Getting a Bristlenose pleco from Maidenhead aquatics

Fishkeeper123 said:

Could I in the future bread them in a 200l with the fish I’m planning on having or will they get eaten by the kribensis? Would a store like Maidenhead aquatics give me money for baby Bristlenoses? How long are males/ females fertile if I give it a year before a buy another Bristlenose will they still be able to mate? Or should I find a female so that there isn’t a chance of 2 males.

Click to expand...

I don't know about plecos.

Maidenhead doesn't take fish in or give you money for any fish you bred.

But from what I know is that kribensis will keep to mainly bottom of the tank and maybe middle of the water column too. Guppies will swim everywhere, so after their fry feel bold enough they will venture out anywhere in the tank. So given the chance, kribs will eat guppy fry.

Jinx_ said:

I don't know about plecos.

Maidenhead doesn't take fish in or give you money for any fish you bred.

But from what I know is that kribensis will keep to mainly bottom of the tank and maybe middle of the water column too. Guppies will swim everywhere, so after their fry feel bold enough they will venture out anywhere in the tank. So given the chance, kribs will eat guppy fry.

Click to expand...

Yeah I think I’m gonna get male guppies.

Fishkeeper123 said:

Yeah I think I’m gonna get male guppies.

Click to expand...

Have you mentioned yet your water hardness? Guppies need hard water to thrive though.

You can obtain this by going on your city's water provider's site and putting in your postcode. It should come up with some funky numbers. We need it in dGH.

Jinx_ said:

You can obtain this by going on your city's water provider's site and putting in your postcode

Click to expand...

Some companies make it hard to find; if you can't find yours tell us the name of your water company and we'll see if we can find the page.

You need a number rather than vague words, and the unit of measurement as there are several for hardness.

Fishkeeping uses two units for hardness, fish profiles will use one or the other when giving the range needed by a particular fish. These two units are ppm (also callled mg/l calcium carbonate) and dH (also called German degrees)

From your chart, your hardness is -
8.36 dH (German degrees) and 149.23 ppm (Hardness total mg/l). Call them 8 dH and 150 ppm.

This is at the upper end of soft. We need our livebearer expert @emeraldking to say whether it's OK for fancy guppies.

8 dH/150 ppm is fine for most tetras and bristlenoses.




One other number in your chart - alkalinity is what water companies use for KH. Your KH is 93 ppm (rounded figure) or 5 dH. KH stabilises pH. The higher the number the harder it is to change pH and the lower the number, the easier it is. At 5 dKH, it's a bit low but not that low. As long as you do regular water changes to replenish kH your pH should remain stable. My KH is lower than yours at 3 and I don't have a pH problem with weekly water changes.

Separate question, would long tail danios rip the guppies tail or should they just fight between themselves?

Well, your GH shows that your water is neutral. With 149.23 ppm is just above soft.
When it comes down to keeping fancy guppies, it's more of importance to know whether thse fancy guppies are short or large finned. In neutral water both types would be okay but when large finned, harder water is more preferable. If they are kept in softer water, their fins can become ragged. The fins of large finned guppies are more vulnerable to softer water. Those fins will tear between the fin rays. Often mistaken by fin rot. The more ragged those fisn become, the more difficulties they have to swim or even to get to the food in time. Fish like that can starve and "can" lead to their deaths.
Short finned fancy guppies are stronger. Those can be kept in the upper part of soft water and higher.

I’ll have a look and see what Maidenhead aquatics are selling when I next go. Do you think I could keep long finned leopard danios with them

Fishkeeper123 said:

I’ll have a look and see what Maidenhead aquatics are selling when I next go. Do you think I could keep long finned leopard danios with them

Click to expand...

Long finned danios are as tolerant as the regular danios when it comes to water quality.

I mean tearing up the fins of the guppies

I, personally, would not risk guppies in 8dgh water. I'm a paranoid person and I'd prefer to keep guppies in harder water due to health benefits for them. Livebearers generally/mostly thrive in harder water of like 10-12dgh. My water is 15dgh, 255ppm hard and my guys are thriving.

What fish should I go for a long with the bristlenose, garras, danios and kribensis. I want something colourful so don’t really want white cloud minnows.

I personally wouldn't do kribensis, I'm not sure if the garras are territorial. Cichlids are so kribs and garras then wouldn't mix, but I think you could do a single female krib. But even then the garras could bully her, so I would advise against them personally.

Long fin danios would be a great choice, they look amazing and are fast active fish. And if you could get a hand on a fancy looking pleco, you would have a nice collection of great looking fish.



To experts:

Aren't danios cold or temperate water fish? I actually cannot remember if they are or not, so not sure if they'd be a great mix with tropical fish.

I already have the danios and 2 garras so would be adding to them. I’ve done a lot of research on them and danios like water from 18-26 degrees but planning on putting the tank at 24