in dilution of wastes, so you have to do more in total per week). If you don't already have one, I'd get a python, or a water pump setup so that your water changes are fast and painless to allow you to do more.

[jimmy chonga]

thanks for the advice everyone

what would everyone recommend as a good first canister filter? couple people have recommended the rena filters already, cost is an issue too, as i am currently out of work, but always have cash for my tanks :secretsmile: i think i'll start changing 50% a week at least, gotta invest in a python for sure.

i'm wondering about the overstocking myself, it doesn't look like it is, but the proof is in the water i suppose

[2wheelsx2]

Look for a used canister and use potscrubbers as your biomedia. That'll save you some cash. There are also lots of Fluval 404's floating around. They are not as good as the XP's IMO (too much bypass) but is still a decent filter and reasonably quiet. Another good one would be a used Eheim 2217, but they'll probably be the most $$ of the lot.