A not so experienced pleco keeper chugging along, L397 for start!

[Woodh]

Finally it's happened! A large piece of driftwood sank after about 5 months in and out of the shower in my bathroom! So I ordered and recieved a couple of additions to the aquarium in form of a second spongefilter, better airpump and a couple of other minor things, also some attachment for removing the hoses to canister easier- they are clogging surprisngly fast.

My plan is to do a major overhaul of the tank since I will need to make room for spongefilter(s) the piece of wood, switch canister placement and so on. I am a bit scared to squeeze my L397s since they don't really like to let go of their wood and are pretty hard to spot, in addition to that they have grown quite a bit over the last months and this could be a good time for me to take photos of them also doing a count even if I am confident all six are still there it's hard to be entirely sure when they move around during feeding. I also plan to rehome my oddball Bristlenose(but that's really another story but only way to catch him is now if I remove most/all wood else he will be pretty much impossible to catch since he is skittish as can be).

Anyway I am simply a bit afraid of moving the plecos and how to do it, should I just net them up and place them in a bucket for photo session and will they be fine in there for an hour two? Should I place them in a larger container with spongefilter/airstone? Maybe it's best to just let them be in the aquarium and simply be really careful?

Another alternative, but this might just be the aquarium devil speaking, is to simply buy another tank tommorow solely for the L397s. Which size would you recommend for them in that case? Would for example a 30 gallon with large footprint be okay for the group long term? Then I could keep the Bristlenose where he is and maybe even add some more plecos in the near future!

Any tips? Maybe I should even take the chance to hold one of them by the snout, seen others do it and it looks cool but I am not so sure it's good for the fish?

[bekateen]

Anyway I am simply a bit afraid of moving the plecos and how to do it, should I just net them up and place them in a bucket for photo session and will they be fine in there for an hour two? Should I place them in a larger container with spongefilter/airstone? Maybe it's best to just let them be in the aquarium and simply be really careful?

Another alternative, but this might just be the aquarium devil speaking, is to simply buy another tank tommorow solely for the L397s. Which size would you recommend for them in that case? Would for example a 30 gallon with large footprint be okay for the group long term? Then I could keep the Bristlenose where he is and maybe even add some more plecos in the near future!

Any tips? Maybe I should even take the chance to hold one of them by the snout, seen others do it and it looks cool but I am not so sure it's good for the fish?

As far as catching the fish for photos, yes you can use a net. But I prefer to use my hands. I don't like to snag the fish's pectoral and dorsal fin spines in a net. And yes, depending on how many L397 you have and how big they are, you can keep them in a bucket (e.g., 19 L, 1/2 to 2/3 full with water) with a sponge filter for several days safely. But I advise you not to feed them at all during that time. Also, if your climate is cool, you may need to add a heater. It doesn't have to be set to tank temperature, but you're using it to prevent the bucket from getting too cold.

Good luck,
Eric

[Woodh]

Anyway I am simply a bit afraid of moving the plecos and how to do it, should I just net them up and place them in a bucket for photo session and will they be fine in there for an hour two? Should I place them in a larger container with spongefilter/airstone? Maybe it's best to just let them be in the aquarium and simply be really careful?

Another alternative, but this might just be the aquarium devil speaking, is to simply buy another tank tommorow solely for the L397s. Which size would you recommend for them in that case? Would for example a 30 gallon with large footprint be okay for the group long term? Then I could keep the Bristlenose where he is and maybe even add some more plecos in the near future!

Any tips? Maybe I should even take the chance to hold one of them by the snout, seen others do it and it looks cool but I am not so sure it's good for the fish?

As far as catching the fish for photos, yes you can use a net. But I prefer to use my hands. I don't like to snag the fish's pectoral and dorsal fin spines in a net. And yes, depending on how many L397 you have and how big they are, you can keep them in a bucket (e.g., 19 L, 1/2 to 2/3 full with water) with a sponge filter for several days safely. But I advise you not to feed them at all during that time. Also, if your climate is cool, you may need to add a heater. It doesn't have to be set to tank temperature, but you're using it to prevent the bucket from getting too cold.

Good luck,
Eric

Thanks, yet again! Will do it today so and hopefully be done in a couple of hours so temp shouldn't be much of a problem since it's kinda hot here at the moment.

Just curious as to how I should grab them by hand, I realise I have to be gentle but do I "swoop" them? Might sound like a dumb question but I am just a bit apprehensive since I got very little experience and don't want to hurt them. Guess ill figure it out.

[Woodh]

Was very hard for me to grab them by hand let alone take photos since I was alone, had to grab the last 2 with net since I was to clusmy to catch them otherwise. I suppose pics for possible sexing will have to wait, ill throw this one pic in here as a hello from my plecos! And yes I did find all 6 but that was expected.

Now they are back in the aquarium and the ancistrus is gone(or well he is temporarily the sole inhibitant of a 15gallon till something shows up). Only thing that's not working out is my canister filter which is acting up and wont start properly, just trickling and making weird noises- well I got time I suppose.

[Woodh]

Also is it wishful thinking this one might be female? Looks round over the middle to me but maybe it's to small to tell or not enough with one pic. Not the same fish as in previous pic, I am pretty sure that one is starting to get some hair despite being quite small so should be male?

[bekateen]

Too small to sex yet. But colors are beautiful.

Cheers, Eric

[Woodh]

That's what I suspected but you know there is always hope haha Plan on moving sometime next spring so hopefully by then? I also think they look really healthy, atleast if color is a way to tell, but hard for me to judge.

[bekateen]

My L397 grew from 3cm-4cm TL to spawning in 13 months. I think your fish should be sexable by next spring.

Cheers, Eric

[Woodh]

I will just keep using this thread as a kind of ongoing one for my questions, pics and thoughts then people can choose to steer clear or not!

One of my L397s got this deformity on it's head, hard for me to tell if it's a birth defect(which I believe) or a case of it getting squished at a young age. Regardless the side of it's head is pushed in, it doesn't seem to suffer as it's growing well, eating and so on- if anything I think it's the alpha of the group. I named "him", might aswell be a female for all I know though, Scar. Although when I think about it that makes little sense since he is more tiger colored and it's not really a scar, atleast it's the mean one of the bunch. Kinda irrelevant information I suppose but I usually don't name fish(infact it's the only one!)

My concerns are simply if it's living a happy life, which again, I think is the case but also if someone could chime in on whetever you think it's a birth defect or a physical injury. If it's the former in time(yes I know it's awhile away but still) is it something to worry about when it comes to breeding?

Adding a couple of pictures and hopefully someone will take a look for me! Maybe hard to tell from the pics but it's quite a large area all the way up to the eye that's simply for a lack of better words on my part "pushed in". Thanks in advance.

[Woodh]

Hello again!

First id like to ask if there is any way you can edit topic title on the forum since I plan to use this thread as a continous one it would be great.

Tommorow I plan to pick up a major sized piece of driftwood for the tank, it's hardwood though so I am thinking about if it's ok for the plecos(I will keep putting smaller pieces of, soft, driftwood for the plecos in there regardless). On the same theme I got these "Buddha nuts" in the mail as a surprise I guess when I ordered a lot of stuff from some site(that sounded kinda weird to be honest but idk how else to phrase it , I am thinking of trying them in the tank but not sure if it might be bad for the L397s to eat on them? Might just save them for a shrimp tank or something otherwise.

I guess one could say it's, yet again, a major overhaul of the tank. Seems I can never just be content but won't remove the plecos this time obviously.

I have also finished quarantining the corydoras sterbai so they will go in the 65gallon tank tommorow, which finally frees up the 15gal for something else so I have ordered a small group of four L134 plecos that should arrive either this tuesday or the next.

Hope you all have a good weekend! There will be some pics tommorow hopefully.

[bekateen]

First id like to ask if there is any way you can edit topic title on the forum since I plan to use this thread as a continous one it would be great.

Hi Woodh,

It's very easy for you to change the title of this thread or ANY of your threads, but the method is not obvious.

Logically, we might expect that if we make a new reply and we edit the title in our new reply (as I'll do here for this post), then it should change the title for all subsequent replies. But no, it won't change the title of the whole thread. Even if you change the title of one reply, it doesn't change what other people get in the future when they reply: Everyone (including yourself) who reply in the future within this thread will still get "Re: Planning major overhaul of tank this week, remove plecos or not?" as their title. That's because all new replies are auto-captioned "Re:" and the title of the original post.

So if you want to change the title of the whole thread, you need to edit your original post (using the little pencil icon for editing the post).

When you then save the change, it will also change the title of all future posts in the same thread. With that fixed, be aware that it still won't change the titles of any old replies inside the thread; those will retain their original title ("Re: Planning major overhaul of tank this week, remove plecos or not?").

Hope that's well explained.

Keep the pics coming and good luck with the new fish!

Cheers, Eric

[Woodh]

Guess it was to obvious, feel really dumb since I thought that I looked careful under that category but then it's literally in the middle of my screen when you show it haha

Throwing in a couple of pics on the progress of both "small"+"large" tank!

[bekateen]

Guess it was to obvious, feel really dumb since I thought that I looked careful under that category but then it's literally in the middle of my screen when you show it haha

It's not as obvious as it should be. Most people edit their posts without issue but changing the title so that it stays changed isn't done often.

It never hurts (okay, technically, it rarely hurts... LOL) to ask.

Cheers, Eric

[Woodh]

The L134:s didn't show but I couldn't resist buying another corydoras type, the CW009 "Green Laser". I am not so sure I will ever financially recover and the L134s will probably be passed on to someone else, the small tank will just be for the CW009 and maybe a couple of guppy or something like that. I have already replaced gravel with sand and so on!

I only bought 5 and might add a couple of more in the future, if I do recover that is, depending on genders they(just like my L397s) are not large enough to sex yet, but hey Ive heard the journey is the goal and all that. Will be fun to watch them grow!

Acclimating the fish as I write and pics will come tommorow.

[bekateen]

Green lasers are beautiful!

[Woodh]

Surely can't complain about the colors atleast!

[Kryptic]

I once had a chance to get a group of green laser corys but I turned the offer down... I am deeply regretting that decision now since those fish look stunning!

[Woodh]

My first big setback since being back into the hobby. One of the new corydoras seems to have hurt itself somehow and got a bloody mouth, feels really bad but sometimes life gives you lemons. Anyway not sure what to do, might try to treat it with some salt or anti bacterial. Just wan't to know what caused it to avoid it in the future.

It's barbels are still intact and it moves around like normal but it simply has some wound close to the mouth and I fear it might not end to well.

So I have ran some tests and they all come out normal, ie no ammonia or nitrite, low nitrates and a ph around 7. So that leaves mechanical injury(which it also looks like but the sand should be fine for corys so I can't see what caused it. Could be some leftovers from the gravel that got phased out before their arrival? Or just some dumb thing like a "leaf cut" hurting it? Could also have had a wound upon arrival that now got worse.

Anyway my action right now will be adding some additional tannins and observe for a couple of days, unless someone has any input? Already did a large water change.

[Woodh]

Now I am back with an update and some questions. The corydora(CW009) seems to miracously have made a full recovery and I added two more, so they are 7 instead of 5!, and don't plan to touch that tank for the forseeable future.

The big thing for me is that I have ordered a third tank a 95x40x45 centimeters one. My thought process is that I will move the 6 L397 and 15 lemon tetras over to this one along with the canister filter(eheim 2073 well established at this point) and a wavemaker for surface agitation. Would this be a sufficent footprint for breeding long term?

Which would leave the 12(or 13 I am not entirely sure ) corydoras sterbai(also the red bristlenose will get a permanent home in there) in the 65 gallon that I am planning on converting into a paludarium so it will just have half the water volume or so but I feel like this would be a fun project and give something to do for the forseeable future till I can get a breeding rack for more L-numbers. I am busy watching youtube videos for inspiration and I might even try to make my own background, guess the sterbais can live in a 50 gallon bucket for a couple of weeks while I set it up!

There are several reasons for me doing all of this, the main one being that I need something to focus my energy on since life is quite frustrating at this moment and I got, almost infinite, sparetime for now. Also I feel like I made a mistake adding sterbais with the L397s since I have a hard time feeding both groups properly. Of course, in the end, it's all just excuses for adding another tank!

Any input? I must also confess that while playing favorites in the aquarium might be dubious I have come to realize that corydoras are the best fish and I look forward to getting more types of them! Which ones would you recommend? Of course this is just buildup for the excuses to set up a fourth tank!

Hope you all have a good start to the autumn.

[Woodh]

Time for a short update so that maybe someone read it! Else ill keep this as a journal for the future kinda.

3rd aquarium (100x40x45cm) is up and running and I moved the 13 Sterbais+Bristlenose there, wen't with a second hand tank and the one I ordered a month or so ago will have to sit in the closet for now, realized I couldn't really afford all new lights etc at this moment. I am considering adding some group of smaller plecos here but not sure, might just get another red Bristlenose to get some breeding going as practice for the future.

In the small tank the CW009 are alone.

In the 65gal I only have the 6 L397s+school of 15 lemon tetras for now. I will however move the tetras over to the Sterbais and Bristlenose. For the 65gal? I will add a group of guianacaras, if it doesn't work out long term ill move the l397s. I am considering adding the 7 CW009 to this tank but not sure it is good temperature wise.

That's about it for now! Ill add a picture of my Bristlenose who seems more than happy not having to share aquarium/food with other plecos.

[Woodh]

Hello again hope you all have a nice weekend!

I am thinking about ditching the idea of guianacaras till I can get a larger tank setup but that leaves me with the "problem"(granted it's a pretty nice one to have) of finding a fish or two that can go with the L397, I have a hard time finding any that I wan't to put in there as it's barely planted(save for some pathetic looking anubias). Any ideas?

For now I have moved the tetras to the 50gal or whatever it is so the L397 are all alone(in the 65gal) except for snailexplosion. Have considered a group of rams, keyhole cichlids or maybe Nannacara anomala? Not all that interested in keeping a 3rd tetra species but it's not ruled out(might just throw 20 or so cardinal tetras in there if I can't decide on anything else.

Any, and I do mean any, input is welcome.

[Woodh]

Had somewhat of a "downperiod" as a far as aquariums are concerned but now stuff happened. I got a good deal on a couple of 75x40x40cm tanks.

My idea is to move the L397 group(6 fish) over there, I will separate one since it seems to have some deformity on it's head. I am just a bit afraid that it would be crowded but if it doesn't work out ill just have to upgrade them at a later time I guess.

Sadly two of the CW009 corydoras did pass away and I never really got any answer as to why, my guess is that something simply was wrong in their specific tank since after I moved them the remaning 5 seems to be really happy(I am looking to add a couple of more but they seems to be out in my area for the moment).

Will make the move of L397s in the weekend aswell as probably setting up the second tank, will post some pics then!

[Woodh]

Progress so far, I am a bit concered that the pieces of wood are not entirely flat(can get a couple of cards inbetween the spirit level and the surface) but I am thinking it should be okay considering the tanks are just 30gal each?). Don't think I can get it much more in level atleast so ill just go with it, I am in rental apartment with good inscurance anyway!

Plan is to have the two 30gals+a couple of smaller tanks and some houseplants on this rack(each shelf is rated for 300kg or 660lbs). Any input?

[Woodh]

Moving slowly but over the last couple of days I have managed to setup the first tank in the rack, it's a 120 litres tank which will house my small group of cw009(just 5 left after a couple of mishaps, not sure when I will get the chance to add to the group- dream scenario is that they manage it themselves- the remaining ones seems very healthy atleast!), will also (atleast temporarily) hold a pair of bristlenose and a school of colombian tetras.

Stay safe guys!

[Woodh]

Still working on transforming my small apartment to a mini fishroom! Next up is the second 120litre tank in which I am going to house the L397s.

I am considering just using a couple of spongefilters(+wavemaker) for the group of (5 or)6 individuals and maybe some dither tetras would you say this is enough or should I use a canister?

Have a nice weekend!

[bekateen]

I would be fine with spong filters (or a Matten) and a wave maker.

Good luck,
Eric

[Woodh]

I would be fine with spong filters (or a Matten) and a wave maker.

Good luck,
Eric

Thanks, might look into matten filter do you by chance have any guide or something to recommend? Suppose it's kinda easy to make one yourself but hard to judge how porous filter media to use etc.

Might still opt to just transfer a canister filter over but the lid wouldn't fit etc so that creates other problems.

[bekateen]

Panaqolus make a lot of poop. I would recommend coarse foam (10 pores per in or 20 pores per inch) so that it does not clog easily.

[Woodh]

Ive noticed! haha. Going to the LFS tommorow to see what they have available. You are truly a life saver(Getting input from more experienced keepers is at the very least reassuring), matten filter scares me somehow but guess it's just a filter pad and a powerhead behind it.

Might still opt for spongefilter(s) since I have seeded ones and I am impatient, although fishkeeping is atleast teaching me some in that regard- still didn't learn to plan much ahead.

Hope you have a nice weekend!

[Woodh]

A pic from the feeding this morning, they look healthy to me and I hope I can be able to keep the rest. Picked up a leftover from the store so now they are in total 6. If I keep having problems with them I think I will just try to rehome the group and accept defeat.

On a tangent, I am no more experienced with corydoras than plecos- at what size would these be possible to sex reliably? On my larger Sterbais I can tell the difference in bodyshape but I have heard that one can look on the fins etc?