Care info for L-183

[homedog98]

Hi there, I'm in the act of ordering an L-183 starlight bristlenose pleco. (thank you bsmith!!!) I'm trying to make my tank as comfortable for it as possible. It's a 29 gallon planted, with sand substrate and has been established for 4 months. Is cycled, and parameters are as follows:
Ph: 6.4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0-10
stocked as follows:
6 black skirt tetras
6 cherry barbs
1 male Bolivian ram (purchasing female for pair)
1 black Molly
(also considering 6 orange laser cories... Any thoughts?)
There's plenty of algae for him/her to munch on and there's already driftwood in the tank.
I really want to give the guy/girl the absolute best home possible, so any info is greatly appreciated! I also have a question... (s)he is going to be QT'd for a few weeks in a ten gallon with gravel substrate... I don't want him/her to get hurt... Do you think (s)he'll be ok on the gravel for a little while?
Sorry about the book lol...

[MatsP]

There is some pretty useful info in the Cat-eLog

Ancistrus dolichopterus

. From what I see, there is only one thing missing from your list, which is that you want the temperature to be in the upper 70's or even into the 80's just a few degrees, I'd say.

--
Mats

[bsmith]

Your tank sounds like a great home for your new L183. Like Mats said the only thing missing is tank temp. You just want to make sure that you are in the upper 70's lower 80's as he suggested.

[bsmith]

Just to make it available, here is a link to my journal for the tank that I keep/breed these fish and is the tank that your fish will be coming from!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/tank- ... post928776

[homedog98]

Thanks! I keep the tank at about 80 for my ram anyways. I'm working for now on making it black water using Indian almond leaves, as I read it helps to keep them from stressing out too badly. I'm also working on trying to get some more caves in there for him/her. Thanks for the links! Any tips on the black water setup?

[bsmith]

The BW isn't too hard to recreate. What type of water will you be using for WC's? Since I use RO/DI that is from my home system that is set up specifically for my planted tanks and breeding efforts. I have tons of DW and you should get as much as you cam too, they love and some even claim that they need it. The wood releases tannins helping the BW effect and lowering pH. Then you add the leaves and your all good to go!

[homedog98]

I'm using tap water treated with prime. (I would use RO/DI... But I don't have the $ lol) There's wood in the tank (s)he's going into, but not in the QT. ((s)he'll be in a ten gallon QT for two weeks as long as I can find what decoration is making the Ph not get below 7 lol.) if not, (s)he'll be going directly into the main tank with a Ph of 6. (I have precautionary meds, but I doubt I'd need them) I was planning to go buy some mopani this weekend or next, in hopes that it will leach tannins into the main tank. Any tips on just general care for these guys? (feeding, likes/dislikes, etc.)

[young1nj]

I suggest malaysian driftwood. Get some pieces they can make a 'fort out of and hide under. The 183's really appreciate it. It will lower your PH and soften your water and thats just what they like

here is a pic of my breeding tank thats not your typical blackwater tank. Temp is 78

[homedog98]

Thanks! Unfortunately I only have access to mopani in my area, but if there happens to be a piece I'll buy it! ok, I have a question, the Ph in the QT is just not going below 7... I'd really like to QT the little guy/girl until I can get a chance to go buy a second filter for the 29 gallon. Will 7 be too much to ask?

[MatsP]

In my experience/understanding, pH isn't particularly critical, but TDS[1] (Total Dissovled Solids, which reflects the mineral content in the water - in most cases, it's related to the General Hardness, GH, but it's possible to have soft water with high TDS, but it's impossible to achieve high GH and low TDS).

[1] Also known as electrical conductivity. Technically, there are subtle differences between the two, but for aquarium purposes, we can pretty much treat them as "the same thing", unless we are outside "normal" values.

--
Mats

[homedog98]

No kit for that I'm afraid... Ph is all I've got. (that's on the list) I think I'll do a really really long acclimation to the ten, but I'm still not positive... Any thoughts?

[MatsP]

Well, I presume you don't have more than two choices:
1. Put the fish in the tank you have now.
2. Put the fish in the main tank without quarantine.

Do you know if the local water is hard or soft?

I would recommend getting a TDS meter. They are usually not expensive, $20 or so, available online and in good fish shops - anywhere you can buy RO systems should sell TDS meters, as you need one to check that your RO system is working correctly.

--
Mats

[homedog98]

Umm... I don't use RO water lol. Just tap water treated with prime. But you get the gist of my situation. My water is fairly soft out of the tap. (comes out 6.5-6.8 ) I'm thinking a really long acclimation to the ten gallon... Any thoughts?

[MatsP]

If the water is soft, you should be OK.

I didn't say you need to use RO water, I said any company (of any repute) that sells RO systems should also sell a small/inexpesnive TDS meter!

I would have to use RO for these fish because where I live the water is rather hard.

--
Mats

[homedog98]

Oh, sorry lol. Alright, fishy is here! (s)he's acclimating to the ten now. I'll try and put up pics tonight! (s)he's tiny!