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77 gal !new additions!

5K views 47 replies 11 participants last post by  VR4_TT 
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#1 · (Edited)


L152 always hides under that leave. Love this guy/gal =)


L152 again


L152 is a fatty =)


L240


L199 + L200a high fin


L91


L239


L90




So hard to take pics of the plecos, they're always hiding, maybe i should have less hiding places. The driftwood on the right is like a big cave. So most of them are in there.
Big props to Gary for his awesome photos.
 
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#4 · (Edited)
Wow...that's a really nice L90 that you scooped. ;) Your L239 looks nice and chubby too. I actually think you got some nice pics of the L152. I hardly ever see mine, as it never comes out until lights out, only at night, so I can't get pics of it. I keep stalling on getting an L240, but yours looks great.
 
#13 ·
I see you already have SAE's and Amano shrimp, but you have Vals, or I would normally suggest dosing some Excel or Metricide for your algae problem. The other alternative is to cut down the light a bit more. When you say hair algae, you mean the black brush algae (the black furry clumps)? How often do you change water and how much, and what's your nitrate reading before the water change? What kind of filtration do you have in there now?

I would agree with you that if you want more panaque, you're going to have to have more filtration, as I have 3 big canisters on my 125, plus an AC70 powerhead with filtration attachment which turns on when lights are out (I'm injecting CO2). The canisters I have are the FX5, Eheim 2028 and XP3. It helps greatly to gravel vac at least once a week too, if not more often. I actually like the look that the panaque give my wood. :D
 
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#18 ·
L90 papa is an awesome pleco. I love lyre tails, but this one is really nice. I'm waiting for gold nugget and mango plecos, but i've heard they're hard to keep, any swings to the water parameters, they're goners =(
 
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#16 ·
Gary - Do amanos eat BBA? Filtration i'm running Rena XP3 and Emperor 400 biowheel. Nitrate is around 20-40 ppm. I do 50% water change and gravel vac every 1-2 weeks.
Theres so much poop in my tank due to my plecos =)
 
#19 ·
Amanos do eat BBA and so do SAE's, but unfortunately, only if there is nothing else to eat. And with a tank full of plecos that you are feeding, they're always going to have other food to eat. One thing you can try is localized Hydrogen peroxide with a syringe, after turning off your filters. Just spray it onto the affected areas in the water after assuring no critters are too close. Once it mixes with water, it quickly turns to water and O2 and escapes, but during the oxygen, it will kill the BBA, turning it red. After 2 or 3 minutes, turn the pumps back on.

Sounds like your parameters are good. One thing that I discussed with Charles, and that I've learned to do, is to use powerheads/filters to push the poop to one or 2 spots and vaccuum those areas. In my case, the poop gathers in the back corners, so they are not as visible, but yes, after a yam feeding, like last night, my tank is full of orange poop. You can also do just gravel vac with a small water change after one of those feedings to keep the detritus down. As long as your nitrates are not > 40 ppm, it's just ugly but not harmful for the fish.

If you like lyretails, you should really pick up some L204's. :D They look great, and mine are already eating.

I'm waiting for gold nugget and mango plecos, but i've heard they're hard to keep, any swings to the water parameters, they're goners =(
The Baryancistrus appear to be tough to keep as smaller specimens. I don't know if it's the water parameters, or the inability to feed, but that's how I've lost a few L239's also. I would also like an L47 or an L177, but still not sure it's worth the trouble with already so many plecos in the tank.
 
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#20 ·
Gary - Thanks for all the tips, i will try it and hopefully it will end the BBA =)
I have a powerhead 201, but missing the air tube. It's super weak when it's submerged.

When i bought the L90, i was thinking of picking up a couple L204s, but i'm trying to limit the panaques in my tank, cause i do feed bloodworms, ken's earthworm sticks and soft & moist with krills to my plecos, now i'm only using spirulina flakes and algae wafers due to the panaques.
The L239 blue panaques = i've been told these guys are scavengers and eats anything, but they're panaques?

My L239 are the most active ones, they're always out looking for food =) I love watching my plecos during feeding time =)

Yah L47 and L177 are nice plecos, but due to so many plecos in the tank, i'm scared nitrate spike might kill them >.< ahhh! but i've been waiting for them for awhile now =(
 
#21 ·
I use a Koralia 1 and a Koralia 2 in my tank full time and when lights are out my AC 70 powerhead with a venturi comes on to expel excess CO2.

The L239 is called a panaque, but is actually a Baryancistrus, same as the L200a, the L47 and L177. The Baryancistrus are specialized in that they graze the biofilm on rocks and wood, from what I have read, but they are more flexible in that they are able to eat more proteins than panaque and ancistrus, so I don't worry about them too much. I feed live blackworm all the time, but my solution is to ensure I have fresh veggies in the tank when I do that so that the panaque have the veggies they need instead of going after all the meaty food. I feed raw veggies 3 times week, and blackworms about 2x a month.

I have the L226, 190, L191, L90, and now the L204's, so I have plenty of panaque in the tank. The only ones I have had a problem with are the L90's. Or the one L90 I had. I am not sure what happened, but it didn't make it, so this one I have now is a replacement of my first one.

As long as you're vacuuming the tank and not overfeeding, nitrates spikes shouldn't be a problem. But as the fish mature, you may find that they are overcrowded in that tank and that could pose a problem for you, as it does for me in the future also.
 
#24 ·
The Koralias don't have a venturi feature, so if you're after oxygenation it's not going to accomplish what you want. Better to get the vent tube or get yourself a Maxijet or some such. If you wanted flow down low, then Koralia is the way to go, and I would say a 1 or a 2 would be the max you'd want to go. If you're creating a direct flow at the bottom to drive the poop into a corner, then go with a Koralia 2 on one side in the corner. If you set it up so that the flow is aimed towards your filter intake (looks like from your left in the pic, then all the poop should accumulate in the right rear corner close to your AC. I find it help to help a small low small in that area too. My low is naturally created by my cichlids. :D
 
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#32 ·
The Loretos colored up almost instantly, they almost seem like they were crossed between black neon and silver tip tetra only with red tail w/o the silver tip =)
I got the L240's awhile back, just thought i post the funny pic up of the amano being surrounded =)
I was thinking about getting a couple small L90's, but then again i won't have much room for future plecos =)
The small L90's that Charles has are really nice, but had to resist.
 
#35 ·
Gorgeous tank. And well done with the hatchet fish. When I saw the first page of your thread and you wondering what to add, I was going to suggest these guys. The tank seems to have a lid so they won't jump to their dry death.

I love these guys. The way they form a little batallion at the top of the tank.
 
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#38 ·
THANKS! I think i have more than enough bottom feeders, but hoping to add a few more =)
Yah i love the hatchet fish, now you see them now you don't! LOL when they turn, cause they're so thin. Now i have fishes that stays on the surface. I still cover the back because there's gaps from the filters. Hopefully they won't jump out *crossing fingers*
 
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