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1st one I had died after 5 days. Now I have my 2nd one.
50 gal tank with 12 more mid size L s and 10 Coris
Temp-80
Ph-7.0
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-10.

Any special recommendations for keeping this new guy happy ?
Thanks.

one week down the road - no problem yet.

Yeah, raise the temp to 84-86. They like higher temps. If it is the smallest plecos it might not do good. They will not competer for food very well.

laurab5 wrote:Yeah, raise the temp to 84-86. They like higher temps. If it is the smallest pl*cos it might not do good. They will not competer for food very well.

I wouldn't do that without knowing what the other dozen of L-numbers and the ten Cory's are.

I agree that they may not compete well for food with another dozen L-numbers. What species are those others?

A 50 gal tank is really not large enough for a whole dozen adults of "average" small L-numbers.

--
Mats

A 50 gallon is to small for 12 plecos no matter what in my opinion. I am taking it when you say mid-size you mean 4 inches or more. That is 2 many.

50 gal tank with 12 more mid size L s (all small by nature -less than 4 inch or larger but young - again 4 inch or less ) and 10 Coris as follows:

L260
L08
LDA08
L172
L163
L047 3 inch
L100
L134
LDA33 2 inch
LDA32 3 inch
L018 (GN) 4 inch
L018 (GN) 2 inch

Cories ( 1.5 - 2.0 inch ) :

5 C. Julii
3 C. Metae
2 C. Rabauti

Thanks.

2nd QA died !

I just lost my 2nd Queen too!! (see thread in this forum about "Why Did My Pleco Die?".

I read the cat-elog about Queens and it says they really prefer darker tanks, definitely cave dwellers, and sand bottoms. So I have made a tank JUST for a Queen (her own castle so to speak..ha ha ha) in hopes that the next one will last longer.

I agree - that is way too many plecos for one tank. Even if they are smaller. I have in my 55gal a 6" Para (my avatar guy), 8" common, and a 3" bristlenose. And the three of them are a little territorial (especially the Para). But the tank is big enough they have all chosen their "corners" and the others now respect that. Live fish stores often times have WAY too many in a tank, but they are there for only short term - they bank on selling them (my store does) but the more exotic ones they put one in each tank.

What size tank did you make just for queens. I would get some more of them, even if it is a 10 gallon. The water needs to be about 84-86F, mine are not sensitive to ph at all. They do need tons of current. I have 2 mini penguin filters running onm mine that do 100gph, and something like a power filter running that goes 300gph. If you want i can post a picture of my tank for you guys to get a good look at it. I just put sand in mine. I have had them for 9 months. I noticed that if you take very small rocks and just toss them 1-2 inches apart and then put slate on top of them, they like this alot.

Please do post a pic Laura!! I would love to get another Queen - but I want it to last more than a few days.

I have got pics, i just need to post them. Tonight i am getting 1 or 2 new ones, depending on how many females my LFS has, i decided not to get ones online. Just some information, i have had one infertile spawn, and have either 2m/2f or 3m/1f. After 9 months i still can't tell, but there is one obvious female. When i got them i just went by belly color, but now i am way better at sexing, but there are tons of people who are better at sexing than me.

In my personal experience, they can subsist happily in 80 degree water with little to no current. High temperatures in excess of 84 degrees are used primarily for breeding purposes and increase the metabolism of said fish, allowing them to fatten up nicely. However, steady, slightly lower tank temperatures of 80-82 degrees are, in my opinion, most suitable for L-260.

Talking with friend here who purchased QA-L260 lately, most of them died. So maybe my aquarium params and population ( detailed above ) is not the reason...

My QA spawns at 80-82 degrees. Higher temperatures than this is only used for dry seasons imitations. ( in my tanks). I usually have a current at aprox. 10 times the tanks volume p/h. They hawe spawned at aprox 4 turns p/h, but make shure the O2 level is high. I use 8-10 ppm.

This is Norwegian, but maby you understand the most of it.
PH 6,5
Ca 27-28 grader celsius (29-30 i tørkeperioder)
GH 2-3
KH 0-1
O2 8-10 ppm, mg pr. liter (ca 5-6-7 ppm i tørkeperioder)
No2 mindre enn 0,3 (gul) (alltid også i tørkeperioder).
No3 12,5 (oransje) (mellom 12,5 og 25 i tørkeperioder)
Vannsirkulasjon på ca 10 ggr. volum (6-7 i tørkeperioder)

To se some of my http://www.akvaforum.no/member.cfm?id=11036

When you get a new pleco, make shure it loks well fed. Often they are in bad shape, when they come from the shop.

I have 11 young zebra plecos in a 33 gallon tank, and it works quite nice Inn another 33 gallon tank i have only 2 5" QA

Telnes,

I looked at the pics - your QAs and L46s looks great !
Also thanks for the interesting information.

PS
I have visited your home town Bergen , but in the summer. During the longest day in June at midnigh we attend an Opera - Nabbuco under the clear sky ...

Yeah, raise the temp to 84-86.

I would definately NOT recommend raising the temperature to this value, as it will be very detrimental to your corydoras.

I don't think the water parameters (temp, current etc) will have caused the death, as we can assume the other plecs (with similar requirements) are OK.

What is most likely to have caused the death is stress. With a tank as overcrowded as yours, the QA probably found it very stressful to aclimitise to your tank, as it was likely to have been chased around all night by the other plecs.

Poor quality stock may have also contributed. What you need to know before you purchase a fish is.....

1. How long has it been in the shop, and what is their quarantine procedure?
2. Is it feeding, and on what?
3. Has it got a sunken belly?
4. How close is the shops water parameters to yours?

I would advise you not to buy any more until you get another tank and spread your current stock out.

They look like monte dorados--not L-260, to me.

For what it's worth, my QA's breed regularly in 78 degrees with no current, and appear happy and healthy...I guess they thrive in different conditions..David

Jon wrote:They look like monte dorados--not L-260, to me.

Did you mean my fish ? http://www.akvaforum.no/akvarium.cfm?id=1423#imgs

yes.

Jon wrote:They look like monte dorados--not L-260, to me.

what L-number is it ?

HI!

They are believe to be L318!
Cheers
Yann

I stopped by my LFS this weekend and showed him the pictures of my Queen - who after the discussions here, I do think she died of starvation (she was apparently ill before I got her). I told him the signs to look for, etc. Their quarantine procedure is just 48 hours. If they eat, they sell them. Sometimes the exotic ones (like the Queen, Zebra, etc.) that are more unique, they will let them just go home with people like me who have established tanks, quarantine tanks, and keep an eye on them.

He is ordering me 3 Queens and I will take all 3 home at once. I told him to really watch for the starving thing. Perhaps the stress of moving is too hard on the juveniles?

I do have a set up a 10 gallon tank with 3 caves for them, a sand bottom (I read in the description page that they prefer fine sand), and a few plastic plants. The tank will have cycled for 2 weeks by the time they get here, but I'll be sure to check all the chemical levels first before they come home.

I would REALLY love to get a zebra too....but dang! I'm too cheap!

Jon wrote:yes.

Okkidoki I made a new tread, please help . http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 1150#81150

And sorry fore messing up this one. But the earlier info still apply, as i have at least 20 real L 260.

Small fish are more sensitive to starvation because they are smaller, less fat to take from when they are starved.

Also worth noting is that the fish will intentionally be starved before they are shipped from the original country - this is for their own survival, as a newly fed fish will produce a lot more ammonia, which makes the water quality in the bag the fish is shipped in go bad. So less ammonia means happier fish.

Unfortunately, the importer may well ship the fish straight out, without any quarantine and any attempt to make sure that the fish is feeding in the meantime. If there's more than two steps to get the fish from the exporter to the LFS, then the fish may well go more than a week without feeding - and re-acclimatising to different water conditions each time too.

--
Mats

3rd QA - L260 checked in yesterday. This time to a small 10 gal special tank for a full attention and feeding. We'll see...

duonri wrote:3rd QA - L260 checked in yesterday. This time to a small 10 gal special tank for a full attention and feeding. We'll see...

11 days. This time it goes very well !
I have learned that QA - L260 is very shy, night animal, slow feeder.

2 weeks down the road : This time L260-QA eats good, looks good. I have moved the QA to the community tank.