Pleco, Please Identify

[Kiwi2016]

Males and females have died. With the original tank I also got a Mickey Mouse platey - male. So when I got more fish, I got males too coz I didn't know enough to handle any offspring. I found I was dealing with some bullying so I gradually switched over to females.

 

[fluttermoth]

You must stop washing your filter media under the tap! There are good bacteria, that live in the filter, that eat the toxic ammonia from the fish's wastes, stopping it from building up in the water. Tap water kills those bacteria,so you;ll most likely fish your tank water has ammonia in when you test it. Just swish and gently squeeze the media around in some old tank water when you do your water change to stop it getting clogged. Don't replace any of the media, apart from the carbon, unless it's actually falling apart.

I would up your water changes as well; bwtween one third and one half weekly is what we normally recommend, but you might have to do more for a while if there is any ammonia present.

 

[Kiwi2016]

Thank you fluttermoth, I'll follow your recommendations.
 
Do you think there are any concerns with the softness of my tank water for the live bearers in my tank?