OhMyFish
Fish Fanatic
I couldn't find an answer to my problem in the threads I just searched. I would so much appreciate some insight.
My 29-gallon tank is well established now. We are running not only an under-gravel filter but also a large filter that hangs on the back of the tank. (Yeah, DH broke down and got one!) The readings continue to be wonderful. We change about 10% of the water every couple of weeks. Of course, as evaporation occurs, we add water to the tank.
Current residents are 2 emerald green cories, 2 blood fin tetras, 2 red glo-fish danios, 2 green glo-fish danios, 1 silver-tip tetra, and 1 x-ray tetra. Over the past 2 months we have had 3 common plecos which die. I'm trying to discover why? Here's the story.
First pleco died within 2 days. PetCo said perhaps he wasn't healthy to begin with and gave us another.
The second pleco died 18 days later. There was plenty of algae in the tank which he took care of and then seemed not to eat it any more, just attaching himself to the heater for a couple of days before he died.(PetCo's replacement policy is 15 days). We purchased another.
Third pleco died during the night, having been in the tank 20 days. Again, there was plenty of algae at the beginning which he actively took care of. We began dropping a wafer in the tank for the cories but the pleco ate them and stopped eating the algae. So, we decreased the number of times we added the wafer to 2/week and the pleco began eating the algae again. The last couple of days, the pleco has attached himself to the heater and did come off of it to eat when we dropped in food. This morning, he's dead.
The water temperature ranges from 75°F to 78°F. Our house is cold with an average temperature of 60°F and 75° is as high as the heater can keep the water. When the woodstove is running, the water temperature is nearer the 78°F. I have tried turning up the heater but it still just keeps the water between 75°F and 78° depending on if the wood stove is on/not. (We only use the wood stove when outside temperatures drop below 32°.)
The pH remains constant at 7.4 or thereabouts--it doesn't fluctuate at all as we keep crushed coral in the tank. The ammonia and nitrite are consistently zero and the nitrate is under 10.
The aquarium light is on about 10-12 hours a day so algae does grow.
Any thoughts would be most appreciated! Thanks!
My 29-gallon tank is well established now. We are running not only an under-gravel filter but also a large filter that hangs on the back of the tank. (Yeah, DH broke down and got one!) The readings continue to be wonderful. We change about 10% of the water every couple of weeks. Of course, as evaporation occurs, we add water to the tank.
Current residents are 2 emerald green cories, 2 blood fin tetras, 2 red glo-fish danios, 2 green glo-fish danios, 1 silver-tip tetra, and 1 x-ray tetra. Over the past 2 months we have had 3 common plecos which die. I'm trying to discover why? Here's the story.
First pleco died within 2 days. PetCo said perhaps he wasn't healthy to begin with and gave us another.
The second pleco died 18 days later. There was plenty of algae in the tank which he took care of and then seemed not to eat it any more, just attaching himself to the heater for a couple of days before he died.(PetCo's replacement policy is 15 days). We purchased another.
Third pleco died during the night, having been in the tank 20 days. Again, there was plenty of algae at the beginning which he actively took care of. We began dropping a wafer in the tank for the cories but the pleco ate them and stopped eating the algae. So, we decreased the number of times we added the wafer to 2/week and the pleco began eating the algae again. The last couple of days, the pleco has attached himself to the heater and did come off of it to eat when we dropped in food. This morning, he's dead.
The water temperature ranges from 75°F to 78°F. Our house is cold with an average temperature of 60°F and 75° is as high as the heater can keep the water. When the woodstove is running, the water temperature is nearer the 78°F. I have tried turning up the heater but it still just keeps the water between 75°F and 78° depending on if the wood stove is on/not. (We only use the wood stove when outside temperatures drop below 32°.)
The pH remains constant at 7.4 or thereabouts--it doesn't fluctuate at all as we keep crushed coral in the tank. The ammonia and nitrite are consistently zero and the nitrate is under 10.
The aquarium light is on about 10-12 hours a day so algae does grow.
Any thoughts would be most appreciated! Thanks!
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