help asap.

by coolestmysterysnail Sun Sep 06, 2015 4:59 pm

Hey all.

So got my dads 55 gallon tank from him. He has a 12ish year old pleco that came with it. He lives on well water and i live on city tap water.
His readings =
alkalinity = 180-240
Ph = 9+
Total hardness = between 100 and 250
CYA= 150

My tap water =
Alk = 40
Ph = 6.8
TH = 100ish
Cya= 0

Im planning to drip aclimate him. But want to know if there is anything else i should do to treat my water so that its less of a drastic jump.
Please post sugestions asap. Would need to treat water before i drip.
He is currently in a 5 gallon tank with 60 gallon rated sponge filter but its cramped....

by coolestmysterysnail Sun Sep 06, 2015 5:02 pm

Heres a pic of test strips

by **Sbenson11** Sun Sep 06, 2015 5:14 pm

Well I know nothing about Pleco's,

However if it was me and I was transferring Koi to water such as this, I would add 1/2tsp for every 10 gals of water. This should raise the Alkalinity to about 80(the minimum it should be) and probably push your PH up around 8.4ish. Not that I’m a fan of intentally manipulating PH. However the Alkalinity is kind of low for my liking and the rise in PH comes along with the baking soda.

Having said that I like to do this in advance so I can recheck after 24 hours. Not sure how much time you have. A 5 gal is kind of small to hold a beast like that in for very long.

Good luck.

Steve

by alexmtl Sun Sep 06, 2015 5:24 pm

Whoa, that is quite a high pH coolestmysterysnail

If I am reading the strips properly, the top two are yours, with pH (middle square of five) around 6.8 to 7.2. The bottom strip is your Dad's water, off the scale at 9+ (bright red).

The water conditions are ideal for African cichlids at such high pH. I'm not sure what type of pleco you have but have may be better off at neutral (your water). Sorry can't help with the water conditions, just drip acclimate.

by coolestmysterysnail Sun Sep 06, 2015 5:46 pm

So yes the bottom s my dads, the middle is my 30 gallon community tank and top is my tap water. The strips are for pools, i have a master test kit but not enough tubes to show all teadings for all tanks.
I believe its a tiger pleco and its about 14" long. My dad had him with a jack dempsey cichlid, but it died. He had not done any water change in 3 months, and had nhid not vaccumed the gravel in forever. It was caked brown..
In any asw its a complete miracle thia guy was alive. I dodnt pick up substraight yet (his was to gross to salvage) and everywhere is closed tomorrow. So gonna leave the tabk bare and add rocks and substraight through the week

by coolestmysterysnail Sun Sep 06, 2015 7:06 pm

Heres a pic of the big guy. Also sorry for the spelling. Working off cell for tonight.

by **CAAIndie** Sun Sep 06, 2015 8:41 pm

Wow huge differences between the waters. Your father's tank is liquid rock for sure.

Unfortunately, the pleco is almost certainly going to prove to be troublesome in the long run. He's really much too large for the tank. Their are hugely messy creatures (most at least). I love them (I have a clown pleco, but shes 4 inches max), but they just aren't suitable for most home aquaria.

by coolestmysterysnail Sun Sep 06, 2015 8:58 pm

So yup i agree. I believe ive identified him as a leopard plecos, which grow to 20", and tank sized at 120 gallon. My dad had no clue what he was doing and im seriously stunned its alive. Ill probably post free to good home and let people know about tank size. Otherwise i can rehome him in my stepdads pond which is easily 300+ gallons, but has 6 koi. Anyways thanks all, gonna drip aclimate and rehome him to somewhere better. Poor guy has had a rough enough life.

by **Shell** Wed Sep 09, 2015 3:22 pm

Sounds like you are doing a good job with learning about his needs and keeping him comfortable. If you do not have the space, just keep up with water changes until you can rehome him. Plecos are beautiful, and they are strong - but given the right space, they can thrive and live a long, happy, and healthy life!

Nice work - thanks for caring about this guy! Smile

by Suprd71 Wed Sep 09, 2015 5:55 pm

Good job trying to save the plec. Far too many of these beautiful fish have rough lives with insufficient tankspace. I have always had a couple in my mix of big cichlid tanks. I keep them because I like them and have room for them. Caution against the possibility of putting him in the koi pond, its likely far below his temperature comfort zone.