Can't keep my plecos alive

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pinkybraincbfam

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
May 3, 2014
Messages
53
Location
Chicopee ma 01020
So for the past 4 days I have been replacing plecos I was trying to have two small bristle nose in a 12 gallon tank with my cherry barbs and for some reason every morning I wake up I find one of the plecos dead. This past time I even went with a larger dark bristle nose and he was dead by morning one of my original albinos is still alive. Although not sure if he was killing off the others cause of the small tank or if the cherries are picking one off each night. Any suggestions. As well I have been dropping algae discs in for them at night so not sure it's lack of food. Def lost on this one
 
Combination of factors... Too small a tank, territorial issues between plecos, and not enough food to go around. Bristlenose plecos need 20-30+ gallons minimum, must have driftwood to aid in digestion, and don't usually eat algae discs with much gusto (not to say they won't eat them at all, but they vastly prefer real algae). In a 10 gallon, you simply cannot naturally grow enough food to support one, let alone two plecos other than very young ones. Plecos ARE territorial, and will especially bully each other in such small quarters.
 
Thank you I plan on upgrading the tank by the end of the summer just wanted to get the community started up before I went all in on the big tank. I figured it was the albino killing off the competition but I'm just surprised considering he was able to kill off so many larger plecos. But going to go with just one for now and see how he does. Going to have to give him a vampiric name after all this lol.
 
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